Project Management Methodologies

Project management is an ever-evolving field that requires some approaches to be successful. Learning the most popular project management methodologies can help you become an expert in this field.

Project management methodologies are several principles, techniques, and procedures used by those who work in this field. With nearly 8,462 project management methodologies to choose from, which one works best for you and your team?

 

The different project management methodologies are one of the most essential knowledge tools that helps you to find the best practice in implementing your project this is very important for organizations and their people, and to be effective, you need to make sure that the project management methodology is set correctly for your team, project, organization, and goals, in addition to getting acquainted with the various methods used in the establishments. Synexcell team will help you find the best approach for your project through this article which will help you learn more about the most popular project management methodologies.

1- Waterfall methodology:

The waterfall method is a traditional project management method. The project’s tasks and stages are finished in a linear and sequential order, and each stage must be finished before beginning the next.

The waterfall methodology follows this sequence:

1. Defining requirements
2. Analyzing
3. Designing
4. Building
5. Testing
6. Publication and maintenance

Because everything is preplanned from the beginning, there is a high potential for error if expectations do not match reality. This type of methodology is risky. Once a stage is finished, there is no way to return to it.

We recommend you try this methodology if:

• The ultimate goal of your project is clearly defined – and it won’t change.
• Stakeholders know exactly what they want (and that won’t change).
• Your project is consistent and predictable (i.e. it won’t change).
• You work in a regulated industry and need extensive project tracking or documentation.

2- Agile Methodology:

Growing dissatisfaction with conventional project management methodologies led to the development of agile project management methodologies.

This strategy started to put more emphasis on iterative models.  The Agile methodology allowed you to revise your project as needed throughout the process rather than having to wait until the very end to revise and adjust, which may have frustrated you with the limitations of project management that could not adapt to a project as it progressed. Short work phases with frequent testing, reassessment, and adaptation are typical of agile project management methodologies.

The main principles of the Agile project management methodology:

1. Cooperative
2. Fast and prompt
3. Changeable

We recommend you try this methodology if:

• Your project is subject to change.
• You are uncertain of the solution’s (product or service) final form.
• It is more crucial to see rapid progress than perfect outcomes, so you must work quickly.
• The stakeholder or customer needs (or wants) information to participate at every stage.

3– Scrum Methodology:

Scrum is an Agile project management method. Consider it more of a framework than a project management methodology.

Scrum divides work into short phases, which typically last one to two weeks.

A Scrum Master (who is not the same as a project manager) leads small teams through the short phases, after which they “review” their performance and make any necessary changes before moving on to the next phase.

We recommend you try this methodology if:

• You strive for continuous improvement.

We don’t recommend you try this methodology if:

• You lack the full team commitment needed to make it work.

 

4-Kanban methodology:

Kanban is a form of Agile project management.

The term “kanban” originated from the manufacturing industry and evolved to refer to a framework in which tasks are visually represented as they progress through columns on a kanban board.  Work is pulled from a pre-existing backlog continuously as the team has the ability to navigate through existing columns, with each column representing a phase of the project.

Kanban is great for giving everyone working on a project an instant visual overview of each part of the project represented by the exact time for each part of the project. (You can use Kanban boards for everything from content marketing to hiring)

It also helps you see where blockages might be forming – if you notice a blockage in a shaft, you’ll know this stage of the process needs further examination.

We recommend you try this methodology if:

• You are looking for a visual representation of your project progress.
• You want project updates permanently and at a glance.
• You want to encourage defining work for each individual based on a specific part of the project, enabling your team to stay focused.

5- Lean Methodology:

Another method for managing projects that involve the manufacturing phase is the Lean methodology (specifically the Toyota Production System). It all comes down to applying lean principles to your project management methods in order to maximize value while minimizing waste. A project manager can reduce these common types of waste by applying Lean principles to create a more efficient workflow.

While this originally referred to reducing material waste in the manufacturing process, it also refers to other wasteful practices in the project management process. These are known as 3Ms:

• Muda (wastefulness): When you consume resources without adding value to the customer.
• Mura (Unevenness): When you have an overproduction in one area that causes all your other areas to spin out of control, leaving you with too much inventory (wasteful!) or inefficient operations (also wasteful!).
• Muri (overburden) when there is too much pressure or demand on resources such as equipment and people, which can often lead to breakdowns – in both machines and people.

We recommend you try this methodology if:

• You are looking for a set of principles that will help you eliminate waste and improve your flow.
• You are always trying to improve and add value to the customer.
• You want to cut costs.

Project management methodologies are widely used in the field of information technology and other areas that require an in-depth approach to project management, such as time measurement, team size, project budget, and quality metrics.

It should be noted that each methodology has benefits and drawbacks. Although the list of PM methodologies appears to be quite long, you do not need to know them all or follow them exactly, but you do need to spend some time thinking about the rules and tools for your upcoming project. You can even combine different project management methodologies to create your own method that is tailored to your specific project.

Synexcell is your permanent consulting partner; please contact us if you need assistance determining which project management frameworks and methodologies are appropriate for your next project!