Project Management is a well-known term in the business world. It means organizing tasks to accomplish pre-set goals. The process includes identification of the problem, creation and execution of the plan, and measuring the performance.
Project Management methodologies provide us with an infra through which we can organize our tasks to accomplish our goals. They are also used to bring some hierarchical structure as well as cohesiveness in the workflow.
There is a wide range of project management methodologies, some are traditional (fixed), while some are modern (flexible) and there are times when managers get confused about which one should they go with?
Some of the popular project management methodologies are as follows:
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Agile methodology
The agile project management methodology is a result of growing dissatisfaction with the linear approach which was used by traditional management methodologies. It allows teams to make changes to their projects during the process and they do not have to wait till the end for making amendments to the project.
The best part about agile methodology is that it's quick, collaborative and open to data-driven changes.
It is mostly used for complex and large-scale projects because it enables teams to break tasks into small segments and to observe each one of them.
You can use agile methodology if your project requires changes frequently and need to be done quickly.
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Waterfall methodology
It is a traditional approach that involves a simple and stepwise approach to complete a particular project. The project managers are required to follow each step before moving onto the next one.It allows very little flexibility and completion of tasks must be done on time by team members.
The steps involved in the waterfall methodology are conception, initiation, analysis, design, construction, testing, deployment and maintenance.
The progress of steps in this methodology is unidirectional, just like a waterfall.
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Scrum methodology
Scrum is an agile project management methodology. It's more of a framework than just a project management methodology. Scrum divides work into short cycles known as "sprints" which often spans 1-2 weeks. For each sprint iteration, work is taken from the backlog.
For the course of the sprint, small teams are guided by a Scrum Master (who is not the same as the project manager), after which they evaluate their progress in a "sprint retrospective" and make appropriate modifications before moving on to the next sprint.
Scrum promotes creativity and also provides flexibility to change as per requirements. You can try this project methodology if you want a continuous improvement in the workflow.
By the way, Scrrum Lab's name is inspired by Scrum as you might have figured by now! 🙂
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Hybrid methodology
As the name suggests, it is the combination of agile and waterfall methodologies. It involves extensive analysis and documentation of waterfall methodology and adds it with the flexibility of Agile to create a new methodology that suits the project well.
It allows flexibility along with creativity. That's why it is used for most projects. The major factors due to which this methodology gained popularity is high client expectations, competitive markets and uncertainties of the projects.
There are no dependencies in this methodology as the projects can run in sequence as well in parallel to each other. Thus, the hybrid methodology allows overlapping of phases, without waiting for the completion of the previous projects.
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Kanban methodology
It is a Japanese term that means visual signs. It is derived from the production line of Toyota which involves a visual project management framework.
It is an efficient methodology because it allows team members to visualize the tasks and to get a better knowledge of the workflow.
Kanban demands project managers to draw three 3 columns (sometimes, even more, depending on the complexity of team structure and project requirements), which are to be labeled as 'To Do', 'Doing', and 'Done'.
It allows team members to observe where they are lagging, which tasks they have done, and which has not yet started. It allows flexibility to members as well as improves workflow.
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Lean methodology
The name of lean methodology is self-explanatory, which means it focuses on reducing waste. The basic motto is to maximize the value and minimize the waste in the process of manufacturing. Lean methodology is used in all industries and services, including the government and healthcare industry
This method bifurcates wastes into 3 categories i.e, Muda mura and muri.
The term Muda means waste, unemployment, and futility, as opposed to value addition. Mura means inequality, diversity, and the supernatural. Similarly, Muri means excessive weight, beyond his power, excess, impossible or unreasonable.
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Critical Path methodology
It involves mapping the whole tasks which are required to be done within the stipulated time frame. The critical path analysis then identifies and schedules all of the critical tasks related to the tasks. It is quite suitable for construction and manufacturing concerns.
The longest series of critical tasks becomes the critical path and managers are required to focus on these tasks only. And if they feel like they need additional resources to complete these critical tasks they are free to do so.
Conclusively, there is no hard and fast rule to select the perfect methodology. The managers are free to select them according to the demand of the task and accomplish the tasks effectively and efficiently.
