Understanding Project Methodologies

What is a Methodology?

In my quest to define methodology, I started by asking colleagues and associates some questions with the intent of "stirring the pot." I received at least 20 different definitions of what a methodology is and used only those definitions that seemed helpful. The questions I posed were: What is a methodology? Should there be many methodologies? Is one better than another? How would you know which phases to adopt? How can we apply these results to a project? The answers to those questions resulted in the following definition of a methodology:

A methodology is a set of guidelines or principles that can be tailored and applied to a specific situation. In a project environment, these guidelines might be a list of things to do. A methodology could also be a specific approach, templates, forms, and even checklists used over the project life cycle.

A methodology can also be defined in other ways; for example:

• A process that documents a series of steps and procedures to bring about the successful completion of a project.

• A defined process for accomplishing an end.

• A series of steps through which the project progresses.

• A collection of methods, procedures, and standards that define a synthesis of engineering and management approaches designed to deliver a product, service, or solution.

• An integrated assembly of tasks, techniques, tools, roles and responsibilities, and milestones used for delivering the project.

A formal project methodology should lead the work of all team members throughout the life cycle of a project. All members of a team should be familiar with and use the chosen methodology throughout their projects. Many project management methodologies address the management of a single project, without appreciating that many other projects in a company compete for the very same resources and attention. The project management methodology should also provide project managers with the perspective that there is a project management framework and associated methodologies present in the company. It may be useful to think about what a project management methodology is not:

• A quick fix.

• A silver bullet.

• A temporary solution.

• A cookbook approach for project success.

How Many Methodologies Are There?

There is no one-size-fits-all methodology. Some companies have methodologies that cover everything from an initial sales call to operational support, while others cover merely the aspect of design and development. Most published books discussing methodologies focus on one role—the IT community. These books elaborate on how specific IT designs should be performed, discussing a few techniques and a few drawing standards for a specific methodology. Fitting this into your company's idea of a project methodology framework is sometimes difficult to understand, impractical, and not always easy to implement.

There is an additional problem with the single universal project methodology approach. Many project managers have found that, in practice, you cannot simply use a methodology exactly as it stands. They soon realized that they needed to modify and tailor whichever methodology they selected to suit their own company project needs. They followed a "pick-and-choose" approach, using what they needed.

When examining methodologies later in this book, we see that a methodology is "larger" when it contains more elements. Because a methodology exists primarily for project managers to coordinate project team members, coordination is appropriately larger on a large project. The methodology grows proportionally to the number of roles and work product types. Therefore, we should not expect a small-team methodology to work properly for a big team, or a big-team methodology for a small team. Thus, you need to be practical about selecting an appropriate methodology.

Shortcomings of Many Project Methodologies

There are shortcomings to any methodology. Before we start by describing the best way to proceed with project methodologies, we need to first understand where methodologies can possibly go wrong. In my search for the über-methodology to recommend, I realized that many project methodologies:

• Are abstract and high level.

• Contain insufficient narratives to support these methodologies.

• Are not functional or do not address crucial areas (i.e., QA, CM, testing).

• Ignore the industry standards and best practices.

• Look impressive but lack real integration into the business.

• Use nonstandard project conventions and terminology.

• Compete for similar resources without addressing this problem.

• Don't have any performance metrics.

• Take too long to complete because of bureaucracy and administration.

Projects Influence Methodologies

Not one single project methodology can solve every project across all industries. For example, the Channel tunnel project linking the United Kingdom to France came with many problems and had major cost and schedule overruns. Project methodologies were developed to prevent such problems. Many project methodologies come close to preventing problems, and many are tailored to specific uses, but it finally boils down to applying solid project management principles. Methodologies affect project management; they affect any project universally in the sense that each methodology:

• Contains project phases.

• Measures progress.

• Takes corrective actions based on defects found.

• Assigns resources to various phases.

Project methodologies are useful to companies only when the tasks are appropriate and applicable. In many project studies, project plans are seldom updated. Why is this? Many projects focus only on satisfying clients during the initial deployment phases instead of conforming to the actual plan as the project proceeds throughout the project life cycle.

Defining a Project

Although this book focuses primarily on various project management frameworks and development methodologies, we first clarify what a project is—a temporary effort of work, a one-time event that meets the following criteria:

• Has a start and an end date.

• Has schedule, cost, and quality constraints.

• Is a unique endeavor and contains risk.

• Has a certain scope that needs to occur.

Typical everyday examples of where we could apply a project management methodology and a development methodology include:

• The development of a new freeway as part of an existing road network.

• The creation of a new business unit in an organization.

• The design and development of a new computer system.

• The search for a pharmaceutical drug for a life-threatening virus.

• The development of a naval or space vessel.

• The creation of a new political party.

Project managers should realize that any repetitive continuous process is not a project. They should be focusing on a one-time event. Traditionally, a business unit decides that an organization should develop a product and turns it over to the relevant project group to establish a plan and manage the project. Additionally, the project manager must ensure that the project actually fits into the project plan that was built. Executives or clients then routinely scrutinize this plan to check for variances and request the necessary corrections or deviations. Project management thus has an important role to play. Project changes and new requirements will always be present because of legislative, regulatory, technological, or new strategic initiatives. We see why in the next section.

Project Management Demystified

Before looking more closely at methodologies, we need to be aware of the key tasks that a project manager performs on any project. These are not all the objectives that you might encounter on a specific project, but the list will give you a basic feeling for what objectives are to be met.

Objectives	Responsibility	How
Obtain the user requirements	Analyst/PM, client	Interviews, URS
Define the project	PM, Client	Definition report, Business case, Feasibility study
Plan the project	PM	PBS/WBS, Gantt
Negotiate for resources	PM, Sponsor	Resource plan
Create the project team to perform the work	PM	Team contract, R&R
Execute the project, including changes	PM	Implementation plan, Change requests
Control and monitor the actual versus planned	PM	Status reports, Issue and Risk logs
Close the project and release the resources	PM, Client	Closure report
Review project and support postproject	PM, Client	Questionnaire review

Many companies don't have sufficient resources to perform multiple projects concurrently because of (1) turnover, (2) untrained staff, (3) unavailable staff, or (4) functional restrictions in their departments. It is important that project managers be aware of the resource commitments to other projects in their organization. A complete project management framework can determine these requirements upfront and well in advance of any crippling resource problems.

Project Management Responsibilities

Throughout the life of any project, project managers are responsible for the key areas. Some of these responsibilities, which tie in directly with any project methodology, follow:

• Obtain approval for the project to proceed.

• Determine the project scope and its feasibility to the overall business.

• Ensure the necessary project resources are identified and allocated.

• Plan the project to the relevant detail it requires.

• Ensure that the project methodology and associated processes are adhered to.

• Monitor the project in terms of cost, quality, and schedule.

• Identify and monitor project issues and risks.

• Provide updated reports and summaries to key stakeholders.

• Provide leadership to the project team.

Status of Projects Today

Across all industries—whether IT or construction—we are encountering many of the same problems time and time again, irrespective of geographic location. I have heard project managers in China, Brazil, Amsterdam, and Munich complain bitterly about similar issues on their projects. Problems such as cost and schedule overruns, poor sponsorship, no user involvement, and many other problems are encountered daily. These project managers either don't use their project methodologies effectively or don't use them at all. Project management is not simple; our primary role is to resolve or eliminate daily challenges. We now examine some of the universal challenges facing project managers.

Challenge	Questions Facing Project Managers
Competition gaining ground	How do we develop projects faster than before?
Constantly changing requirements	What do we need to meet both project and client needs?
Larger and more complex projects	How do we ensure quality is built into our projects?
Inaccurate designs	How do we ensure our methodology captures an effective design?
Ineffective documentation	How do we know which templates to use per project type?
Inadequate resources	How do we address resource requirements and plan for them?
Postproject support	How do we address handoff of our project to operations?