11 popular Project Management methodologies for the digital-age Project Manager

PMP certification is all about following processes as laid down in the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK®). There are several project management methodologies which project managers across the world adopt to meet their stakeholder requirements.

Each project management methodology has its own unique traits, merits and demerits which makes it suitable for specific projects. If you are a recently Project Management Institute qualified Project Management Professional (PMP) or a candidate undergoing PMP certification Training the sheer number of project management methodologies itself can numb your senses and dampen your enthusiasm.

Fret not, I got you covered. In what it to follow, I am going to explain in a quick shot manner 16 popular project management methodologies. These bite-sized descriptions will further your expertise in picking the right methodology for any give project.

Adaptive Project Framework (APF)

In one line: Projects is reviewed and improvised at every progressive stage.

The project manager reviews and reassess the project scope, sets revised project goals and reassigns resources if required for delivering the best possible value to stakeholders.

Agile

In one line: The most popular of all present day project management methodologies. Period.

Focuses on adapting to rapidly changing business environments, leverages the opportunities that change gives through collaboration of a dynamic and flexible team. Stakeholders have access to project scope and progress at all stages for implementing improvisations through team discussions for best project results.

Benefits Realization

In one line: Call it a fixed goal project management methodology.

Suppose a client hires you to complete a project goal like to build a CRM software that spikes sales by 15%, the project is considered incomplete until this goal is achieved. Realizing the desired benefit is the only objective in this project methodology.

Critical Path Method

In one line: Driven towards completing the project in the shortest time possible by completing the most critical and essential tasks first.

Identifies the most important tasks first thing in project planning, devises the best and quickest way to achieve them through continuously revisiting dependencies, deadlines, milestones and deliverables.

Extreme Programming

In one line: Efficiency is the gold standard.

The entire project team focuses on completing the project within the quickest time frame. Further updates are achieved through frequent updates. Team focuses on maximum collaboration and efficiency to avoid low-quality deliverables even under tight deadlines.

Kanban

In one line: Resembles the old fable of slow and steady wins the race.

Project Managers use conventional board for planning, sticky notes for follow ups and adhere to a continuous workflow. Every stage of the project is monitored for progress to find out process problems that need to eliminated or improvised. Areas where time is abnormally wasted are spotted and processes reengineered for improving productivity.

Lean

In one line: Less is more.

Lean project management focuses on achieving the project goals using the most minimal resources of high-value and high-quality. In other words, Lean projects are highly used where resources like money, manpower and time are scarce in supply. Lean Project Management is deployed by continuously improving processes, reducing budgets to deliver value to customers at minimal costs.

PRINCE2 (Projects In Controlled Environments)

In one line: governed by the end objectives of defined objectives, targeted customer groups, measurable benefits and accurate cost predictions.

PRINCE2 follows the principle that every project delivers business value to customers or stakeholders. Every project has clear cut objectives meant for targeted customers for whom realistic benefits will be achieved through accurate cost estimation.

Scrum

In one line: New-age methodology that focuses on collaboration, focus and productivity.

Almost similar to Agile methodology but not resembling either. Teams work in between project milestones in sprints to accelerate project completion through improved productivity and team collaboration. Testing is done and mistake clarified on the go before final launch.

Six Sigma

In one line: Focuses on overall improvement of project quality through eliminating bugs.

A six sigma qualified project indicates that the project is 99.99966% free of bugs and errors. The entire project process is analyzed for loopholes before execution which brings down the bug rate substantially.  

Waterfall

In one line: Broken down into sequential tasks for accuracy.

Project milestones are broken down into several segments of sequence. Each milestone is assigned process to be followed, team members, tasks order and a definite deadline. Features extensive planning which makes timelines and budgets exceedingly accurate.

There you go folks! 11 popular project management methodologies which you must get used to become a perfect digital-age project manager.