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About this lesson

A methodology or system of project management helps those in the organization involved with projects to know what to expect.

Quick reference

Project Management Methodology

A methodology or system of project management helps those in the organization involved with projects to know what to expect.  The definition of best practices and templates will normally speed up a project and improve its overall quality.

When to use

A project management methodology is created by an organization to establish a pattern for a type of projects.  If your project fits that type, you should follow the pattern or methodology.

Instructions

  • When assigned to lead a project, meet with stakeholders to understand the goals, objectives, and constraints on the project.
  • Based upon those meetings, determine if your project fits the criteria of an established project management methodology in your organization.
  • If so, follow the methodology.
  • If not, determine if your project fits the criteria for a well-documented industry-standard approach.
  • If you have access to that approach, follow it.
  • If your project does not fit an established methodology, you will need to spend additional time and effort in the project planning and project control aspects of project management since there will likely be confusion about what should be done and how to do it.
  • The project management methodology includes the tools and techniques from the ten knowledge areas as applied to the five project management process groups that comprise the proejct lifecycle.

  • The project management methodolgoy is a component of the project management system which inlcudes the methodology and business resources and processes.

Hints & tips

To develop a methodology, consider industry best practices for the type of project and examples of that type of project in your organization that went well.

Do not automatically adopt the best practice written about in books or on blogs.  There is a culture that must accompany any methodology for it to be successful.  If your organization is a “hero-based” culture, don’t adopt a methodology that requires strict process discipline.  If your culture is data driven, rely on analytical project management approaches, not one that require extensive team meetings and integration activities.

For a methodology to succeed, senior management must understand the methodology and how they are to interact with projects.  Senior managers who routinely direct the project teams to do things that violate the methodology will ensure that the methodology is not followed.  If senior management wants to change the methodology, change it.  It is better to have an imperfect methodology that is followed than no methodology at all.

A Project Management Office (PMO) is often needed to ensure that the methodology is both kept current and that it is followed.  Many methodologies require elements of program or portfolio management and a PMO is almost always needed for that level of project management planning and control. 

Project Management Methodology Definition:  “A system of practices, techniques, procedures, and rules used by those who work in a discipline.”  PMBOK® Guide

Project Management System Definition:  “The aggregation of the processes, tools, techniques, methodologies, resources and procedures, to manage a project.”  PMBOK® Guide

These definitions are taken from the Glossary of the Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017.

Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Sixth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc., 2017, Figure 1-5 Page 18.

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  • 00:05 Hi, I'm Ray Sheen.
  • 00:06 Let's talk in this lesson about project management methodology.
  • 00:10 According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge,
  • 00:14 the PMBOK Guide, a methodology is a system of practices, techniques,
  • 00:20 procedures, and rules used by those who work in a discipline.
  • 00:24 In our case, the discipline is project management.
  • 00:27 A project management methodology has several characteristics.
  • 00:31 One is that there are procedures identifying what is to be done and
  • 00:35 who is to be doing it.
  • 00:37 The techniques, procedures, and
  • 00:38 rules are usually created to reflect industry best practices.
  • 00:43 Within in the project management world,
  • 00:45 each methodology has its own best practice.
  • 00:48 So those use in Agile Scrum are not necessarily the same best practices
  • 00:52 as those used in the software development life cycle, or those use for
  • 00:56 constructions projects.
  • 00:58 A very common approach with project management best practices is to create
  • 01:01 templates, and checklists that become part of the project knowledge management, and
  • 01:06 the project archives.
  • 01:08 Many times we find projects are organized into phases, which makes it easier for
  • 01:12 managing risk, and for making wise decisions as the project progresses.
  • 01:17 Another characteristic about methodology is that they spell out when and
  • 01:21 how management engages to provide oversight, and
  • 01:24 the decisions that will be made at these oversight meetings.
  • 01:28 Finally, the methodology provides guidance on project governance,
  • 01:32 which is how the organization ensures that the project team is applying best
  • 01:36 practices in a way that is likely to achieve the project objectives.
  • 01:41 Let's take a moment now and
  • 01:42 talk about methodologies as they integrate with lifecycles.
  • 01:46 We've already discussed the lifecycle in a different lesson.
  • 01:50 So you may recall that lifecycles are often organized into phases.
  • 01:55 There's often a preliminary phase that sets the project vision or goal.
  • 01:59 If it is a predicted life cycle, there will be a planning phase.
  • 02:03 But even if it is not predicted, the early phases will be setting the stage for
  • 02:07 what comes next.
  • 02:09 The carrying out of the work of the project will then proceed,
  • 02:12 often with several phases.
  • 02:14 But eventually, there's a final phase that closes out the project.
  • 02:17 These are all occurring along a timeline, but
  • 02:20 remember methodology consists of tools, techniques and procedures.
  • 02:24 Within the Project Management Institute's PMBOK Guide,
  • 02:27 those have been organized into 10 Knowledge Areas.
  • 02:31 It include areas like scope, time and resource management
  • 02:34 along with list management, communication and stakeholder engagement.
  • 02:38 The tools, techniques, and
  • 02:39 procedures of the knowledge areas are deployed at the five project manager
  • 02:44 process groups that focus on different aspects of project management.
  • 02:48 These are the initiating processes, the planning processes, executing processes,
  • 02:53 monitoring and controlling processes, and finally, the closing processes.
  • 02:57 The knowledge areas in the process groups are applied to
  • 03:00 the different phases of each project life cycle.
  • 03:03 So as to provide an appropriate set of tools, techniques and procedures for
  • 03:07 the project manager, project team, and the stakeholders who engage with them.
  • 03:12 All of this comprises the project management system.
  • 03:15 The Project Management Body of Knowledge, the PMBOK Guide,
  • 03:18 defines the project management system as the aggregation of the processes, tools,
  • 03:23 techniques, methodologies, resources, and procedures to manage a project.
  • 03:28 The project leader should become familiar with the project management system
  • 03:32 in use in their organization.
  • 03:33 It will remove a lot of the guess work that is often done by the project manager
  • 03:37 and project team.
  • 03:39 The system will explain what should be done, when to do it, and how to do it.
  • 03:43 And it often includes the archiving for where to maintain it.
  • 03:46 A well maintained system will incorporate best practices from both the industry and
  • 03:51 from within the organization.
  • 03:53 But a word of caution.
  • 03:55 You may recollect that our project management definition included the word
  • 03:59 unique.
  • 04:00 The system is an excellent place to start when planning and executing a project.
  • 04:04 But since each project is unique,
  • 04:06 some tailoring is often required to address the uniqueness of the project.
  • 04:12 If you don't, you're likely to find your project team wasting time and resources
  • 04:16 doing irrelevant activities when important aspects of success are overlooked.
  • 04:21 Methodologies are very helpful for guiding a project team and stakeholders,
  • 04:27 and sets expectations of what should be done and when to do it.
  • 04:32 It also embodies best practices for the project team.

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