Types of Project Management Methodology
Project management methodologies are the approaches that a business management unit may take to control, direct, organize and plan all the operations or activities of the organization. These approaches help the management team to specify the best, most effective and efficient way to initiate, plan and execute certain specific organizational operations (Baptista et al, 2016). Project management process is entirely rules by three main interdependent factors which are: the scope of the project, the time period scheduled to successfully complete the project and lastly costs of the project which include the costs of all the resources to be involved (Papke-Shields et al, 2017). The methodologies help employees or team member to be more efficient and more collaborative. This is simply because every member will have an idea of what is to be done when, where and by who. Well, it has been proven that most team projects as well as business organizations have become very successful after the use of project management methodologies to track and organize their organizational activities (Too and Weaver, 2014). In that case, there is a good number of project management methodologies that have been devised by business analysts and researchers. The common of them all include the following: Agile, waterfall or traditional, Critical Perth, PERT method, Scrum, Six Sigma, Critical chain, Prince2 among others. These are commonly used and very popular among many business organizations. In addition to that, these methodologies have proved to be effective and efficient in ensuring business continuity and success. In this assignment I will discuss four of the best methodologies that I think are suitable for the three business organization. However, I will choose the most suitable, effective and efficient methodology for each business according to its needs.
It is the simplest of all methodologies. It handles the project’s activities sequentially. This means that an activity can be done only if the preceding one is completed, i.e. stage by stage. This method requires that before the start of any project, all the requirements are listed and defined. Also, it requires that no changes should be made to the project end result or execution process during this period of defining the requirements (Špundak, 2014). In this methodology, the project team members are not allowed to go back to any management stage after the stage is completed. This means that in each stage, the members should ensure complete and thorough (100% successful) work is done before going to the next stage. In other words, the members should ensure that no room for error or change during the planning process which has to be followed to the letter.
Advantages
- It is simple and easy to understand
- Easy to manage
- No activity overlaps
- Excellent record keeping for future use
- It is able to show a clear picture of the final project result
Disadvantages
- No room for change once a stage is complete
- It is a very risky and uncertain method
- Relies heavily on the requirements made in the beginning
- Product testing can be done only at the end of the process
- A lot of uncertainty especially for the project team members
- When the client is sure about what they want. Has clear and fixed specifications and characteristics of the end result
- When the project is clearly simple and direct
- Effective for smaller projects where requirements are well understood by everyone involved.
This method’s main objective is to inflict change in an organization whenever possible. Therefore, I focuses on producing good quality results and collaborating with the product users. It is offers completely different opportunities to the project member contrary to waterfall methodology. The project members are able to correct possible mistakes made in previous stages of project process. Also, the client as the opportunity to make any changes desired at any time or stage of the project process (Kannan et al, 2014). The methodology requires that the tasks and activities to be executed and delivered as the project process demands. Therefore, this characteristics make it a flexible, frequented design and effectively building process that can deliver results in an efficient manner.
- Potential problems can be predicted before they happen
- Allows changes to be done in the middle of the process, i.e. even after the planning stage
- Testing is done after every stage (sprint) to ensure that the end result quality
- End product can be launched at any stage
- Does not stress on documentation which saves money and time
- Not suitable for large and complicated projects
- Offers opportunities to make changes during the process which increases the project delays and possible problems
- Does not stress on documentation therefore can be misleading in the future
- When quality of the end product is not very important
- When clients lack specifics of the end product and so can change the characteristics
- When the client has no clear picture of what product they want
- When the project members are skilled and adapted to change
Waterfall/Traditional Methodology
It is called the Projects In Controlled Environment, Second Version methodology. It is the most widely adopted project management method. It is basically used by individuals and business organizations over a wide range of fields like in industries and other public and private sectors. This method is flexible which reflects its support for any kind of project regardless of the type or scale (Tomanek and Juricek, 2015). In this method, the project team members are given their specific roles and responsibilities. It focuses on defining the project processes and ensuring that each stage is performed effectively.
- Is suitable for all sorts of projects, i.e. no matter the size, type and time period.
- It is possible for clients to engage or participate in the process
- Ensures consistent project process
- The team members have better control of the project progress at all times
- Capable of ensuring business justification
- It is costs effective
- It saves time
- The products can be tested at any stage of the project process
- Can cause adverse disagreements between the clients and project team members
The organization is has a small number of employees which indicates that it is also a small business. In addition to that, the project managers have a specific reason for wanting to implement a project management methodology. They would like to improve or develop their own careers as well as bring a positive change to the business and its operations. In that case, the best type of methodology suitable for organization A is the waterfall project management methodology. The conditions that that the business show are the same conditions in which the waterfall methodology can be used.With the use of the Waterfall methodology, the organization will face the following challenges, receive the following advantages and earn the following benefits.
Challenges faced in waterfall methodology
- Lacks and does not account for requirements gathering
- Project team members lack opportunity to test the product during the process
- Challenge when it comes to predicting the end product design, quality or appearance
- Lacks certainty when it comes to delivering the expected final product or even using the right project procedures.
Solutions to the challenges
- The method should allow product testing even when the project process is not over. Through this the developers will be able to access the quality of the product and check whether the right process is being used.
- All the requirements and expectations should be accounted for in details and documented
- Provides a platform for collaboration and participation in the beginning of the project process
- Implementation process saves money
- The process saves time
- Offers a chance to determine the actual project progress of since the expectations and requirements are specific and constant
- The whole project process is determined by the listed feature or requirements of the end product which enables the developers to be certain of the product that they are yet to produce.
- The results in each stage are used as testing of the end product even though the testing is not actually done
- The project developers are more focused and determined because they already have a picture of what to come up with.
- Create a team of specialist and experts with experience in the organizational fields
- Revisit the organizations needs and requirements listed in the document
- Execute the organizational demand
The organization desires a project management methodology that will cater for its project manager to project manager or project to project needs. The organization has a medium or fair number of employees which makes it a fairly large business. It may not have specific requirements or features of management methodology end results. Basically, this means that the business is capable of making changes during the project management process. Therefore, the best and most suitable methodology for organization B is the PRINCE2 methodology. This specific methodology cab be used in different types and sizes of business organizations. Also, it is suitable for achieving any objective set (Al Matari, 2014). The methodology also allows the change of product’s end result at any point of project management stage.With the use of the PRINCE2 methodology, the organization will face the following challenges, receive the following advantages and earn the following benefits.
Challenges in PRINCE2 Project Management Methodology
- The possibility of changes being made compromises with the quality of the end product
- There are challenges when the changes made affect the set budget and the time period of the whole project
- Challenges when it comes to producing the perfect anticipated product
- More testing is required during the process and in every stage of implementation. This includes checking and rechecking the steps and every activity involved in the process.
- Avoid frequent requirement and feature changes. This can be done in the initiation stage whereby the stakeholders and business owners ensure that every requirement is included right from the beginning
- Acquiring or using tolerable experts who are ready to accept change at any stage and any time
- Ensuring that the project members or developers have more control of the project and especially the scope of the project
Benefits Associated with PRINCE2 Methodology
- It saves time
- It saves money
- Produces quality and reliable product
- Encourages openness and clarity
- Can be applicable in any business or project type or size
- Encourages stakeholder and business owner involvement and participation
PRINCE2 Methodology Implementation Plan
- Devising the implementation plan
- Analyze and evaluate the business case, i.e. according to the organizational requirements and demand
- Creating a support team e.g. consultants and experts
- Identifying and developing the required resources
- Securing Buy-in by identifying the benefits, advantages and possibility of other issues arising
- Identifying the tools and techniques to be used
- Execute the plan itself
This is the largest organization among the three of them. It has a large number of employees which indicates its large size. The business has been using a specific standard methodology for a while now. This methodology is probably being controlled by the technological resources and devices that the business is using.This technology devices may include ant equipment or software systems. Therefore, the project management would certainly want to change the current organizational methodology. The purpose is to improve the business operations in any way possible. However, they project team managers do nave any specific development change. In that case, the best suitable methodology is the Agile project management methodology. This methodology specializes mostly on software development which means the improvement of an organization’s technology (Špundak, 2012). The methods will be able to build, upgrade or install improved technological devices or software systems (Quist, 2015). This method also allows the change of or interference from the clients. This gives the project team managers to make changes of exactly what they what as the end product. With the use of the Agile methodology, the organization will face the following challenges, receive the following advantages and earn the following benefits.
- Lack of enough testing coverage. This challenges develops from the frequent requirement changes that the project undergoes.
- Maybe costly sometimes. This simply happens when the clients change the system’s requirements often which can be expensive.
- Project procedures sometimes interrupt the productivity procedures
- Lack of effective and efficient communication between the business stakeholders and business owners (Conforto and Amaral, 2010).
- Challenge in adapting to business requirement changes.
- Encourage cooperation and collaboration to overcome any potential change
- Working a s a team with the aim of producing the new process or procedure that will cater for everyone’s needs
- Include the business stakeholders in every phase of the project methodology implementation plan
- Encouraging the stakeholders and business holders to provide all the needed requirements during the initiation stage to reduce future possible of requirement change.
- Produces high quality end product
- Better chances of reducing risks
- Offers better and increased project control
- Offer better and increased customer satisfaction
- Encourages collaboration and participation, morale and ownership
- Offers an opportunity to predict future physical appearance and quality degree
- Decide if the process is the right methodology for the organization
- Hiring a manager to take control of the management process of the specific business
- Involving willing and exciting team of employees
- Engage in team empowerment and self-organization
- Encourage discipline and positive attitude
- Ensure that every employee is aware of the methodology change
Advantages
Implementing project management is a very important process and aspect of ensuring that a project is successful and that it has achieved its objectives and goals. Through project management implementation, the project managers are able to organize, direct and measure every activity involved in a project. This is simply because there will be application of skills, knowledge, tools and techniques that are required in achieving any project’s objectives and goals.
Some of the people that are involved in a project management methodology implementation are: project managers, stakeholders, users, project sponsors, expert consultants, business owners among other things.
For an implementation methodology to be successful, there should be a plan to be followed. The plan consists of specific stages that are to be executed one after the other. Therefore, each step should be completed before the next begins. The stages are:
Initiating- This involves defining of the whole project and obtaining any permission from authority to start the project from people in charge. This means that a project ides is presented, analyzed and evaluated in details to be able to determine whether it will be beneficial to the organization or not (Kerzner, 2013).
Planning- In this stage, the project managers and project team members have to decide the project scope, set objectives and goals of the project, activity schedules, divide the roles and responsibilities, come up with a budget estimate, list all resources that may be needed to name just but a few things. In addition to that, the team has to list and define the best courses of action to take in order for it the project to achieve its objectives (Martens and Carvalho, 2017).
Execution- This is the phase of actual action. The project team members puts into action the activities and ensuring their performance.
Monitoring and controlling- This involves the reviewing and tracking the progress of the project development. The mistakes and problems are identified, solutions sort among other things(Kerzner, 2013). In this stage, the previous steps are reviewed to ensure that they have followed the whole plan. Also, this stage ensures that the project was completed within the set budget, time and scope. In other words, this stage is responsible for ensuring schedule control, good quality, risk control and other responsibilities (Chin et al, 2012). The project managers basically compare the status of the completed project with the status or plan of the actual project.
Closing- this involves finalizing of the project activities. The client is supposed to approve the project outcome and performance. In addition to that, an evaluation should be done by the project managers to be able determine whether the objectives are met and if not, learn from the experience.
References
Al Matari, A., 2014. PRINCE2 and PMBoK: Towards a Hybrid Methodology for Managing Virtual Projects Master–Thesis.
Baptista, A., Santos, F., Páscoa, J. and Sändig, N., 2016. Project Management Methodologies as Main Tool for Current Challenges in Global Economy Driving Historical Changes. Journal of Advanced Management science, 4(2).
Chin, C.M.M., Spowage, A.C. and Yap, E.H., 2012. Project Management Methodologies: A Comparative Analysis Participation. Journal for the Advancement of Performance Information & Value, 4(1).
Chin, C.M.M. and Spowage, A.C., 2010. Defining & classifying project management methodologies. PM World Today, 12(5), pp.1-9.
Conforto, E.C. and Amaral, D.C., 2010. Evaluating an agile method for planning and controlling innovative projects. Project Management Journal, 41(2), pp.73-80.
Hwang, B.G. and Ng, W.J., 2013. Project management knowledge and skills for green construction: Overcoming challenges. International Journal of Project Management, 31(2), pp.272-284.
Kannan, V., Jhajharia, S. and Verma, S., 2014. Agile vs. waterfall: A comparative analysis. International Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Research, 3(10), pp.2680-2686.
Karaman, E. and Kurt, M., 2015. Comparison of project management methodologies: prince 2 versus PMBOK for it projects. Int. Journal of Applied Sciences and Engineering Research, 4(5), pp.657-664.
Kerzner, H., 2013. Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Martens, M.L. and Carvalho, M.M., 2017. Key factors of sustainability in project management context: a survey exploring the project managers’ perspective. International Journal of Project Management, 35(6), pp.1084-1102.
Mir, F.A. and Pinnington, A.H., 2014. Exploring the value of project management: linking project management performance and project success. International journal of project management, 32(2), pp.202-217.
Papke-Shields, K.E. and Boyer-Wright, K.M., 2017. Strategic planning characteristics applied to project management. International Journal of Project Management, 35(2), pp.169-179.
Quist, C., 2015. Benefits of Blending Agile and Waterfall Project Planning Methodologies.
Schwalbe, K., 2015. Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Singh, R. and Lano, K., 2014. Literature Survey of previous research work in Models and Methodologies in Project Management. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 5(9), pp.107-122.
Špundak, M., 2012, January. Defining a Conceptual Categorization Model for Agile Software Development Projects. Project Management Institute.
Špundak, M., 2014. Mixed agile/traditional project management methodology–reality or illusion? Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 119, pp.939-948.
Stare, A., 2014. Agile project management in product development projects. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 119, pp.295-304.
Tomanek, M. and Juricek, J., 2015. Project risk management model based on PRINCE2 and SCRUM frameworks. arXiv preprint arXiv:1502.03595.
Too, E.G. and Weaver, P., 2014. The management of project management: A conceptual framework for project governance. International Journal of Project Management, 32(8), pp.1382-1394.
Turner, R., 2016. Gower handbook of project management. Routledge.
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