Part 1: What is a Project Management Methodology?
Just like there are multiple ways of creating an image (such as painting on a canvas or taking a photo) or cooking a meal, there are multiple ways of managing a project. This is because not all projects are the same and will need to be managed in different ways: let’s say you are managing a software development project which will have changing requirements throughout as the client realises they want more features. If you had planned the project so that each phase of the project had strict deadlines and requirements and would follow the previous phase, you would likely find that this project likely wouldn’t meet these (as the team is saddled with more work) causing you to run into trouble. This means that, although this form of management is suited to certain projects (such as construction projects), this project likely needs to be managed in a different way.
It’s this that has led to the development of the hundreds if not thousands of project management methodologies available – for example, as software developers realised that traditional waterfall project would hinder their development, they started to develop new methodologies which allowed for flexibility. Through the vast number of methodologies, projects can be managed in ways suited to individual requirements but still take advantage of a predefined framework. Some projects are high stakes yet are predictable, making them suitable for waterfall project management, where each phase needs to finish before the next phase starts, allowing the project to be laid out beforehand. Other projects change rapidly as new requirements are added and obstacles crop up. These are suited to agile project management methodologies, where changing requirements are built into the project itself. Furthermore, some projects may be complex and have lots of different dependencies, meaning that critical path project management (where the project timeline is defined by timeline of the most complex interdependent tasks) is suitable. Through the vast number of methodologies, we are able to use ones which are suited to the specifics of each project.
Part 2: What are Some of the Major Methodologies?
As mentioned in the first part, there are hundreds of project management methodologies, each interrelated in different ways (for example, agile is a project management philosophy which contains multiple methodologies within it) and suited to different kinds of projects. However, four of the main ones are waterfall, agile, scrum and kanban.
Waterfall is what many people may think of when you talk about project management: the project is planned out fully and then completed in distinct stages. Planning is locked down once the project begins, meaning tasks cannot be moved once they have been assigned. This makes it easy to predict what will be happening and when, but it means there isn’t much room for flexibility as tasks cannot be moved or added.
Agile is a project management philosophy which focuses on repeating iterations of work during each stage to allow for flexibility and changes to the work. This means that work can be added to each iteration during the project, allowing for any new or uncompleted tasks. This makes it useful for projects that are likely to change, or which have an uncertain end result or have lots of client collaboration. However, this flexibility means that the deliverables may not be predictable, and deadlines may not be met.
Scrum is a type of agile project management where work is split into ‘sprints’, or one or two week blocks where specific tasks are completed. What tasks are completed in each sprint are defined before each sprint, allowing the project to adapt as it goes along, and lessons learnt in the previous sprint to be implemented. This makes this methodology useful for continuous improvement, but it relies on a committed team to complete the work of each sprint.
Kanban is another project management methodology, often used as part of agile, where tasks are represented visually on a board with different columns to represent different stages (i.e. columns for ’to do’, ‘doing’, and ‘done’). These show how much work is being done in each stage, allowing you to see where you have capacity to ‘pull’ tasks into the next stage. This also allows you see potential bottlenecks. This is good for projects which need to limit work in progress and would benefit from a visual representation, but Kanban may not be useful for complex projects with lots of stages.
Part 3: How Should You Choose a Methodology?
Choosing a project management methodology depends both on what your project is and what your people are suited to. As mentioned in the previous parts, a project which is liable to change may not be suited for waterfall, however one which needs to provide a specific deliverable by a certain date may not work with agile. To deem what methodologies will be suited to the project itself, look at factors such as your budget and whether this can be stretched, whether you have the ability to take risks and if there is any flexibility in what deliverables you provide, how much you will be collaborating with stakeholders, and how strict your timeline is. Once you have considered this, think about what methodologies would be suited to this (i.e. scrum may require a more flexible budget as the tasks completed in each sprint – and therefore the precise cost of each sprint – aren’t predicted beforehand). Different methodologies are also suited to different types of teams, with agile relying on teams which are small, interdisciplinary, and self-motivated to deliver work by the end of each iteration, for example. If you have a larger team which requires more management, consider using an approach like waterfall where work is laid out in more detail. Alternatively, if your team is smaller and more independent, think about more agile based approaches where giving teams more free rein is key.
If you are struggling to work out what methodology is suited to your project, get in touch with {n}.bora and we will be more than happy to help you.
First published by {n}.bora August 25, 2023
