Project Management Methods for Better Structuring

Project management methods are a set of systematic approaches that aid a team in optimizing their operations and achieving success, be it through reducing project timelines, augmenting revenue, or enhancing customer satisfaction.

Widely used Project Management Methods

There are two widely used project management methodologies: Waterfall and Agile.

Although both of them are well-liked in the software industry, there are reasons why they can’t be most effective for various projects.

The major distinction is that while Agile encourages simultaneous work on many project phases, Waterfall is a linear style of working that demands the team to finish each phase of the project before moving on to the next.

With the efficient adoption of project management software, the entire process can be easily handled.

In response to the strict structure of Waterfall, the agile technique was created. It’s a far more flexible type of methodology as a result.

Years may pass until a software development project is finished, and during that period, technology may undergo tremendous change.

Agile Project Management

Agile was created as a flexible approach that accepts absorbing changes of direction even late in the process and considering stakeholders’ comments at all times.

The team uses the methods to work on multiple project phases concurrently, often with short deadlines.

In addition, the team determines the project’s direction rather than a project manager. This can energize the team and increase productivity, more than that it calls for a more independent team.

Advantages:

• Short deadlines promote efficiency and productivity in team collaboration.
• There are a lot of latitudes to experiment with new directions and modify the course of a project.
• The team shares progress and takes input into account because of client-facing and updating.

Limitations:

• It is not an effective strategy for modest development initiatives.
• You need an expert if you want to make important decisions during the conference.
• When compared to other development approaches, the cost of implementing an agile process is slightly higher.
• The project may swiftly veer off course if the project manager is unsure about the targeted results.

Waterfall Project Management

Linear Sequential Life Cycle Model is another name for the approach. According to the sequential Waterfall Model, the project development team only moves on to the next phase of development or testing if the previous step was successful.

Advantages:

• It is one of the simpler models to operate. Each phase includes particular deliverables and a review procedure because of the nature of the process.
• Smaller initiatives with well-defined parameters tend to benefit the most from it.
• Faster project completion.
• Results and processes have been well-documented.
• A simple technique for changing teams.
• Dependency management benefits from using the waterfall model.

Limitations:

• It’s not the best model for a big project.
• It is a less effective strategy if the requirement is not apparent from the start.
• Moving back to make adjustments in the earlier phases is really challenging.
• Following the completion of development, testing begins. Thus, there is a great likelihood that flaws will be discovered later on in the development process, when fixing them will be costly.

Why Agile Method is widely used?

While the benefits of Agile project management are iterative and incremental by nature, which enables teams to change their approach as they go along while still enabling organizations to focus on the crucial issues and avoid ignoring the goods or services they are aiming to provide.

Typically, two-to four-week sprints are in direct contrast to the lengthy, months- or even years-long timeframes of traditional management. This frequently caused the finished product to become outdated before it was ready.

There was an industry standard for software development before Agile. Before any coding had started, a tone of documentation was needed to begin the development of any software product.

The requirements paperwork will be created by business analysts, and the technical department uses it to create its own technical requirement documentation. Coding and testing then take the stage. This waterfall method’s entire procedure takes months or perhaps years.

The product is now developed through a defined process that includes technical structure, lower-level artifacts, and dependent artifacts later, so if the customer requests any changes, the process will take a long time.

Any software can be developed more quickly using agile software development. This methodology is focused on both people and results. Using technologies like Scrum and Extreme Programming, it is flexible and simple to increase the quality.

Here are 10 reasons why PM teams employ this adaptable project management methodology:

• Agile resembles evolution. Every new iteration gives teams a chance to grow.
• Teams can deliver a prototype using agile and make improvements with each cycle.
• Agile encourages frequent group troubleshooting.
• Effective feature and job prioritization is made possible by agile for teams and individuals.
• Based on feedback from stakeholders, teams can quickly correct their course.
• A procedure or solution may be prototyped by team members for the version of the following project.
• Each revision or iteration results in quick feedback for the team.
• Agile gives team members the freedom to think freely and productively.
• Feedback from clients and stakeholders is welcomed as the project advances.
• The team’s production rises thanks to this adaptable process.

Also, read – Why Agile Project Management Is Better Than Waterfall?

Project management software easily manages your projects, every aspect can be at your disposal, keep your stakeholders informed, share files and papers, and communicate with teammates from anywhere.

Agile project management is increasingly preferred over Waterfall today. However, agile project management is advisable for small teams and startups with less number of people involved in projects.

Orangescrum offers features specific to Scrum Project Management such as Epics, Stories, Sprints (tasks & subtasks), Scrum Boards, Sprint reports & Velocity charts along with Kanban Boards, Gantt charts, time log, timesheets, and resource management for the traditional project management. Signup now to experience the best project management software. It’s free for 15 days.