Project Management Methodology

Quick reference

• 00:04 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
• 00:06 Let's talk about project management methodologies.
• 00:08 This will prepare us for an assessment of the strengths and
• 00:11 limitations of the Agile/Scrum methodology.
• 00:14 Let's start by considering why companies or organizations do projects.
• 00:20 No, it's not just to find ways to annoy the employees,
• 00:23 projects are done to create a competitive advantage.
• 00:26 A project changes something in the organization.
• 00:29 Maybe it is a new product, or a new system.
• 00:31 Maybe it's a special event or a new facility.
• 00:34 Whatever it is, the reason for doing that is to make the business better.
• 00:38 To give the organization a competitive advantage.
• 00:41 That is why project management is so often tied to strategy management.
• 00:44 The strategy is implemented through projects.
• 00:47 Well, it should be obvious that if we will implement our strategy with
• 00:50 projects we want to do it well.
• 00:52 So, by applying project management practices to the strategic
• 00:55 goals of the organization the strategy is implemented.
• 00:59 Let's consider two of the biggest challenges when implementing a strategy.
• 01:03 First is to recognize and manage the risk.
• 01:07 On the one hand, strategy is about taking advantage of opportunity risks.
• 01:11 The organization can enter a new market with an innovative product or service.
• 01:15 Where the organization can enhance its ability to interact with customers, and
• 01:18 to build closer relationships with new social media platforms.
• 01:22 By the same token, there are negative risks or threats.
• 01:26 The organization must become faster and more efficient, or it will go broke.
• 01:30 And that doesn't even include the risks associated with doing the project
• 01:33 activities to make them a reality.
• 01:36 Strategy management is risk management.
• 01:39 And then we add to this the communication of our strategic intent.
• 01:43 To effectively implement strategy, we must communicate it.
• 01:46 And then we must communicate the path that must be followed
• 01:49 to make that strategy come to life.
• 01:51 The path is the project.
• 01:53 That is why so much of project management is communication and
• 01:57 communication of actions.
• 01:58 We must both explain the path and help others know where we are on that path.
• 02:03 The project status.
• 02:04 So that takes us to the rationale for using a project management methodology.
• 02:09 Project management tools and techniques expose risk and
• 02:12 communicate that to the project team and stakeholders.
• 02:15 This allows them to proactively manage the risk and
• 02:18 improve the success of the strategy implementation.
• 02:22 So what are the elements of a project management methodology?
• 02:25 Well, start by acknowledging that it is a standard process.
• 02:29 It is meant to improve communication and execution by ensuring that
• 02:32 people are doing the project activities in the same manner again and again.
• 02:37 That learning curve effect will improve the quality and efficiency.
• 02:41 This is usually documented through some procedures, templates, and checklists.
• 02:46 But most organizations realize that every project is unique, so
• 02:49 they allow some level of customization within the methodology
• 02:52 to accommodate the project uniqueness.
• 02:54 There will often be variants for the size or
• 02:57 complexity of a project, in addition to variants for different types of projects
• 03:00 such as software projects, facility projects, or cost reduction projects.
• 03:06 A project approach becomes a methodology when everyone in the organization
• 03:10 begins to use it.
• 03:11 I've seen several occasions where a wonderful process and
• 03:14 checklist were issued by the organization, but they were ignored.
• 03:18 This wasn't a methodology.
• 03:20 Another key attribute of an organizational methodology
• 03:23 is it includes management involvement.
• 03:26 We don't have the project team doing one thing and management doing something else.
• 03:30 Management has oversight of the whole process.
• 03:34 Finally, I often see it now implemented through an internal website or
• 03:37 some type of software that allows for collaboration.
• 03:40 Remember that a key part of the methodology is communication.
• 03:44 Tools are used to improve and clarify that communication.
• 03:48 The last point I want to make is that the project management
• 03:51 methodology is comprehensive enough to address
• 03:53 all three of the constraints the project teams must balance.
• 03:57 There is scope, which is the type and
• 03:59 quality of the project deliverables that are desired.
• 04:02 There is schedule, which is the timeline and
• 04:04 milestones that the business wants the team to achieve.
• 04:08 And there is resources which is the money and
• 04:10 people which the project team has at their disposal.
• 04:14 Every project team faces the challenges of balancing these three constraints.
• 04:18 A good methodology will highlight the interplay between them.
• 04:23 So we've discussed the attributes of a project management methodology.
• 04:28 And in an upcoming session,
• 04:29 we'll look at how well the Agile/Scrum approach stacks up.

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