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7 Common Project Management Methodologies

Project Management methodologies

Look at any successful project and you’ll likely find a great team behind it. In addition, another important factor would be that the right project management methodology was selected to deliver the project. 

Much like building a house on unstable ground, a project is doomed to fall apart if the wrong management method is chosen. Fortunately, there are several common methods to explore, each one suited for various types of projects or environments. 

Common Project Management Methods

There are numerous project management methodologies, with new ones being developed all the time. Keep in mind this list isn’t exhaustive, and that there could be a project management method out there that’s an even better fit. That being said, here are the seven most common project management methodologies. 

Waterfall Project Management

When it comes to project management, waterfall is considered to be pretty oldschool by many. This method involves completing projects in stages that are reliant upon the previous step. 

This allows a team to dedicate all their attention on one thing at a time, but it also results in other teams waiting on the previous step to be completed. This can create a backlog or cause huge holdups, especially when it comes to software development. 

Agile Management 

Agile project management

Agile is about as far from waterfall management as it gets, as it emphasizes speed above all. While agile management isn’t an exact methodology, it is a guiding ethos for several other popular methods. Each of these agile offshoots focuses on speed and the ability to quickly pivot when necessary. 

Kanban 

Kanban is a type of agile management that focuses on efficiency. This efficiency is accomplished by looking at tasks and figuring out ways to streamline them. That, or if the task is necessary at all. This method is often used in factories or other consistent output-based environments, as you can easily streamline a process in these settings. 

Scrum

Scrum is another agile project management method. Unlike Kanban, Scrum’s all about speed and adaptability. To make this happen, Scrum often involves breaking projects into chunks, each tackled by small teams. These teams tackle their microprojects in short cycles known as sprints. After a sprint the teams all come together to see what worked, what didn’t, and decide if anything needs to be changed. 

The speed and adaptability of Scrum makes it great for software development. 

Lean management

Lean is a lot like Kanban in that it emphasizes efficiency. Where it differs is that it’s concerned more with the customer, not what happens behind the scenes. Kanban is used to figure out how a process can be made more efficient for the customer without hurting the overall experience. This makes it a great choice for retail outlets or other customer-facing businesses. 

Six Sigma Management

The Six Sigma method, while usable on its own, is often used after other methods. Six Sigma examines how the quality of the output can be improved, not how things can be faster and more efficient. This emphasis on quality makes Six Sigma a natural followup to a Lean or Kanban session, as those two styles can sometimes result in a less than satisfactory output.  

PRINCE2 Management 

PRINCE2 management is a detail-oriented style that looks at risk and efficiency over everything else. This incredibly scrutinous style is commonly used by private sector groups and governments, as it places safety and risk mitigation at the top of the priority list. 

Finding a Project Management Style that Fits

The pressure to pick the right project management methodology can be large, especially in the early stages of planning. Because so much of a project’s success rides on the method chosen, it’s important that you take your time and carefully research and evaluate your options.

To help you make the right choice, Fundera has created this helpful animation on project management methodologies. With the information of this guide and some additional careful research, your next project can be started on the right foot and find success!

Animated Infographic with compliments from Fundera

Project management methodologies

About Fundera:

Fundera is the go-to financial resource for small business—helping you to achieve your financial goals, and grow your business. 

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Project Planning Software – Gantt Charts or Kanban?

By Bryan Barrow

project planningWhen I started out in project management one of my first roles was to produce project plans on behalf of the team. I liked playing around with software packages and since I had never worked with project planning software before, I was more than happy spending time figuring out how to use it.

That was the first time that I’d really started to work with Gantt charting tools. The market has changed in many ways since then. The market is changing again.

Project Planning Software

Kanban tools have emerged from the growth in use of Lean and Six-Sigma. The market for Kanban based project planning software is heating up, with several products now becoming trend-setters. The question for you is: should you follow that trend?

There are three reasons why you should think very carefully before making a move away from using Gantt charts if you run a significant number of projects in your organisation.

#1 Scenario Planing, Forecasting, Trend Analysis

The first reason is scenario planning, forecasting and the ability to analyse trends. The real power of project planning software comes from its modelling ability. It is a power that for the past 20 years has been under-exploited.

Three key features of traditional tools are:

  • “What-if” scenario planning
  • Baselining
  • Earned Value

These are standard features for most traditional planning tools; we still need them.

#2 Dependency Management

The second reason is dependency management. Your projects are now more likely to be delivered in partnership with third parties than ever before. As a result your project is more likely now to need good dependency management than ever before, especially if there is a commercial or contractual impact. Few projects use software to map and manage dependencies. This is likely to get worse with a move to Kanban, not better.

#3 Resource Management

The third reason is the ability to plan and manage resources. Resource planning and management is the number one problem for many organisations. The delays caused by resource bottlenecks can be better managed only when you are able to see all the resource demands across your entire resource pool.

Part of the solution is for organisations to be more aggressive in chopping out projects that are not viable, but the other part is in better resource management. Tools which allow you to visualise and manage resources across your entire portfolio is the answer, not visual tools.

Why you need project software training, not new tools

The one thing that underpins effective use of project management software is training. Yet it is not unusual for someone to be given access to some software but no training to go along with it. As the use of Agile methods grows in the IT community the role of the project management specialist is going to decline and with it we will see a reduction in the number of people who have more advanced planning skills.

People are even less likely to receive training in project management software if it’s seen as something that a team of people can do by updating a wall chart or an online Kanban tool, but there’s a world of difference between a group of people independently updating a centralised tool and a specialist independently interpreting the results, assessing whether the project is on track and directing actions based on the results.

So if you’re thinking about swapping from using a planning tool that uses Gantt charts towards a Kanban-based project planning tool, think again. You may be surprised at what you’re already missing.

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About the author: Project leadership expert Bryan Barrow works with Project Management Office (PMO) Managers, Project Directors and organisations that need to deliver more of their projects on time and within budget, so that they achieve their strategic objectives. Barrow is the author of The Project Planning Workshop Handbook: How to Plan Your Next Project so it Gets Delivered.