Project Management Approaches

Project Management Approaches

Business continuously faces complexity, which is continually changing, becoming a challenge for the success of many projects. Due to the complex nature of the business environment, project execution calls for proper project management skills. According to the Project Management Institute, Project management entails the use of and demonstration of adequate information, skills, tools, and techniques while executing business activities (Jensen, 2017). It enables a project manager to meet the requirement of the business and meet the goals and objectives. However, the success of these activities and the project at large depends on the application of one or various project management approaches or techniques.

The project management approaches exist in a variety. The development of various techniques and structures over the years provides no exact method for use. Therefore the plan the project managers choose must support and enhance the project objectives, its capabilities, and the activities of the project. Over the years, different methods have developed. However, only some get widely used. Some of these approaches include the Waterfall. Agile and Hybrid. Nevertheless, the Waterfall Approach is the widely used one due to its specifications and structural design on the importance of project execution.

Waterfall

It is also known as the traditional or phased approach. In this approach, the project is broken down into very distinctive steps with a very sequential format of application in executing activities or tasks of the project. The subsequent process takes the considerations of iteration of projects with the importance of communication and development of a quality plan attached to the success of the project (McCormick, 2012). Inadequate information and planning cause conflict of distinctive stakeholder’s objectives and reduced speculated requirements affecting the project timeline. The process starts from the development stage to the closing period of the project, which marks its completion. (Jensen, 2017). The project is most used and widely sort by many business analysts and project managers due to its ability and structured approach in tackling the complexity of the business. Through the specified iterations starting from the first process of identifying the project, which is the initiation process through the planning, execution, control, monitoring, and the project closing period. Through the layout and implementations specification of the iterations process with each iteration having to end and its success evaluated to warrant the execution of the next iteration process.

The layout emphasizes the ability and well skills of the business analyst to carry out proper communication and development of quality planning in the execution of the project. A project may end up failing to succeed if these essential qualifications do not become adhered to since various stakeholders have different and contradicting objectives that limit the execution of specific iteration, causing delays, which in turn cause failure of the project.

However, the approach is rigid to changes since once the project becomes initiated, no changes can happen to the phases taking a linear path with each iteration moving to the other (McCormick, 2012). Continuation of every step depends on the success and completion of another level. It is hard to introduce new changes or adopt new strategies once the project has rolled out since each step depends on each other, and the target is the end goal and the ultimate purpose of the project. Due to the rigidity to changes, the project works best in the smaller organization though also implemented into larger ones but proves challenging (Jensen, 2017). Transparent and fixed requirements and with changing resources depending on in-depth documentation

Advantages

The intuitiveness between the divisions of the stages makes it easy to apply and doesn’t require any experience in case of management change. Each iteration depends on the completion of the initial process; thus, there is no room for changing the end target of the process. Its rigid nature helps to improve the organization. The organization develops the need for excellence. Since failure in a step leads to the overall project failure causing rolling out of the project again,  causing strain on the limited resources and budget. Therefore each responsibility become executed with perfection. Where adequate data analysis gets done before running any step to define and avoid any risk through proper risk assessment and mitigation process Planning stipulates the requirements of each team involved enhancing results. Also, the emphasis is given on the documentation process for gathering and understanding requirements, making it easy for the flow and implementation of the project.

Disadvantages

Rigidity nature makes it hard to change a step in case of a mistake or risk occurrence prompting the start of a project all over again. The waterfall approach has limited ability to accommodate any new ideas to strengthen any step in the iteration process since it would change the entire execution of the project. This leads to the project to profoundly fail by not meeting its completion time. Also, due to dependence on the understanding and analyzing requirements of the project, managers means that inadequate skills lead to failure of the project. Lack of flexibility makes it a poor choice for the projects taking a long time and involving high complexity.

However, the nature of the project, which is the application to project with a short timeline and ability to perfect skills it suits well for use in our project. It entails planning to clear any ambiguous details with importance on effective communication among the stakeholders. The approach gives a chance for sharpening skills in the execution of the project. And due to its structure and layout, it provides an excellent opportunity for the project success without failure by not being influenced by circumstances to the project iterations. Moreover, given the market complex nature, the Waterfall offers the best way for mitigating complexities using them for the success of the business through execution of each stage at a time with every step being evaluated for success before executing another.

Consequently, proper management and good leadership on the project from the initiative coordinator is crucial when executing the undertaking. Project iteration is significant in the enterprise, and executing them with the timeline guarantees the success of the project. However, with the complexity of the business and the budget constraints, it’s important to have accountability in the market (Cohen, 2019). Waterfall ensures that all the requirements of the company are met with proper examination and evaluation of the iteration process through quality planning and enhancing leadership skills to coordinate and effectively communicate through the stakeholders McCormick, 2012). Through appropriate execution and requirements and adequate skills, the project timeline is met, leading to its success.

References

Cohen, E. (2019). The Definitive Guide to Project Management Methodologies. Retrieved from https://www.workamajig.com/blog/project-management-methodologies

Jensen, G. (2017). Top Project Management Approaches Explained [A Visual Guide]. Retrieved from https://guthriejensen.com/blog/top-project-management-approaches-visual-guide/

McCormick, M. (2012). Waterfall vs. Agile methodology. MPCS, N/A.