Sometimes, project managers are expected to deliver the whole project by themselves. But the chances are that you are delivering a project that relies on other people to make it happen.

And you may be responsible for ensuring the success of several projects, and also reporting progress on them all.

There comes a time when it seems sensible to use a ‘best practice model’, so everybody is following the same process. Here are three reasons why project management methodologies make sense.

1. Simplicity

No need to make a potentially difficult project even more complex than it needs to be - right? Simplicity is good – the simpler the better.

If you make the ‘what’ of a project simple, then you can focus more energy on the ‘How’. A straightforward, and agreed, project management methodology will pay dividends, because everyone concerned will understand what is expected of them.

Quite often, you will have people in the team who are not professional project managers who will also have a day job as well as their project duties. Don’t make it difficult for them to get started though lack of clarity. Have a simple, standard methodology, with clear processes to make it as easy as possible to get the project going, and maintain the necessary momentum.

Your choice of methodology will be guided by your understanding of the organisation, and the people in the project team. In some cases, the adoption of a formal methodology such as PRINCE2 (Projects in Controlled Environments) may be more politically credible and acceptable. However, formal methodologies can be overwhelming for people new to projects. In that situation it would be better to develop a very simple methodology, that can evolve as technical competencies develop. Unless you are itching to get some form of formal accreditation, I find that this approach is the best one, as you will more likely get a better response and buy-in from the team.

2. Management

As you are the project manager, you need to do some managing! That would be difficult to do without a methodology by which to do that. A good methodology should have clear stages, and clear processes within them. It should at least have instructions for:

• establishing the project team, and their roles and responsibilities
• defining the stakeholders, and developing engagement and communications plans
• doing a risk assessment so you clearly understand the potential threats to the project • defining the project outcomes, and measures of performance
• How to monitor each stage, through highlight reporting and
• How to formally close and wrap up the project.
  
  

Your methodology will clearly state what people can expect to do throughout the project, and that will make your life a whole lot easier.

Having a project management methodology also gives your role some credibility. The methodology then becomes ‘the way we do things here’, rather than what you think is a good idea.

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3. Leverage

By their very nature, projects have boundaries, and therefore limits. This could be a restriction on budget, a deadline or resources available. You therefore need to leverage every aspect of your project to get the best out of everyone.

Project management methodologies present a very clear picture of the process and activities that need to be done. If you combine the method with clear templates, you will spend less staring wondering what to do next, and more time on actually making the projects aimed outcomes real.

If you are managing several workstreams and several projects, you can’t put all of your time into each of those responsibilities. And you can’t clone yourself – so you need to play smart. An effective project management methodology is really an extension of you, so you can leverage your skills knowledge and expertise. You will then spend less time on the process driven aspect of the project, and you can put your efforts into the negotiation and influencing part, which is usually more fulfilling, and really gets the project moving along.

A project management methodology is a valuable project management tool. It gives your project immediate structure, and provides guidance to everyone involved about what is expected. You can use a tried and tested methodology or you can devise your own. Whichever you decide, the basic process is still the same, so your decision will be based on what is suitable for your team and the nature of your project.

When you are under pressure to ‘get busy’ with the delivery of the project, implementing a methodology can feel like a job you just don’t have time to do. But setting up a project management methodology is an investment that will pay dividends in the long run. You should therefore include it as a workstream in your first project.

The methodology will probably evolve over time to reflect the needs and expertise of the organization. But as people become more familiar with the methodology, projects will be delivered more quickly and more effectively, and you can concentrate on the real task at hand – getting results!