Project Management Methodologies

There are lots of project management methods in modern software development industry. The developers can choose methodologies according to the needs of their projects. However, most software development teams prefer to work in one project management methodology. Partially that is because of the fact that they don’t want to change their structure before every project.

The issue of project management methodologies in software development is worth talking about. In this article we will give the definition of project management methodology and describe some popular project management methods.

So what is a project management methodology?

The answer to this question is both simple and complex at the same time. Actually, a project management methodology is a particular way of software development. It defines the structures of software development teams and their projects. The range of customer or user involvement in the process of project realization also depends on the methodology you intend to use. Some software development methods provide sequential structure of projects. Others are rather iterative. However, all of them have the same goal – to produce high quality software products and deliver them in time.

Modern specialists usually define two types of project management methodologies: traditional and Agile methods. Let’s look at them in greater detail.

Traditional project management methodologies are associated with Waterfall model. It was the first software development methodology. Waterfall originated in 1950s, and now it is the most popular project management method among software developers. Its principles are similar to the principles of good old manufacturing methodologies. Low customer involvement, strong project documentation, and sequential structure of projects are the main things in Waterfall.

Teams that use this methodology do not involve their customers in the process of software development. They conduct only two meetings with their clients – at the beginning and at the end of each project. That is why Waterfall developers base all their work on project documentation. Their projects usually have 5 or 7 sequential stages that should be passed one after another. Their order cannot be changed.

Another approach to software development is represented by Agile methodologies. They were invented in the early 2000s in response to the traditional software development method. The main principles of all Agile methodologies are: strong customer involvement, strong communication inside of the teams, and iterative structure of projects.

The customer is the main person in all Agile projects. Agile teams usually have customer representatives called Product Owners, who participate in all team meetings and estimate intermediate products. Communication is very important for Agile teams because they are self-managing. It helps them manage their projects effectively.

Agile projects don’t have sequential stages. They are subdivided into iterative cycles that repeat until the final product is ready to delivery.