Henry Gantt and Henri Fayol are considered the “parents” of project management thanks to their important contributions. The former is well known for his Gantt graphic, used today by the majority of project managers, while the latter has contributed to the science of management by “creating” the 5 important stages of a project: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling.
Project management started to develop as a modern science in the 50s, once the modern analysis techniques were developed, such as PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) or CPM (Critical Path Method). These project planning methods were used for the first time in the military field and are used today in the modern business. From this point and until the creation of an institute that manages the new industry, the project management industry, it was only a step, as in 1969 The Project Management Institute, PMI, was founded.
No matter the industry, the size or type of project, the techniques used in project management are common, leading to the creation of standards used by managers in every field. The more complex a project, the higher the number of elements to be considered and the number of project stages/ sub-stages to be implemented. The controlling of such a project can be difficult for a single person, the management of a project being sometimes not the job of a single person, but a team job. Every team member has to have a clear image of the project as a whole and, at the same time, every member has to be fully aware of his responsibilities. In this case, the use of a methodology with certain standards and rules for all the actors involved is essential.
Commercial methodologies
Purchased methodologies have the advantage of offering specialized support and real life examples to start from. This type of methodologies is concise and doesn’t admit variations from the standards.
Internal methodologies
Internal methodologies have the advantage of fitting perfectly the company’s needs, being built-up starting from the experience of former projects, and it has the advantage of reduced costs. On a different note, if the company doesn’t have enough experience in project implementation, it is better to resort to the existent methodologies. Building an internal methodology requires a certain research on standards, deliverables required in every stage of the project and their flow within the project framework, as well as who has to do what and when.
Standards and methodology types
Over time, different associations have participated in the implementation of standards for project management. Out of these, the following are well known:
APM: The Association for Project Management is an independent UK based organization that uses PRINCE2 standards and has over 17500 members.
Malcolm Baldrige Model: a very popular model in the West, especially the United States, that consists of best practices and performance criteria that refer to leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce focus, process management and business results. Starting from this model, today we have The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Model, an annual reward in the US, offered to the companies that excel at any of these categories.
EFQM: The European Foundation for Quality Management represents a non-profit foundation that supports companies in order to implement different strategies and encourages the change of experiences. The EFQM principles are used by thousand of organizations worldwide. EFQM offers assessment, training, recognition and sharing services.
ITIL: The Information Technology Infrastructure Library represents a methodology and a set of best practices specially created for IT Service Management.
PMBOOK: The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge represents a guide of standards and practical elements used in the area of project management. It was developed by PMI, The Project Management Institute, being the most important project management institution in the US. PMBOK has been continuously improved; the latest edition of the guide is set to be released this year.
PRINCE: Projects in Controlled Environments represents a standard developed by the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency. Later it was updated to PRINCE2 by the British Government. It recommends a very clear project management framework, design and control methods, as well as adaptive solutions for situations when the initial project plan is no longer suitable.
SSADM: The Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method has been developed by the Central Computer and Telecommunication Agency as well, known today as the Office of Government Commerce, specially for the analysis and design of informatic systems.
Hermes: a methodology for software development oriented on results, roles and procedures within a project. It was developed by the Swiss Government, being based on the German V-Modell.
TSP: Team Software Process is addressed to the projects involving complex software development. As the name suggests, TSP is oriented on teams, the emphasis being set on team member roles within a project.
These are just a few examples of standards and methodologies that have been developed. No matter which one you chose, it is important to have a methodology that adapts perfectly to the project necessities in order to avoid the possible failure causes: bad planning, unrealistic expectations, bad communication due to vague roles, responsibilities and objectives.
