Variety of Project Management Methodologies: How to Pick the Best for Success?

A company’s productivity should not only be determined by how well it is performing presently. It goes far beyond that and should include its ability to predict and adapt to changes that might affect it in the future. Project Management Methodologies (PMM) are put in place to make sure of that.

PM Methodologies are the strategies or tools that companies could use to maximize on any of their projects. PMM is goal-specific. This means they can only be used in certain cases to provide the right framework and guidance until completion.

Today, Project Management Methodologies are gaining more popularity and will continue to do so. As such, there are numerous options out there that you can choose from. Since each PMM is unique, picking the right one for your project should be taken seriously.

Best Project Management Methodologies Examples

The current pandemic made it evident that certain company strategies might not always work. Due to COVID 19, many companies were forced to step back and evaluate the business models they currently had in place and this affected their turnover rates. PMMs allow companies to bypass any unfortunate outcomes that may arise due to unpredictable events. Let's look at some of the best practices today and what each one brings to the table.

Agile

Every project started by a company is defined. This could be in terms of:

• What the project aims to deliver,
• The strategies used to get the product to consumers, and
• How long it’ll take to get the product ready.

These questions usually have specific answers but this is not the case with Agile. It focuses on keeping the levels of productivity high at every step of the developing process. As a result, projects that are quite flexible can be completed swiftly without any hitches.

Agile is a great tool for projects that require a lot of team effort to complete. It provides the platform for projects that require a selective division of labor. Here, each team member has a specific role to perform, and this makes it very easy to spot and solve any problem before causing harmful causes to development.

Agile also reduces the degree of difficulty involved in performing the important tasks needed to complete the projects. It provides constant feedback and reduces the number of risks that could be potentially encountered. Additionally, you can find other Agile-based frameworks, for example, SAFe framework which brings other unique features to the table.

Scrum

Scrum is designed to help businesses tackle any issues that involve adapting to new trends or unexpected changes on the market. In order for Scrum to provide the best possible results, a Scrum master should be present. The role of a Scrum Master is simply to supervise or coach the teams during their work on the project. They ensure that any progress made by the team on any work is made known to the project owner until completion.

This solution is designed to be used by smaller teams, each having a few sets of goals to achieve. Smaller teams make it easy for the scrum master to supervise and keep track of what is going on and each aspect of the project could be effectively developed encountering minimal to no issues along the way.

The main downside to the PMM is that it cannot be adopted by a large team. Doing so would make it very difficult for the Scrum master to perform their duties which reduces the chances of success significantly. You can try the scaled Agile if you want to apply the methodology for a large organization.

Kanban

Kanban is a Japanese word that means “signboard”. This methodology is created to simplify work by making projects manageable:

• This is accomplished by understanding the demands or the goals set by the team and the resources available to achieve them.
• It works with visuals, primarily boards that are used to describe different tasks and the stage of development at which each one is.
• This system brings organizations to the workforce.
• Teams involved will know exactly what needs to be done and when.

The use of these visuals in some cases can be problematic. Projects requiring a lot of work, may not be suited for Kanban. Using visuals to represent a huge workload will lead to clutter and eventually confusion. Despite this, Kanban will continue to be a great choice. Because it is simple to implement, for example, blockchain development teams can make regular changes if they are required.

Waterfall

Waterfall is a very popular methodology and has been the go-to solution for many companies over the last few years. This is because of its versatility. In view of this, the software industry development has seen a surge in the popularity of this PMM. Mobile Banking apps or blockchain development are just a few examples of software development areas where Waterfall is very useful.

This methodology addresses each step of the development process, from the project's inception to its completion. This way the team can keep track of a project and identify any bugs in the process. It allows meticulous analysis and offers complete control to developers.

As such, all projects can be broken down and accessed which significantly reduces the chances of failure.

Due to the initial linear breakdown of projects, method’s trajectory might be changed during the development process. The inability to adapt to sudden changes is rather problematic because many projects face this issue.

Lean Development

Lead development aims at providing effective solutions primarily to the software development industry. The target of this PMM is to organize as many aspects of the development process as possible. Lean uses several principles to guide teams through projects.

These principles are reducing the level of waste. The development process should do away with any practices that don’t play an important role. By doing so, only the important aspects will be tackled and this improves results in the long run.

Other important principles of the Lean process include:

• Distributing important information to every party involved in the project,
• Speed and accuracy (delivering success in the shortest amount of time), and others.

Although the lean process works well in many aspects of project management and development,  it may face certain issues due to the direct involvement of shareholders.

Feature-Driven Development

Feature-driven development is a software development methodology that has been used since the late 90s. This method works by blending some of the most effective practices into one.

The end product is a model that has the right capabilities to help teams develop projects from the ground up. Another impressive feature of the system is its adaptability. Because of this, FDD is well suited for high-profile projects that cannot be handled by small teams.

Every step in the development process is well-defined and every team member has the opportunity to look at what needs to be done and how to accomplish it. It also lists important milestones which keep everyone involved working towards the main goal. Due to its nature, FDD may not be suited for projects under the development of smaller teams.

If you work with the Django framework, for example, your development requires a productive team and effective working environment where colleagues can show their full potential. Therefore, using PM methodologies like FDD in all operating processes will bring more results and profit.

Final Thoughts

The ways businesses are run will continue to change with the advancements made in technology. This means that the most successful business will have to have the ability to adapt to changes, which means having the right framework available to facilitate any sudden changes in any industry.

Project management methodologies have been used to help teams work efficiently towards a common goal. We have looked at some of the best practices and how they work to ensure success. So, what is the best one? There is no simple answer. The effectiveness of a PMM depends on the type of project or the size of the team developing it. It is very important to identify these before choosing the best solution. If you would like to know more about PMM and find out which framework suits your project, get in touch with us. We will help you with all your questions!

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