Writing a Project Initiation Document - Assumptions, Dependencies and Constraints 5/12
5.0 Assumptions, Dependencies and Constraints
This section involves essentially detailing what you have assumed on the project, what you require to already be in place in order for the project to be delivered, and finally what issues there might be which will cause either budget or timeframe problems. These are listed as:
- 5.1 Project Assumptions
- 5.2 Project Dependencies
- 5.3 Project Constraints
5.1 Project Assumptions
These are basically details or scope you have assumed ahead of the
Project Management Requirements and Business Requirements Specification being documented.
With regard to Project Example this could be detailed as follows:
5.2 Project Dependencies
These are basically deliverables from other Projects and Programmes which your project needs in order to launch. Often these get overlooked which is why it is vital that you research these thoroughly and then list them here so there is no confusion going forward.:
5.3 Project Constraints
This section relates to matters which will impact the Project and mean that it may not be able to deliver to schedule. This might be anything from resources being unavailable due to another large Project launching to being unable to talk to external suppliers due to secrecy concerns as is demonstrated below:
Writing a Project Initiation Document - Assumptions, Dependencies and Constraints Tip
Whilst you should endeavour to be detailed in this section, don't go mad. If you try to cover every conceivable eventuality, your lists will be so long that you may simply give the impression of wanting to find excuses why the project won't deliver on time.
