“You mean there’s more than one project management methodology?” There are quite a lot of them actually, and some even combine to form new hybrid approaches. But what are they exactly? How do they help project teams work better? And what makes one methodology better than another?
Project management methodologies are essentially different ways to approach a project. Each one has its unique process and workflow.
What is the most common way to plan out a project? Sequence the tasks that lead to a final deliverable and work on them in order. This is the waterfall methodology — the traditional method for managing projects and the one that is simplest to understand. One task must be completed before the next one begins, in a connected sequence of items that add up to the overall deliverable. It’s an ideal method for projects that result in physical objects (buildings, computers), and project plans can be easily replicated for future use.
The power of this methodology is that every step is preplanned and laid out in the proper sequence. While this may be the simplest method to implement initially, any changes in customers’ needs or priorities will disrupt the sequence of tasks, making it very difficult to manage. This methodology excels in predictability, but lacks in flexibility.
The critical path method was developed in the 1950s and is based on the concept that there are some tasks you can’t start until a previous one has been finished. When you string these dependent tasks together from start to finish, you plot out your critical path.
Identifying and focusing on this critical path allows project managers to prioritize and allocate resources to get the most important work done, and reschedule any lower priority tasks that may be clogging up your team’s bandwidth. This way, if changes need to be made to the project schedule, you can optimize your team’s work process without delaying the end results.
Critical chain project management takes critical path method one step further. It is a methodology that puts a primary focus on the resources needed to complete the project’s tasks by adding resource availability to the critical path. It also builds buffers of time around these tasks into the project’s schedule, which helps ensure the project meets its deadlines.
Agile project management methodologies are growing in popularity thanks to the increased pace of innovation and a highly competitive business environment. In general, agile methodologies prioritize shorter iterative cycles and flexibility.
Let’s take a look at some of the most popular agile frameworks.
The core of the agile methodology was developed in 2001 with four main values:
· Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
· Working software over comprehensive documentation
· Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
· Responding to change over following a plan
Their Agile Manifesto of Software Development put forth a groundbreaking mindset on delivering value and collaborating with customers. Today, the word agile can refer to these values, as well as the frameworks for implementing them, including: scrum, kanban, extreme programming, and adaptive project framework.
What do these various agile frameworks have in common?
Project objectives are made clear by the customer (internal or external) while the final deliverable can change as the project progresses. The project team works in iterative cycles, always evaluating results at the end. Depending on the results of these evaluations, the final deliverable may be modified in order to better answer the customer’s needs. Continuous collaboration is key, both within the project team members and with project stakeholders.