The 2021 Guide to Project Management Methodology

With so many exclusive project management methodologies and approaches available, choosing the right one for the business is challenging for many organizations. Though project managers complete project management certifications yet only a few learn the real techniques and tools to lead the project till it reaches the finish line. This article reveals the most widely used project management methodologies, project management tools, a method for remote project handling, and more. Also, learn about how to choose the best one for your future projects.

About the Project Management Methodology

The project management methodology is the set of practices that let you manage and deliver the project successfully. It defines how to lead and execute the project with step-by-step instructions for finishing it. It turns the project life cycle into rightly structured steps.

What Does a Project Manager Do?

Project managers are responsible for planning, pitching, managing, leading, and monitoring a project’s life cycle and its outcomes’ quality. A project manager’s responsibilities include:

Phase 1: Initiation

• Know the stakeholders related to the project (like clients, the team involved in the execution of the project, the management, etc.).
• Make a project charter defining objectives, the methodology, etc.

Phase 2: Planning

• Make a project management plan
• Establish the scope of the project, know the project requirements from the clients, and make a work breakdown structure (WBS).
• Schedule every project activity.
• Deciding the budget and project an estimated project cost
• Know the quality requirements
• Mae the best team for the project.
• Select the mode of communication and hierarchy for the project team.
• Conduct a risk analysis and keep the clients and team informed of the same
• Advice for the procurement matters of the project.
• Do an orientation session with project stakeholders and the team.

Phase 3: Project Execution

• Convey the changes taken from the clients to the team.
• Help the team to communicate the technical problems with the management.
• Evaluate the team performance
• Manage the stakeholders’ expectations.

Phase 4: Monitoring the project functions

• Direct the team to make changes if required.
• Communicating the project status to the clients.
• Monitoring if the steps of the project are going ahead chronologically and correctly.
• Control the costs and budget of every project activity

Phase 5: Closing the project

• Take last-minute updates and get the clients’ approval for the same
• Hand over the project to the clients.
• Talk to the team about the project’s success.

Factors to Think About While Choosing the Project Management Methodology

• Project timeline – The project submission time cited by the team must be in line with the client’s timeline. If not, it should be conveyed and sorted out in the primary phases.

• Industry-based – It is vital to accept the project that is within your business and industry’s scope. This is required as the expertise of the business taking over the project is crucial for the client’s business.

• Project budget – You should meet the client’s budget. If not, discuss with the managing director of the business taking over the project.

• The project complexity– Accept the projects only if your team can handle them. If not, pass it.

• Resources Availability– You must have the tools and resources to manage the project. If not, politely drop the offer.

• Communication – If the client doesn’t share the details of the project vividly, try to extract every detail yourself as much as possible and record it for your future reference during the project.

Widely Used Project Management Methodologies Adopted by Businesses

1. Waterfall

It is also called Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) method for convenience. The construction of the waterfall is minimal but effective. It consists of meticulous planning and implementation – step-by-step. The project manager leading the project must strictly monitor the money allocated, the time, the value of the task, and carry it forward to the next task.

Advantages: Highly estimable budget, timeline, and other factors involved in the project Use a visual chart for the steps and moving from one department to another.

Disadvantages: Less scope for the project manager to fix the plan and rectify the errors. It is problematic for the testers to go back and catch the apt place to modify things to make it up and running effortlessly.

2. Agile

It is primarily not a methodology but a collection of principles used to develop software. There are 4 important values for the agile methodology.

• Individuals and interactions over tools and processes.
• Working software over inclusive documentation.
• Customer partnership over contract negotiation.
• Responding to all changes over following a rigid plan.

Advantages:

It is ideal to monitor the project's vision statement, progress, roadmaps, backlogs, etc. Adapting it requires intense collaboration, flexibility, and open communication which brings high-quality outcomes.

Disadvantages:

Less communication may lead to serious chaos in the project. The absence of a systematic plan makes it hard for the team to cope with the challenging tasks.

3. Scrum

This method is specifically used for accurate delivery purposes. The scrum-based project team possesses 5 core values:

• Commitment.
• Courage.
• Focus.
• Openness.
• Respect.

The team must be collaborative and accountable for their ups and downs. Following scrum events should be considered while opting for this methodology:

• Sprint: The journey planned must be as per the timeline and must attain the goals discussed in the development process.
• Sprint planning: The scrum team discusses every sprint from the start to as per the timeline.
• Daily Scrum: Adequate time is taken to talk about the whereabouts, challenges, and other problems while facing the task.
• Sprint review: The stakeholders must be informed about the ups and downs of the project. An informal meeting is conducted by the scrum team at the end of every sprint to show their feedback.
• Sprint retrospective: This meeting is led to establishing the developments to be done after the sprint review involving the stakeholders.

4. Lean

The lean method focuses on customer satisfaction and preventing wastage. This method determines three kinds of waste (time, money, and resources).

Muda

Get rid of the waste immediately – the intangible wastes include time and the tangible wastes include resources. Following original wastes should be avoided:

• Overproduction.
• Transportation.
• Over-processing.
• Transfer of people and machinery from one place to another.
• Waiting for the process.
• No appropriate inventory management.
• Faulty goods and services.

Mura:

The workflow process should be scheduled as per the decided schedule. The operational process must be even and smooth while moving from one department to another.

Muri:

Avoid giving much stress to the employees. The value stream mapping must be up and active.

5. Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM)

The CCPM is the latest version of project methodologies adopted by the organizations. In this method, the team works backward towards the goal. It is typically used in small-scale or mid-scale projects to boost the success percentage.

Advantages:

It lets the project team staying more focused towards the project end To avoid resources being wasted or over/underutilized.

Disadvantages:

Losing the track of time Not suitable for big and multinational projects

6. Critical Path Method (CPM)

It is one of the most reliable methods for project management, where the project tasks can be rearranged based on these four methods:

• Finish to Start (FS)
• Finish to Finish (FF)
• Start to Start (SS)
• Start to Finish (SF)

Why are these methods used separately? To decrease the interdependency between the team members and project tasks. Each task is taken as an individual project and eventually brought together to determine the output.

7. Prince2

The Prince2 is prescribed by the UK government. Following basic principles to follow while choosing Prince2.

• Steady business justification.
• Experience-based learning.
• Roles and tasks are well defined.
• Stages management.
• Exception cases-based administration.
• Focus on the products.
• Fit the process as per project environment.

Advantages:

• Historical data gives a clear picture for future projections
• The heavy documentation guides are available

Disadvantages:

• Not suitable for the extensive documentation.
• Resource reorganization and surpassing the timeline are very common.

Choosing an Ideal Project Management Methodology for Your Team

1. Timespan

It is vital to look at the timeline appropriate for the particular project.

2. Flexibility

The project management method should have room for changes across all stages.

3. Team Size

The size of the team must be as per the specifications in the method to execute the project without any risks.

4. Risk-taking Capacity

The methodology must also have space for the teams to take a risk in executing new and ground-breaking ideas within the project.

5. Budget and Cost

The chosen project method should be able to help you spend the cost planned for the project.

Remote Project Management

To maximize your team’s productivity and speed up the project turnaround time, choose the project management method ideal for remote work.

• Kanban Method

If your team is already using the agile methodology – it’s going to be very simple.
The Kanban method is based on dividing the tasks into smaller sub-tasks and planning out the stages (till the final stage). Tools for Kanban

1. Project Management Tools like Trello and Asana, Favro, Basecamp.
2. Communication Tools like Slack, Skype, Zoom, Google Meet.
3. Time Management Tools like Clockbook, TickTick, focus booster.
4. Documentation Tools like Google Drive, Notion.

Managing a Productive Remote Project Team – Some Tips

• Make a personal checklist to ensure each day is well planned.
• Use communication portal effectively
• Give a correct update to each other
• Hold an internal team meeting before any stakeholder meetings.
• Help the team in crisis to ensure they are on the work schedule.
• Be clear about the feedback
• Be clear about the expectations of the project.
• The goals of the project team must be as per the client's expectations.
• Use remote project management tools
• Develop a mutual trust environment for the delegation of work.

Final Thoughts

Businesses must discover and use the new project management methodologies as these help them to control quality standards, cost, and bring many other benefits. Your project team should learn the latest methodologies to help you gain a leading edge in the industry.