What is project management?
Wikipedia defines project management as “the discipline of initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet specific success criteria.” This project-based management process has been increasing in popularity at the workplace; with people even considering it as a full-time career. In fact, there will be a demand for 87.7 million project managers by 2027, according to a report by Project Management Institute. Project managers are required to have a variety of skills including technical knowledge of how to complete a project, sharp business knowledge, communication skills, and leadership skills.
In business, project management is usually all unique operations that are conducted to meet specific goals. Some project management examples could include redesigning a website, email marketing to drive more leads, planning community events, and more. All of these types of projects require a team of people who each play an important role in the project management process.
Benefits of project management
Both teams and individuals can benefit from project management principles. Using a project management methodologies can help lessen risk, improving the chances of success.
Here are just a few of the benefits you will notice when implementing project management methodologies:
1. Maintaining the schedule – Project management methods allow the managers to include a start and estimated completion date for various projects and tasks they delegate to the employees. The details added in the system alert the employees involved regarding the approaching deadlines, enabling them to devote their time judiciously to finish the tasks before or on the mentioned due date.
2. Keeping track of the development of projects – Project management systems offer the manager and employees with the details on the progress of different projects. The methodologies adopted allow the manager to understand what’s been done, and by whom, and what still needs to be accomplished. Employees share frequent updates regarding what they’re working on and share their updates with the project manager and other team members.
3. Offering a snapshot – When informing new members and acquainting them to projects your organization delves into, the project management system provides a snapshot of the project that you can share with the new members. The snapshot lets the employees view the project from start to finish, offers them background details and lets them understand how the project will pan out.
Project Management Methodology
Simply put, a project management methodology (PMMs) is a model for project managers to follow for the planning, design, and implementation of their projects. Having a team of professionals to shape a project isn’t as simple as one would think. However, adopting a project management methodology can assist to develop your project as a precisely structured and streamlined process. It makes the process of collaboration between the employees more effective.
Every project manager knows that selecting the right methodology is crucial. While there are many project management methodologies to choose from, we have outlined and listed the most popular methods used today that can help encourage your employees to stay ahead while working on different projects.
14 Project Management Methodologies That Help Employees Stay On Track
1.Rapid Applications Development (RAD)
This is a project management technique that is perfect for employees working in a software development team. This method allows interaction through specific structured techniques.
The team of employees who adopt this process, develop prototypes to identify the requirements of the users and refine their designs. They carry on with this process many times while the development process is still underway to enhance the quality of the product and the user experience.
This RAD methodology is best for the teams that don’t need to go through prolonged interactions and the development of intricate functions. The teams using this method are efficient at rapid development cycles and light applications.
2. Agile project management
Often employees within an organization have to take care of the projects with a certain speed and flexibility; this is when it’s ideal to opt for the agile project management method. With the help of this technique, project managers can divide the milestones, as well as decipher how efficiently the employees involved with a particular project have collaborated with one another.
Usually adopted for in-house teams, this method was developed for projects where there is no need to exert control over the deliverables. If you have a team of employees who are enthusiastic and communicate freely and easily, then this technique of project management is ideal for them because team members can quickly adapt to things as required, throughout each step of a particular project.
3. Traditional Project Management
This method enables the team of employees to adopt the classic approach. And the traditional method works rather well because it evaluates the various steps that are necessary to complete the project successfully, and offers a technique to supervise and checks for the completion of the entire project.
When the project is still underway, it is the responsibility of the project manager to offer proper training and feedback to the employees working on it. This allows the project to present the desired results.
Now, this process may come across as quite simple and straightforward, But this technique would be particularly ideal for the businesses that have small group settings, and the members working on a project don’t have to rely on each other to finish the project on time. In this type of project management, the communication and interaction between the team of employees should stay limited, so that it goes smoothly.
4. New Product Introduction (NPI)
Project managers and leaders often adopt this methodology to specifically concentrate on some steps of a project, instead of paying attention to the management of the whole project. For instance, the team’s responsibilities are working with this method does not devote too much time to planning out the steps and distribution of budget on various projects. Rather they work on maintaining a steady communication with all stakeholders involved with a project.
This strategy is effective in case of product-based teams because NPI managers guide single products through their entire process of development. These managers build teams from different departments of an organization. With the team of employees, they give shape to a product all the way, until it gets launched.
5. Waterfall Project Management Methodology
The waterfall technique of project management is an extension of the framework of the traditional method.
In this approach, the team of employees working on a specific project depends on the completion of other responsibilities before their particular responsibilities can be taken care of. Hence, the particular tasks within the project must be done by following a sequential order, and it is mandatory that the team members liaise with one another.
In the waterfall method, every team member contributes to achieving the goals and completing the project, and as they get done with their tasks, they allow other team members to focus on theirs, which further enables them to work on the bigger tasks.
The team size for this type of project management tends to grow as the project progresses and this is when the bigger tasks become a possibility. As the opportunities come to the fore, new team members are given the responsibility of handling additional tasks. The specific timelines and dependencies of the project have to be traced extensively.
6. Critical Path Method
Critical path technique follows a series of steps method that is ideal for projects that have specific tasks that are co-dependent.
With this system of methodology, the interdependent activities for a project can be handled easily. The work can be divided with the assistance of a structure that determines the timeline required for the completion of each of these activities, their milestones, and deliverables.
This type of project management style defines the non-critical and critical activities that are crucial for the project by identifying which ones will take the longest and shortest time to finish various tasks. This project management style is generally adopted by manufacturers and scientists, due to the increased emphasis on the task duration.
Prioritizing and evaluating the tasks leads to a faster completion. Project managers can come up with an appropriate description of the duration of the project. This allows the managers with the scope to finish the task in the fastest possible time by focusing on the “critical” tasks first and allowing inter-dependent tasks to begin.
7. Rational Unified Process Methodology
Rational Unified Process (RUP) is a project management method that is normally associated with software development projects.
This repetitive system enables the cyclical projects, which need beta testing or feedback from the users of the project, which may create an impact on the product and change the production.
RUP project management resembles the waterfall method in its treatment, the only exception being there is a great emphasis on transitioning the project when each cycle comes to an end, where users will be assessing and reviewing its performance.
The RUP method makes way for the development of a project and is instrumental for rapid growth and expansion. When utilized for software development, users can report bugs or present their recommendations that could influence the project and change the course of its development.
8. Adaptive Project Management System
This type of project management framework does exactly what the name suggests. In this method of project management, the scope of a given project tends to differ.
While the timeframe required finishing the project and the cost of the project remains constant, the scope of the project can be altered when it’s still in progress. Organizations generally adopt this process to derive the maximum value of every project they undertake, as and when new ideas or opportunities are presented during the project is underway.
9. PER (Packaged Enabled Re-engineering)
Project managers engage their teams of employees by utilizing the PER project management framework to redesign a system or product from scratch. By adopting a fresh perspective on an organization’s offerings and revamping them entirely, the team of employees working on this type of project management technique is capable of ditching the archaic assumptions and organizational practices.
The managers working with this methodology support the companies to maintain their commitment to growth by keeping track of the employees with regular reviews on the process of modification.
The managers who have adopted this method of project management are known to maintain and nurture corporate cultures that promote innovation and also allows other people within the company to discard the traditional ways of doing things. With this efficient method, organizations can adapt to various changes rapidly in keeping with the consumer demands and elevate their ROI.
10. Extreme Project Management Methodology
Extreme project management technique is developed to decrease the time of each recurring cycle that comes with a specific project, dividing these cycles into daily or weekly tasks.
Irrespective of whether a cycle of the project has been completed or not, managers working on this system often provide a name or number to it. The projects under this type of management method need to be updated continuously. The managers take these updates into account, and at this point, user requests can be considered for including in the future cycles.
11. Six Sigma
Originally created by the Motorola company, this highly-disciplined project management system was used to eliminate defects. The company wanted their services and products to adapt and absorb their original specifications completely throughout the entire procedures of design, production, and delivery.
However, some experts believe the Six Sigma system to be more of a tool for quality control than an actual project management methodology, owing to its ability to collect data and enhancing the processes. Ideally, organizations adopt this technique to elevate efficiency, boost productivity and maintain uniformity of products for presenting them to the consumers.
The teams working on this Six Sigma system adopt the five crucial steps, which are collectively known as DMAIC-S:
- Define the needs of the consumers. By recognizing and registering the ideal customers and deciphering how to cater to them, managers can redefine the scope and purpose of a specific project.
- Measure how a certain process has worked out. By developing appropriate metrics for deriving data on productivity, managers can understand how well a methodology takes care of consumer needs.
- Analyze common issues. Six Sigma managers assess performance gaps to identify their causes and support their observations with concrete evidence.
- Improve systems. The employees following this method have to design, examine, and execute new systems to solve the causes of systemic problems. They continue to refer to the details that came up in their evaluations of these solutions.
- Synergize the outcomes throughout the organization. The managers using this technique know that the slightest alteration to one area of operations impacts all other segments of a business, to some extent. The managers describe their experience and knowledge that they have accumulated from an optimization cycle with their colleagues and superiors from other departments.
Some project managers implement DMAIC method without using all the Six Sigma management strategy. They utilize this data-driven technique to optimize, enhance, and stabilize their processes, designs, and systems.
12. Critical Chain Project Management
Critical chain method presents an amalgamation of PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) and critical path project management techniques.
Using this method, project managers can set goals and gather the team of employees as per their budget or depend upon other project constraints. Unlike the critical path project management that decides the shortest possible project length, project managers use their data to look for areas where cost savings are possible. Eliminating sections and altering the elements of projects is rather common.
Critical chain project management is also extremely prevalent in various competitive industries. Many electronic device manufacturing companies use this style to cut the costs.
13. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
PERT is the short form of Program Evaluation and Review Technique and is often combined with the Critical Path method. Generally, businesses delving into developmental processes and manufacturing are known to generally apply this project management technique. It is specifically beneficial for businesses which are planning to expand in future.
Project managers and his team of employees are expected to distinguish between various events and determine the progress of tasks and activities being accomplished. By thoroughly assessing and assuming the time it should take for each event to get over, the manager can then easily set realistic timelines and budgets for such aspects of the project.
14. Crystal Project Management System
The crystal project management method emphasizes the communication between the members of a team and does not prioritize the project processes and tasks. The project is based on the abilities and interactions between the people involved with the particular project.
This method is often used in projects with team members having some creative talents. The projects are more flexible and unique as it focuses on the traits and skill-sets of team members.
Transform your business
Adopting proper project management methodology is crucial for businesses to thrive. Applying the right method for your business will transform the way your team of employees liaise, carries on with the tasks, and achieve project milestones.
Here at Deputy, our mission is to help improve the lives of employers and employees, using technology to transform operations and help businesses thrive.
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