Examine Assumption and Constraint Analyses

Every project runs on assumptions — things taken as true without proof — and constraints — limits the project must operate within. Both are sources of risk in their own right, and this task is about systematically examining them rather than letting them sit unexamined in a document nobody revisits.

The work involves leveraging whatever assumption and constraint analysis already exists, categorizing those assumptions and constraints so they can be assessed consistently, and evaluating the actual risk tied to each one. Recognizing the relationship between an assumption or constraint and the project's objectives matters specifically because of cascade effects — a seemingly minor assumption (like a stakeholder's holiday schedule) can ripple into a real schedule risk once you trace the chain far enough. Encouraging stakeholders to actively challenge assumptions and constraints, rather than accept them as fixed, is explicitly part of the task.

Study focus: PMI's own example — predicting how stakeholder holiday schedules cascade into timeline risk — is a useful model for how exam scenarios test this task: look for a small, easy-to-overlook assumption that has an outsized downstream effect once you follow its logic.