The 5 types of project management that will help you lead effectively
Do you want to know the types of project management because you are leading a whole team and want to achieve business goals? If your answer was positive, this article is perfect for you. Here you will find a complete guide to 5 types of project management so that your way of managing a business idea is effective.
And is that to act, whether in your social life or at work, there are a large number of different ways or forms, no matter the area in which you work. It is precisely here that the management of business projects makes sense. What is it about?
For those who wonder what project management is, we can tell you that it is a set of certain actions that guarantee to reach a goal, in this case, business. In this type of management, there are so many different types of techniques, some better than others. However, in this text, we will talk about the five most common types of project management.
1. Waterfall project management
If you are wondering what types of project management are, this is one of the most common. The waterfall methodology, or waterfall, as it is also known, is a project management approach that is based on one idea: you will not leave anything undone.
It is a traditional management model that originated in the 1970s in the manufacturing and construction industries, since there, project development had to occur linearly. And it was Winston W. Royce who was the first to implement it and to get it adapted to a variety of industries due to its logical sequence and ease of implementation.
For Royce, this style, one of the most used among the types of project management, has five strict phases that are developed linearly:
· Requirements: all the client's requirements are listed to start with the following phases, where there is no need for the client's participation, but agile communication is necessary until the development of the project is completed.
· Design: This design phase is divided into two: logical design and physical design. The first refers to the exchange of ideas where possible solutions are theorized. For its part, physical design is all those ideas and theoretical schemes that become concrete specifications.
· Implementation: here the programmers and developers bring the project to life, that is, they understand the requirements and specifications of the previous phases, and start creating the code or the project base.
· Verification: This is the phase where the client reviews the product and ensures that it meets each of the requirements established from the beginning of the project. The objective of this point is to check the quality of the product or software created. A phase that seeks to find possible errors or defects.
· Maintenance: in this final phase, of the project management style, the purpose is for the client to continue verifying the possible existence of failures or errors. If so, the work team will work on solving the inconsistencies to achieve customer satisfaction.
Advantages and disadvantages of the Waterfall Methodology
One of the advantages of Waterfall, one of the types of project management, is the ease with which it can be applied, and although it is not the most important, it is one of the reasons why it is so well known. Here we show you more advantages and some disadvantages of this management style:
Advantages
· It is one of the easiest methodologies to administer. Each phase has specific deliverables and a simple review process.
· As project requirements are agreed upon at an early stage, planning and scheduling become simpler and clearer.
· It is a style that applies very well to small projects, where the requirements can be easily understood.
· Both project execution and results will be duly documented.
· With a fully established project schedule, an accurate estimate of cost, resources, and timelines can be made.
· It's easy to measure progress as you progress and milestones are achieved.
· It is a management style where clients cannot add new requirements to the project, so the development of the project is not delayed.
Disadvantages
· Not the ideal project management type for large jobs.
· If the requirements of the project are not defined from the beginning, this will become an ineffective method.
· It is a style that does not allow going back to make changes.
· The testing process begins when development is complete.
Therefore, there are high chances of encountering bugs that can be expensive to fix.
· It is difficult for clients to articulate all their needs at the beginning of the project.
· If the customer is not happy with the product at the verification stage, it can be very expensive to design it again.
· This project management is linear, rigid, and lacks the flexibility to adapt to unexpected events.
2. Democratic project management
As its name suggests, this democratic project management style is one in which leaders collect the opinions and suggestions of their collaborators to make decisions.
Although the objective of this methodology is to reach agreements between the parties that make up the project, the final decisions must be made by the manager. This type of management complies with the essential features of communication, collaboration, and participation, all results-oriented.
Democratic project management is a suitable style for those business environments where team members are competent but not motivated enough.
According to the Happiness and Work study carried out by the Mexican consultancy Sustainable Growth, considering the opinion of employees generates more energy and dynamism in their work tasks, which results in more efficiency and greater productivity in companies.
Advantages and disadvantages of democratic project management
When implementing project methodologies, it is necessary to know the benefits and harms that their application could generate:
Advantages
· Greater autonomy: in the absence of the manager or leader in the company or project, a vacuum is not generated due to their absence, becoming almost imperceptible since the collaborators have autonomy and confidence in the decision-making process.
· Higher rates of innovation: at this point, employees will feel free to present their ideas and these can help improve certain company problems: processes, products, relationships with customers and suppliers, strategies.
· Greater proactivity: some work teams are more proactive because the processes do not remain stagnant, but on the contrary, they are always in continuous evolution, which allows them to adapt to the different needs and challenges that arise.
· Improvement of the work environment: an optimal leadership style generates good relationships between collaborators. In these cases, the worker does not have the need to compete with his colleagues and they always contribute opinions to achieve the objectives together.
Disadvantages
· It is a management style that can be slow to implement at the beginning since the leader has to hold several meetings to listen to the different members of the team, as well as define the processes that are carried out in the different departments.
· This is one of the types of project management that can fail if the collaborators do not have enough maturity and experience to make decisions about the challenges and needs that the project demands.
· The sufficient freedom of the collaborators and the pertinent non-follow-up can lead to losing order, discipline, and responsibility in the organization. Therefore, it is important to measure the attitude of each worker.
The leader can generate dependence on the experience and opinion of the collaborators, losing his perspective and vision.
3. Agile project management (Agile)
One of the most widely accepted types of project management in the software industry is Agile Project Management or Agile. This style is based on the 12 basic principles of the manifesto, which were established in 2001 by developers and programmers.
This methodology seeks efficiency and quality results and provides value-laden projects to the client. It is a management style that builds solid relationships between the team and the client to adapt to different commercial and administrative challenges.
“Agile frameworks are the new ways of working." They are a disruption to corporate culture as we know it today. It is the way of working in the future because traditional work methodologies are not designed to respond quickly to the changes demanded by the current market. Therefore, agile methodologies are needed to meet their needs”.
Advantages and disadvantages of democratic project management
Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks of using this project management method if you’re considering using it.
Advantages
· Flexibility: agile methodologies are loaded with greater flexibility that allows not only the optimization of resources, but also the increase of results.
· Elimination of tasks: this method allows prioritizing tasks according to the needs they present during the project. This makes it possible to discard all those actions that are unnecessary.
· Cost reduction: by prioritizing the selection of tasks, processes will be streamlined and costs will be reduced in hiring new collaborators, in addition, it generates a higher income because more actions are carried out in less time.
Disadvantages
· At the beginning of the project, it is difficult to determine exactly how much time and money it will take to execute the project.
· The team needs to have a solid foundation and skills.
· A high level of interaction between the client and the developers is required.
4. Laissez-Faire Project Management
It is one of the types of project management where there is only minimal interference from the project manager or leader. In other words, there is a lot of trust in the collaborators for making most of the decisions, solving problems, and preparing the work.
This style of project management encourages innovation, efficiency, and technical ability. An example of this management style is Google, which is popular because each employee can use 20% of their time to work on projects other than those assigned by their boss.
In this company, employees are free to pursue whatever ideas they have in mind. This approach has led to incredible innovations like Gmail, Google Maps, Twitter, Slack, and many more tools.
But this type of project management will only be possible if everyone on the team knows what they have to do. In the end, the goal of this style is to promote creativity, responsibility, and accountability.
“For your work to have added value and to be different anywhere and from anyone, you must master and carry out good project management. Practicality is the key that should always be within reach of everything.
5. Management of affiliation projects
This affiliative management style focuses its strategies on people and seeks to create harmonious relationships between the members of the work team and between the employees and the manager. A methodology that meets the main features of care, entertainment, communication, and development.
It is also a type of flexible management and they can change the rules if that leads to more tranquillity and happiness in the work team. In addition, if necessary, the structures that exist in the company and that limit the actions of the collaborators as a team will be ignored or eliminated.
A style that creates strong ties
One of the biggest advantages of this type of project management is that it puts people first. Here, the role of the manager or leader of the company is to create solid relationships and thus resolve internal conflicts more smoothly, raise the self-esteem of employees, and foster better teamwork.
Isolate collaborators with greater knowledge
In the work team, there may be people with high performance who are also governed by an affiliative management style. However, for them, this type of methodology can be demotivating because, despite their hard work and contributions, the emphasis of this style is mainly oriented to relationships instead of results.
After knowing about these types of project management, it is important that you establish how you want to start managing your business ideas based on the needs of your team and clients. Remember that not only are your leadership skills important, but you also need to recognize the context, the collaborators, and the type of business you are running.
