Every project, project manager, and project management team is unique and different. So, there’s no magical project management approach that will fit all project management teams. But rather than having to create new processes every time you launch a new project, why don’t you utilise one of the top project management methodologies?
How do you pick the right one for you and your team? To make it easy for you, we’ve put together a clear guide of the top 8 project management methodologies. We’ll outline the pros and cons for each methodology, so you can decide which best suits you!
The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines a methodology as ‘a system of practices, techniques, procedures, and rules used by those who work in a discipline’. A project management methodology is a foundational framework which is built on sets of guidelines and procedures, with the aim of optimising your project activities and performance.
There are so many project management methodologies, because every industry, team, or project will have specific needs and contexts. For example, Waterfall sequential frameworks came about from production lines, and thus was the dominant methodology of the 20th century. As we’ve adapted to a digital society, the project management space favours iterative frameworks over sequential models. This is because iterative frameworks will keep up with the fast-paced and dynamic economic landscape.
As needs and processes change, project management methodologies will also change and grow to accommodate these changes. Even with thousands already in existence, we expect project managers to keep developing methodologies in coming years.
There are many benefits to using a project management methodology. Organisations who adopt project management methodologies can:
As we always say, there is no ‘one size fits all’ way of doing projects and the needs of every project is unique. So even with all these strong and detailed methodologies, it does not mean that you have to follow each aspect of it.
If there happens to be a methodology that perfectly suits your team – amazing! But you’re not stuck if there methodology that’s a perfect fit. Most organisations use a mashup of methodologies to find the best process that suits their organisation. Actually, research shows that 89% of project professionals utilise a hybrid mix of project management practices.
The main benefit of knowing the main methodologies is you now have knowledge of the processes that you can adapt to your unique context. Remember, there’s no distinct ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ to project management methodologies. It’s only a matter of which methodology best suits your needs!
Though there are thousands of project management methodologies out there, the most popular methodologies often come in two distinct camps: traditional methodologies vs iterative methodologies.
This long running debate, sometimes referred to as the Waterfall vs Agile debate, has divided project management communities. In practice, Waterfall and Agile mark the extremes on a spectrum which most methodologies between. Here’s a quick summary of the pros and cons of Traditional and Iterative Methodologies.
Traditional methodologies typically run projects in a sequential and linear manner. Thus, they emphasise the need for upfront information gathering, sequential project gatekeeping, and end of project testing. Some benefits of this methodology is its ability to provide straightforward planning. This, in turn, simplifies cost, schedule, and resource management processes, and clearly defines project roles, goals, and scopes. The negatives are based around its lack of flexibility to adapt to new factors. Traditional methodologies also have limited interaction with clients or customers, which leads to higher chances of projects missing the mark.
Iterative project management methodologies often run projects in an incremental and iterative manner. This means that these methodologies run in cycles, and, as a result, are fast-paced, flexible, and less front-heavy. The benefits of this methodology come from their high levels of flexibility, and focus on team ownership and customers. The negatives involve their requirement of highly experienced team members, propensity to project scope creep, and smaller outputs per project increment.
Our goal in creating this list is to gather the most prominent and popular methodologies in our field. From this summary, you can identify the methodologies which may best suit your organisation. We’ll go through the general frameworks of each methodologies, as well as their pros, cons and contexts.
The Waterfall Method is one of the oldest project methodologies, first outlined by Winston W. Royce in 1970 to accommodate for the nature of software development at the time. Waterfall grew from traditional manufacturing and construction industry approaches, and so it follows a linear, sequential project design. The project progresses in a continual downwards direction – similar to a waterfall.
Its sequential form means that it is resource-heavy in its early planning stage, as it is in this stage that the project managers plot out the entire project. This limits the space where project managers can make changes in, apart for any contingencies and unaccounted for risks. Waterfall emphasises the importance of completing phases before moving onto the next. The common six phase include:
PMBoK, which stands for Project Management Body of Knowledge, is not technically a project management methodology. Instead, it is a collection of processes, best practices and guidelines that the project management industry have widely accepted. Its creators, the Project Management Institute (PMI), do not advocate a single methodology, though many associate PMBoK with traditional waterfall methodologies due to its grouping of project processes into sequential steps. These five process groups are:
So though there is no specific way to run a ‘PMBok project’, it is a very reliable source for a foundational framework that you can adapt to your specific needs and industry.
Similar to PMBoK, PRINCE2 is essentially the British counterpart to PMI. However, PRINCE2 has a clearer definition of process, which the UK government famously uses. PRINCE2 stands for Projects IN Controlled ENvironments, and is essentially a process-based approach to traditional waterfall methodologies. The approach divides projects into stages, with clearly defined inputs and outputs to minimise risks and changes.
PRINCE2 runs on 7 foundational principles, themes, and processes. Their 7 foundational principles include:
You can read more into their core tenets here.
The current buzzword in project management, the creators of the Agile methodology designed it in response to the inadequacies of traditional methodologies in the software industry. Agile project management methodologies are based on the 4 key values and 12 principles outlined within the Agile Manifesto.
The central focus in Agile methodology is adaptability, primarily achieved through its shorter project cycles, its focus on incremental growth, and self-ownership and team autonomy. As a result, Agile processes are not as clear-cut and sequential as traditional methodologies. Instead, Agile teams mainly working within the scope of what is achievable within a single project cycle.
Scrum is an extension of the Agile methodology. Many project managers view Scrum as an extended framework which teams can use to execute Agile values and principles. If Agile is your ideal philosophy, Scrum is the methodology that gets you there. The Scrum approach puts the team at the center of all projects, and operates through specified roles, events and artifacts. All Scrum activities are based on five core values: commitment, courage, focus, openness, and respect. Scrum uses its own unique set of terminologies which are all centred on team self-organisation and management. Some Scrum terminology you may have heard of include:
Lean is all about delivering more with less. Rooted in the Japanese manufacturing industry, it isn’t a complete methodology and framework. Rather, it is a set of foundational guideline principles that dictate the project process. Lean focuses more on addressing three common dysfunction within projects that create waste known as the 3Ms: Muda, Mura and Muri.
Muda focuses teams on eliminating waste by removing processes that don’t add value to the customer. It identifies seven original wastes as: transport, inventory, motion, waiting, overproduction, over-processing, and defects. For digital-based projects, teams can adapt these general concepts to their contemporary contexts.
Mura focuses teams on eliminating variations by removing overhead variances in the workflow process. It ensures all that teams level out all scheduling and operations to ensure a smooth flowing project process.
Muri focuses teams on eliminating overload by removing unnecessary expectations. Then teams can work within productive capacities to optimise resources rather than simply maximising.
The Kanban methodology was developed by Toyota in the 1950s by adapting supermarket inventory control logics. It applies a mixture of Lean principles with a less prescriptive form of Scrum processes. It emphasises on flexibility, collaboration, and self-managing teams. However, Kanban does not have prescribed roles. Rather, it focuses on improving outputs from teams prioritising parts of the project. The main way they do this is through visualising workflows clearly to reduce bottlenecks, wastages, and inefficiencies. Kanban methods operate on six general practices:
As the name would suggest, Hybrid methodologies are a combination of traditional and iterative methodologies. Rather than a specific methodology, hybrids are the mashup of methodologies. They central goal of applying approaches that achieve the best results for the specific context, client, and project. The idea is to get the best of both worlds, allowing projects the flexibility to adapt to changes and the structure to imbue confidence and security in the project’s success.
Due to its highly adaptable nature, there is no one way to build a hybrid methodology. However, an increasingly common hybrid methodology is Wagile. A play on the words Waterfall and Agile, Wagile is exactly that – a blend of the two polar opposite methodologies into one. The core Wagile philosophy is to:
Thus, it is clear that there is no one-size-fits-all project management methodology. An Agile approach may not work well for a large-scale facility development project, nor would a traditional waterfall approach work well for a competitive software project needing constant updates.
We’ve made a list of the five steps to take when selecting your project management methodology.
What does this project need to achieve? What is the best way to achieve that? If the goal of your project is to build a new customer software that requires new external talent and flexibility, you need to select a methodology that can accommodate that.
Further, consider the general make-up of the project. This includes how the your organisation has budgeted the project, the project’s size and complexity, any time-frame restrictions, and context of your industry context. If you have a fixed and tight budget, iterative methodologies may not be the best match as they have the tendency to run over-budget due to their open-ended timelines.
The structure, culture, and context of your organisation can impact how effectively your team can apply or adapt a project management methodology. Learn about your organisation’s history with different methodologies, their pre-existing culture, hierarchical structures, PPM maturity levels, size and industry as you choose a project management methodology.
Many iterative methodologies are highly dependent on the capabilities of the team itself. If your team doesn’t have experience managing itself, and motivating and organising itself, it may not be a wise choice to implement a Scrum approach. Your methodology is your project blueprint, but if your team can’t read it – you’re not going anywhere!
Investigate to what extent stakeholders will be involved in project processes. This will allow you accommodate their expectations. If the project is a customer service software, it is important to be continually receiving feedback on the software, so you can quickly launch future improvements. However, projects that don’t require much feedback won’t benefit from constant feedback loops in Agile methodologies.
Involving and valuing stakeholder interest will often lead to higher chances of project success, so make sure you take them into account.
Theoretically, PPM solutions are methodology-agonistic. However, the reality is that most project management tools are catered for specific methodologies. That’s why it is important to assess the tools you use, and whether they work with your selected methodology. If they don’t, is your organisation willing to implement a new project management software? To help you out, we’ve made a guide on how to find the best PPM software and tools for your organisation’s needs. Some key things you need to consider when assessing your PPM tools are the key features you need, a cost/benefit analysis of different tools, and evaluating their return on investment.
No matter if you’re team iterative or team waterfall, we’ve got your back! Our PPM service is made to cater to your specific needs and requirements. From our intuitive software, all-round support services, our simplified pricing packages and our extensive PPM experience, we’re confident we can bring your organisation’s project management activities to the next level. If you know just how we can revolutionise your project management activities, make sure to book a free trial and speak directly with our PPM experts.