
Planning Your Project
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meet regularly with customers to discuss possible
new features and their implications for the schedule
and the budget. Remember that a less ambitious or
even lower-quality product is not necessarily a bad
thing. The key is to establish a level of quality or func-
tionality that meets the needs of the end users and fi ts
the budget and scheduling requirements. Knowing
from the start which of these three variables is most
important to each stakeholder will help you make ap-
propriate trade-offs.
It’s give-and-take. Everybody understands
budgeting. They will be willing to give up
functionality in exchange for a reduced budget ...