What are Common Project Management Styles?

Project Management Style is a way to approach any project. It is the process of controlling the cost, time, and quality of the project, different project management styles have been defined to suit the size and type of the project. Project management is the process of managing a project’s goals within a given time duration and budget, It is simply the process of optimizing the development of any project to deliver it optimally without sacrificing any constraints.

In this article, we will be discussing the different project management styles.

It helps to organize, track, and execute the work of a project. There are different styles of project management which vary from person to person or company to company.

Project management style matters because it allows a unique way of collaboration, by determining the style of project management communication among the project & project developers becomes a lot easier.

Here are a few more reasons why project management style matters:

1. Consistency: The project management style allows you to properly define and build workflows across various projects and it promotes error-prone communication, efficiency, and better improvement of the overall project.
2. Better Coordination: A project management style better allows you to coordinate with your team and project by defining a set pathway to follow throughout the project, It promotes the success of the whole project and organization.
3. Saves time and money: Project management style allows you to save time and money by properly aligning your goals to the output of the project. A well-defined project management style will always make sure you reach the finalized project without any errors which saves both time and money.
4. Helps meet project deadlines: If your project management style is well-defined it will allow you to complete a project before reaching the deadline of any project since the development path is already clear it is much easier to proceed with the development of the project.

There are mainly 6 types of Project Management Styles found in Software Engineering:

1. Waterfall Project Management

It is a traditional project management style, In this model, the flow of stages is like a waterfall where the phases are divided into different parts which are all visited iteratively. It is one of the oldest and most structured ways of managing a project from the ground up. The waterfall model is a reliable, easy-to-understand, and well-structured form of project management style.

Characteristics of the Waterfall Model as a Project Management Style:

• It is well-structured, clear, and well-defined.
• It provides the efficient transfer of information from one phase to another.
• The final goal is defined at the start of the project so there is no ambiguity in the result.

2. Agile Project Management

It follows the agile approach in software engineering. An agile approach is nothing but a collection of iterative processes that allow you to create a project and change its composition as you go on building it. The agile model works on feedback, the feedback given from the customer is taken into account at every phase of the model.

Characteristics of the Agile Model as a Project Management Style:

• It focuses on user feedback.
• It is highly flexible meaning it can change with the requirement of the user.
• It focuses on the best design possible to meet the needs of the customer.

3. Scrum

It is a project management style that is used in an agile model, It provides an incremental approach and since it is present in the agile model it seeks feedback from the customer. It works faster than the agile model and also allows customer feedback to be embedded into the project.

Characteristics of the Scrum Model:

• It is used to create a project fast and quickly.
• It can make larger projects much less of a hassle by dividing them into smaller more manageable projects.
• It is great for projects that require quick development.

4. Kanban

It is similar to scrum, as it breaks down the work into smaller ones. It uses columns to mimic the production cycle from start to end, the tasks move from left to right as they are completed sort of like cards. It is used to visualize the project and flow of the project.

Characteristics of Kanban:

• It offers a quick visualization of the project.
• It provides clarity.
• It offers visualization of the workflow and instant feedback.

5. Lean Project Management

Lean project management is used to identify the core value of any project and is used to minimize the waste and garbage generated during production, It was developed by Toyota in the 1950s, The Project Management Institute sums it up: “To be Lean is to provide what is needed when it is needed, with the minimum amount of materials, equipment, labor, and space.”

Characteristics of Lean Project Management:

• It provides a greater quality of product.
• One of the biggest characteristics of Lean is that it reduces the waste and useless stuff generated during the development of any product
• It provides higher customer satisfaction
• It improves productivity and efficiency.
• It provides cost-cutting and reduces the overall cost required to build any project.
• It reduces inventory and storage costs.

6. Strategic Project Management

Strategic project management refers to the strategic analysis of the development of any project, It is used to identify and implement the long-term goals of any organization into the project, It is used to strategically boost the company’s growth and value during development.

Characteristics of Strategic Project Management:

• It uses various data science skills and roles to strategically analyze the best route for the company’s growth
• It is used to boost the organization’s success rate significantly.
• It reduces the budget of the project, only building what is necessary to deliver a project.
• It increases the financial performance of the organization.
• It improves customer experiences and retention rates.

There are several project management styles and the one that’s best for you will depend on both your team and the scope of the project.

Here are some ways to determine which project management style is best for your business.

1. Determine the project scope: You can easily find the suitable project management style by determining the project scope, for example, larger and more complex projects require adaptive styles that can meet more uncertain requirements. For smaller projects waterfall approach or a much simpler approach will lead to a more timely and cost-saving style to reach your end goal.
2. Project Deadlines: Another important factor to consider is project deadlines, if the project needs to be pushed quickly into the market i.e. has tight deadlines, A quicker model such as an agile or iterative approach may be more suitable. Vice-versa if the deadline is fixed you can choose a style that focuses on better planning and cost-cutting.
3. Team Experience: Choosing a project management style also depends on your team, your team must be able to pick up with your style, if it is complex they might fall behind. If the team members are experienced a much faster or more complex style that will finish the project faster can help, however, if the team is much less experienced picking a less complex or traditional approach may be necessary.
4. Organization’s values and stakeholders: Picking a project management style that aligns with the company’s core values and with the stakeholders is also necessary. A stakeholder may need the faster pushing of any product into the live market while an organization’s value might not allow that. Hence it is necessary to pick a middle ground sometime and use a model that is flexible in performing both things.

A Project Manager is very important to carry out all the processes in software development, They are used to define and perform all actions in the development of any project.

Here are some reasons why a project manager is important:

1. Saves time and money: Time and money are one of the most important factors in project management. Managing time is essential to ensure the project development, effective time management is important as it reduces the risk of delays and cost, and It can help push the product much faster into the market.
2. Quality: A project manager can very well impact the quality of the project, by using different skills they can improve the quality of the project such as Leadership, Budgeting, negotiation, Risk Management, and Problem Solving.
3. Goal of a project: A project manager defines the boundaries of any project. It can help reach the project goal much quicker. A well-defined scope also helps the project managers to plan, execute, and control the project more effectively. It is essential to define the scope of the project for better development.
4. Monitoring and Control: A project manager is used to control and monitor the project by tracking and meeting its objectives faster. They use various tools to help the project from going off-track. They can help solve any problem that may occur in a project and keep it on track for publishing. Effective monitoring and control help project managers to identify and address issues before they become major problems.

1. Project management at its core is about finding solutions to real-world problems. Being a project manager means you have to manage all of your resources being other people or otherwise.
2. The project manager has absolute authority over the team and is an individual who commands all the operations performed in the project.
3. Since in any project, the people work together, managing a project also means managing the people, who work on the project. It means influencing the people to help you get done what needs to be done.
4. Project management is essentially about producing a result, you cannot do it without properly managing the team members who will produce said result.
5. If there are people involved, and it’s the Project Manager’s responsibility to produce that result, their job is to influence the team in the right way to achieve that result.

In conclusion, project management style is very important for the organization to govern the project, It can help define the project lifecycle, reduce the risks, and create a well-defined strategy to carry out all the given operations in a project. Project management is also important because it helps ensure the project is completed on time, within budget, and helps reduce the problems that arise during development.

1. What are project management styles?

Project management styles allow you to define the proper development of the project, they help you control the constraints of time, cost, scope, and quality of the project.

2. Why are project management styles important?

Project management styles are important because they can help you standardize the working methodologies and structure. It can help you similarly create projects to avoid errors and faults during development.

3. What are the common project management styles?

The common project management styles are Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Lean, and Strategic project management.