Project Management Approaches : Project Management Methods

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Project Management Approaches : Project Management Methods

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Project Management Approaches : Project Management Methods

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Question:
Describe about the Project Management Approaches for Project Management Methods.

Answer:

Introduction
Project Management refers to the set of methods and guidelines to define the activities that must be followed during the project timeline in order to effectively manage the project. There are a number of different approaches that can be followed to manage the projects and the selection of the same depends upon several factors such as duration of the project, project domain, project budget, resources that are involved and likewise.
Project Management Approaches
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)
PMBOK is a project management methodology that defines the several phases of managing a project to the Project Manager. It defines what all activities must be accomplished by the project, what must be deliverables of the project, what all controls must be applied and many more (Duncan, 2016). There are a number of phases in this methodology that make it easy for the Project Managers to follow a defined path. The three broad phases in PMBOK are initiation phase, intermediate phases and the final phase ((Project Management Institute, 2016).
Pros:
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) breaks down the project in a number of steps which makes it easy for the manager to implement the strategy in a more effective manner
The activities and strategy that is suggested in PMBOK is not specific to a particular industry or a particular project domain. It can be used across all the different industries regardless the nature of the project
Standardization of the processes in a project is a prime necessity for all the businesses and the same is provided by the activities that are covered under PMBOK
Cons – PMBOK does not completely adhere to the stages that are defined under the standard Project Life Cycle (PLC). There may be scenarios where the organizations may prefer the standard PLC processes over the stages defined under PMBOK

Projects In Controlled Environment (PRINCE2)
PRINCE2 is a structured project management methodology that defines the stages to manage the project. There are a number of different stages that are present under this particular approach to manage the projects.

Figure 1: PRINCE2 Stages (Nielsen, 2016)
Pros:
PRINCE2 is a process based methodology that makes sure that it covers all the measures that may aid a project team in case of a deviation. There is always a mechanism present under this methodology to provide a solution to an issue during the project timeline.
PRINCE2 is extremely low on cost as the methods that are defined under it are free from the licensing fees and other overhead costs.
PRINCE2 is a mature methodology that is present in the field since more than three decades. There are a number of projects that have been managed by this methodology that have been completed with success. There is also a huge database for reference that can be utilized by other projects (Chandana, 2016).
Cons:
The Project Manager is more of a mediator between the project team and the project board. All of the activities flow between these two parties.
There is a lot of documentation that is covered by this methodology. Some of it may become unnecessary for a certain set of projects.
Agile Project Management
Agile Project Management is a value based project management approach that works on the ad-hoc basis (Cohn, 2016). It is an iterative-incremental approach that makes sure that the entire team involved with the project is integrated as a whole. The top level managers, project board, project manager, resources and the customer itself are closely integrated to have frequent communication between each other to maintain extreme level of transparency and clarity in the project (Cervone, 2016).
Pros:
The first and the foremost advantage of using Agile Project Management is the highest level of customer satisfaction that comes easy with this methodology. The customer is involved at all the times in this methodology which ensures that the project proceeds as per the expectations of the customer.
The product quality that is delivered by this management methodology is also supreme.
The risks that are associated with the project are also reduced in this case leading to better project control and improved project predictability
Cons:
There is no defined direction provided to the team members which may cause a state of confusion among the team.
Resource allocation and allocation of roles and responsibilities is also not an extensive part of this approach

Comparative Analysis of the three Project Management Methodologies

Parameter

PMBOK

PRINCE2

Agile

Approach

Knowledge based methodology

Process based methodology

Value based Methodology

Methods and Phases

There are primarily three phases in this particular methodology as initiation, intermediate and final which broadly include planning, execution, and monitoring and closure activities (Nutek, 2016).

The stages in this methodology include project initiation, planning, execution, delivery, monitoring, control and closure.

There are no defined stages in this methodology but can broadly be grouped as Analysis, execution, delivery with a constant evaluation across all the phases.

Team Involvement

The primary focus in this methodology is on the Project Manager and the responsibilities associated with the same. The roles and responsibilities of the team comes secondary

This methodology defines the role and duties of every single team member that is associated with the project

The team is integrated in to one single unit. However, there are no specific directions and allocations that are defined for the team.

Role of Project Manager

Project Manager in case of PMBOK is held responsible for every single activity that goes wrong during the project timeline. The issues such as schedule or budget overrun or other major to minor risks are accountable by the Project Manager itself. The ownership of these risks is also included in the Project Manager’s role.

The Project Manager in case of PRINCE2 is more of a mediator between the board members of the project and the team members that are involved. In case of an issue or a deviation, the team reports the same to the PM who takes it forward to the project board. The board comes up with a resolution which is communicated to the team via PM (Saad, 2016).

The Project Manager is responsible for the daily scrum meetings and is also responsible for the conversion of the requirements in the project backlogs in the practices. PM is the chief motivator for the team members in case of the agile methodology.

Scope for Changes

There is a moderate level of scope for the changes to be implemented in the projects managed by this methodology. However, Change Management is one of the major knowledge areas that are explored by PMBOK which allows the changes to be made up to a certain level.

This one is a process based approach and the next process in the cycle begins only after the one prior to it is successfully completed. This feature makes it difficult in incorporate the changes.

It is extremely flexible in nature and thus allows the changes to be implemented easily at any of the project stage with least amount of re-work.

Feasibility Study

It is included in the initiation phase of the project before the creation of the Project Charter document (Zandhuis, 2016).

It is not explicitly executed in the project timeline.

Terminology

There is a different set of terminology that is followed in this methodology with the major terms as Project Charter Document, Cost/Benefit Analysis, Feasibility Study and many more.

Some of the major terms that are used in this methodology include Project Brief, Risk Analysis, Project Delivery and many others.

Sprints, Backlogs, Scrum, Work-set etc are the basic terms that are used in case of the Agile Methodology.

Project Management tools/systems
Work breakdown structure
In a project, work breakdown structure can be used to perform following functions:

Helps in planning a project by breaking down key activities into more manageable and smaller work units.
The smaller units of work help in finding out number of staff hours required to perform a task.
Allocation and delegation of responsibility in order to achieve a task.
Sequencing and scheduling the execution of different events in order to improve the effectiveness of time allocated to the activity.
Implemented as a base of financial execution reporting.
Management of project risks.

Gantt chart
The Gantt chart allows to plan a timescale of the project which helps in estimating the resources required to perform a task. Work Breakdown Structure can be integrated in a project to prepare a Gantt chart. The dates and duration elements of this chart helps in planning, coordinating and tracking keys tasks of the project (Swan, 1942). They are good for small projects but for lengthy projects the tool becomes a poor time management tools.

Critical path analysis
As mentioned in last section that, Gantt charts do not provide desirable results for lengthy projects then critical path analysis can be used to provide a more logical sequence and timing of each activity. It provides an effective time management and communicate interdependency for large sized projects. They can be used along with Gantt chart as this analysis can be highlights those activities which are critical activities. The critical path is the longest duration of completing a project. This tool also highlights float times of all the involving activities. In addition to this, the tools can be used for effective management of resources where in they can be de-allocate from non-critical to critical activities (Woods, 1969).
PERT (Project Evaluation and Review Techniques)
PERT provides better time estimation for the project by calculating for uncertainty in finding task durations. This will help the project manager to estimate the worse, best and most likely duration of time for each activity. It identifies interrelationships among different activities like Critical Path Analysis. Similarly, it plans and allocates resources to each activities. It can be easily integrated with work breakdown structure and Gantt chart.
Gates and milestones
Milestones define major interim goals of the project and Gates depict the major objectives which can be accomplished at different stages of a project. They act as key deliverables of the project thereby keeping stakeholders and team on track. However, they are difficult to follow during the course of project execution.
Project management system
A project should always contain a set of objectives to measure the performance of the project. Control is required to monitor the work which is to be done. A good control system ensures that right things are done at estimates point of time. The two crucial project management system which should be used are conformance management and performance management system. Conformance management system ensures that outcome of project stands on the technical / functional expectations of the clients for instance: clear instructions are being communicated, regular inspection and reporting and quality assurance contracts with suppliers, etc. Performance management system defines a measurement process to assess the project on the pre-defined outcomes. This system establishes the critical objectives of project i.e. time, cost etc. In addition to this, it focusses on achieving results and defines a clear boundary of authority and reporting.

Integration of project management tools or systems
All the above mentioned tools can be easily integrated with each other. Work Breakdown Structure and Gantt chart complements each other by utilizing the activities and time duration of one another. Similar, critical path can be defined on top of Gantt chart and provides the longest duration of project completion. Gantt chart defines the duration of each activity and critical path defines whether the activity is crucial or not and in turn Gantt chart decides upon the resources to be allocated to the activities.
Conclusion
An amalgamation of the best features of all these that would include a structured approach with a scope of value based processes along with required amount of documentation, low cost, risk analysis and estimation during the early stages of the project, feasibility study and an active customer involvement would be the apt project management methodology to adapt which will be applicable across all the industries and project domains.

References
Cervone, F. (2016). Understanding agile project management methods using Scrum. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from https://www.gbd.dk/files/649_Understanding_agile.pdf
Chandana,. (2016). Structure of PRINCE2: Its Benefits in Project Management. Simplilearn.com. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from https://www.simplilearn.com/prince2-structure-and-benefits-in-project-management-article
Cohn, M. (2016). Agile and the Seven Deadly Sins of Project Management. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/uploads/presentations/Agile-Seven-Deadly-Sins-Project-Management-PMI-2011.pdf
Duncan, W. (2016). https://www2.fiit.stuba.sk/~bielik/courses/msi-slov/reporty/pmbok.pdf. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from https://www2.fiit.stuba.sk/~bielik/courses/msi-slov/reporty/pmbok.pdf
Nielsen, K. (2016). PRINCE2 Friend or Foe? How the Two Complement Each Other Date: September 2013 Prepared by: Klaus Nielsen, Founding PRINCE2® and PMBOK Friend or Foe?. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from https://www.omniacademy.ma/pdf/PMBOK_Prince2.pdf
Nutek,. (2016). Project Management Body of Knowledge. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from https://nutek-us.com/PMBOK_Slides.pdf
Project Management Institute,. (2016). A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from https://www.cs.bilkent.edu.tr/~cagatay/cs413/PMBOK.pdf
Saad, S. (2016). PRINCE2 Methodology: An Innovative Technique of Project Management growing progressively across the globe.. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from https://cgr.umt.edu.pk/icobm2013/papers/Papers/IC3-Jan-2013-049.pdf
Swan, A. (1942). The Gantt chart as an aid to progress control. Journal Of The Institution Of Production Engineers, 21(10), 402. https://dx.doi.org/10.1049/jipe.1942.0031
Woods, C. (1969). Critical Path Analysis in Practice. Physics Bulletin, 20(4), 149-149. https://dx.doi.org/10.1088/0031-9112/20/4/022
Zandhuis, A. (2016). Guidance on Project Management. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from https://www.vanharen.net/Samplefiles/9789087538095SMPL.pdf

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