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About this lesson

Learn how to quickly identify project boundaries using the W questions.

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Quick reference

Project Boundaries

The Project Boundaries are the list of project goals, assumptions, and constraints that are agreed upon by the project team and stakeholders at the time of project initiation.

When to use

Project Boundaries are most beneficial early in the project and whenever the project is undergoing change.  An agreement between the project team and stakeholders on boundaries will reduce the likelihood of confusion on project goals and missed expectations at the end of the project. Setting the project boundaries at the time of initiation allows the project team to plan the project with a clear understanding of project goals, assumptions, and constraints.  This speeds and simplifies the planning process.  In addition, whenever there is a request for a project change, the boundaries help the team evaluate whether that change is within scope or out of scope.  Clear boundaries will reduce the likelihood of scope creep.

Instructions

  1. At the time the project need is being validated, the project leader (if known) or project sponsor should meet with other stakeholders to identify project boundaries.
  2. In each meeting, a series of questions about the project are asked – the order of the questions does not matter.  The questions are:
    1. What is the project supposed to accomplish?
    2. Why do we need to do this project?
    3. Who are the customers, stakeholders, and team members for this project?
    4. When does the project need to start and end?
    5. Where is the project activity to take place?
    6. How should the project team approach the project? (procedures, examples, constraints)
  3. The answer to some questions may be, “It doesn’t matter.” or the answer may be very specific.
  4. Summarize all of the boundary conditions and identify inconsistencies between stakeholders.
  5. Meet with the stakeholders who have a difference of opinion on one of the “W” questions.  Explain the two responses and facilitate a negotiation between the stakeholders.
  6. Document the results of the boundary setting activities in the Project Charter.

Hints & tips

  • Ask each stakeholder all six questions.  Look for inconsistencies between stakeholders and resolve them.
  • Answers of, “It doesn’t matter.” or, “I don’t care.” are great answers.  They give the project team flexibility on those boundary conditions.
  • Vague answers like, “As soon as possible.” for the “When” question, or “Everybody.” for the “Who” question often lead to missed expectations on the part of the stakeholders.  If that type of boundary is important to them, work to get a specific answer.
  • I use these questions whenever I am being asked to start a project – even if it is just a small action item.  The questions only take a few seconds to ask, and the answers are very helpful for planning and executing the work.
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  • 00:05 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 I'd like to talk with you today about initiating a project and in particular,
  • 00:10 setting the project boundaries as part of project initiation.
  • 00:16 Setting boundaries often is a negotiation process between the project team and
  • 00:20 the stakeholders.
  • 00:21 Stakeholders have a vision for the project with goals and objectives.
  • 00:24 The project team often is aware of constraints and limitations.
  • 00:29 Together, they can determine the direction of the project and
  • 00:32 the boundaries that the team will stay within.
  • 00:34 This will assist the team by allowing them to focus on what is in-bounds for
  • 00:38 the project and not be distracted by what is out of bounds.
  • 00:41 The boundaries normally describe the results of the project so the team knows
  • 00:45 what they should be doing and the rationale for the project so the team
  • 00:49 knows why they should do it and know how to weigh the options and choose the best.
  • 00:54 Finally, other boundaries or parameters that will impact the project planning and
  • 00:59 the project execution such as time and money.
  • 01:03 Some projects have a detailed requirements document,
  • 01:05 prepared well in advance of project initiation but most are not.
  • 01:10 When there is no document to refer to we use the W questions.
  • 01:14 The answers to these six questions would set our project boundaries.
  • 01:18 The first one is the what question.
  • 01:20 It keeps the project description.
  • 01:22 From this, we can derive what the project's deliverables will be.
  • 01:26 The second is the why.
  • 01:28 This provides a context to the project and
  • 01:30 helps the team understand the trade off within the project.
  • 01:33 This is the key question to help us manage risks.
  • 01:36 The next four W questions address assumptions and constrains.
  • 01:41 Who will be involved?
  • 01:42 When is the expected start and finish time?
  • 01:45 Where will the project activities be conducted?
  • 01:47 And finally, How should the project be planned and executed?
  • 01:51 I know that W is at the end of how but at least there's still a W, so
  • 01:55 we're going to count it.
  • 01:56 Once we have answers to the W questions, we can put a fence around the project.
  • 02:01 This will keep all of our project activities inside the fence and
  • 02:04 keep the distractions and irrelevant items outside the fence.
  • 02:08 Let's now consider each of these W's in just a little more detail.
  • 02:12 For the what question, it's the result of the project.
  • 02:15 All of the deliverables and
  • 02:17 any other action that the project is supposed to complete.
  • 02:20 It also includes the quality characteristics of the deliverables.
  • 02:24 This is sometimes called the definition of done.
  • 02:28 Let's talk about the why question next.
  • 02:30 This answer helps the team to understand the underlying reason or driver for
  • 02:34 this project.
  • 02:35 Is it linked to strategic plan or other major initiatives?
  • 02:38 Is it a compliance project with a rigid finish date?
  • 02:42 What are the business benefits, growth or cost savings?
  • 02:45 When the team understands the rationale, they're better able to make trade-offs
  • 02:49 between various options as the project unfolds.
  • 02:52 The who question is next.
  • 02:53 Sometimes, many of the whos are obvious.
  • 02:56 There may only be one or two customers, users or stakeholders for the project.
  • 03:01 But sometimes there are many customers and users or who the project team members
  • 03:06 are could influence the project plan and the tracking.
  • 03:09 Finally, approval authorities in a project create the need for
  • 03:12 additional documentation or interactions.
  • 03:15 The next W is When.
  • 03:17 Are there constraints on the expected start date or the expected finish date?
  • 03:21 Are there other external milestones that the project team must be aware of?
  • 03:25 Because they would drive the project plans and execution.
  • 03:28 For instance, if the project expands two fiscal years, is there a milestone
  • 03:33 at your end that is tied to how much money they can spend in one year or the other?
  • 03:38 The next W question is where.
  • 03:41 This is becoming more and more of an issue in business today.
  • 03:44 As many companies are global in nature and
  • 03:46 activities on projects are now often spread across multiple locations in
  • 03:51 multiple countries, on multiple continents and speaking multiple languages.
  • 03:56 The differences in managing a co-located team or a virtual team is significant.
  • 04:01 This will drive the type of communication processes that must be used.
  • 04:05 And finally, the use of remote contractors and vendors
  • 04:08 will change the nature of some of the project management oversight activities.
  • 04:13 Our final W is how.
  • 04:15 How is a category to capture any constraint or
  • 04:17 assumption that may have been missed in the other categories.
  • 04:21 In addition, there may be a constraint or
  • 04:23 concerning methodology where oversight, they would be identified under this W.
  • 04:27 Even the budget limitation should show up at this time as we ask how much.
  • 04:32 Understanding project boundaries eases the project team's
  • 04:37 work during both planning and execution.
  • 04:41 It also points to what must be demonstrated as part of project closing.
  • 04:45 The W questions are the simple and
  • 04:48 most straightforward methodology to get a complete view of the project boundaries.

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