Which project management option to choose?
For this week’s topic, we would like to begin with the idea that project management is a brand new discipline, which has being defined by a group of people with backgrounds in other specialties aside from project management such as architecture, computer science, business or many others. This makes the process of developing standards more rich and diverse, and leaves open the door to explore diverse areas and methods to close a project successfully.
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is doing a good job at promoting and developing their standards in project management, but this is not the only method nor the unique organization that certificates the process of the PM. We could also explore other guidelines and standards like IPMA (International Project Management Association) or PRINCE (Projects in Controlled Environment), which integrate different phases and methods of controlling unpredicted circumstances in projects.
The PMI not only defines a method for predictable projects, it also embraces a particular method named Agile, which can be adapted to unpredicted projects using adaptive life cycles: “Adaptive life cycles (also known as change-driven or agile methods) are intended to respond to high levels of change and ongoing stakeholder involvement. Adaptive methods are also iterative and incremental, but differ in that iterations are very rapid (usually with a duration of 2 to 4 weeks) and are fixed in time and cost”.
All predictable projects can be uncertain at some point, mainly because we cannot control all the variables that affect the entire process; our best effort must be directed to define the steps that we can predict, and create plans in order to cope with unpredicted circumstances when they occur.
The team´s personalities to approach management responsibilities, define the way the team tackle with unpredictable projects (is always easier to deal with predictable projects), which lead us to the question: which method or framework would be the best for the project, according to the team´s culture, style and environment?
For more information and research go to the Project Management Institute (PMI) website at https://www.pmi.org, PRINCE at https://www.prince2.com/uk or https://www.ipma.world for IPMA (International Project Management Association)