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If you’re a PM purist who needs a checklist and a place for every single project task, you’ll love these methodologies. Get excited! Load up that spreadsheet! If that’s not quite your thing and you’re looking to do something a little “out of the box,” you may want to skip this section. Go on, be brave. Either way, check out these basic methodologies that can be used to inform any process—from moving your office or home to building a car, ship, or even a spacecraft!

• Waterfall: It’s the most widely known PM methodology, which requires one task to be completed before the next one starts (see Figure 2.1). It’s easy to plan a project this way, but as soon as change occurs, you’ll be faced with scope changes, confusion, and pushed out deadlines. Waterfall is known for the handoff—allowing resources to work in silos. It works in some places, less in others (ahem, digital).

FIGURE 2.1

Everything goes downstream in the waterfall method.

• Critical Path Method (CPM): This is a complex method that is actually quite simple! You map out all of the tasks of your project, figure out what needs to be completed before each task starts, and then estimate the time it will take to complete each task. From there, you calculate the longest path of the planned tasks to the end of the project, and you figure out the earliest and latest points each task can start without making the project longer. That’s how you determine what’s critical and what can be delayed. It’s kind of like prioritizing tasks to ensure that you get the most important work done first.

• Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM): This methodology focuses most on the constraints put in place by resources (people, equipment, physical space) needed to get the project done. As the PM, you build the plan and identify the tasks that are the highest priority so that you can dedicate your resources to them. Then you place time buffers in your plan to ensure that your resources are available to get the work done. Seems sneaky, huh?

• Process-Based PM: This methodology is a little more flexible than the others listed in this section, but a formal process is still required. In general, the difference is that it aligns a project with the company’s goals and values. Each project follows these steps:

• Define the process.

• Establish metrics.

• Measure the process.

• Adjust objectives as needed.

• Plan improvements and implement them.

NOTE PMI AND PMBOK

While it’s more of a set of standards than a formal methodology for managing traditional projects, you should know what it’s all about. The Project Management Institute (PMI) created the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), which outlines the following steps for all projects: initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing. Check out more at http://www.pmi.org/.