Identifying Assumptions and Constraints

Remember the old saying about assumptions? Well, throw it out because in project management, you want to make assumptions, but here's the key. Are you ready? You should document all project assumptions. You'll want to document assumptions regarding people, resources, places, things, or anything that you presume is going to perform in a certain way, be available at a certain time, and so on. This is a critical step that's often missed in the project-planning process. That's too bad because misunderstanding assumptions, or believing something to be true that isn't, can kill your project.

This is an often missed step because we tend to take things for granted, thus assuming business as usual. When you leave work for the evening (assuming you're driving a car), you walk out to your car, put the key in the ignition, and assume that the car is going to start. It's not really something you think about because the car starts every day — that is, until the day you put the key in and nothing happens when you turn it. Then the diagnosis process begins…battery, starter, alternator…or crisis mode sets in. “Oh my, little Sweet Pea is at day care, and I have to be there in 20 minutes!”