'Which is the Best Project Management Methodology' Is the Wrong Question

Many people ask, what’s the best methodology? Project software developers Liquid Planner may have the answer. This year, they released their report, State of Project Management in Manufacturing. Liquid Planner surveyed 106 US executives, engineers and project managers in manufacturing companies. 74% of highly satisfied respondents actually use a combination of methodologies.

So the answer is, no methodology can claim to be “the best one”. Here are five reasons why this is, and what you can do with a diverse portfolio.

Serve different teams

One company doesn’t always mean one culture. Every team has their own way of working. If you’re trained in many disciplines, it will be easier to manage the whole organisation. For example, a lot of manufacturing companies also develop software, even if it’s only for in-house use.

So, you might have to think about manufacturing and software development teams. Manufacturers traditionally like waterfall, while developers go for agile. Knowing the nuances of this, you can make smart intuitive decisions. For example, you might provide Gantt charts for manufacturers and burndown charts for developers.

Adapt to new environments

Knowing different methodologies makes it easy to adapt. That doesn’t just apply to different teams in the same company. Every project is different, even when you’re working with the same team. This is even truer when they come with some kind of change, like a move towards agile.

It also helps when working with different companies. That’s where project managers can get shocked by different working cultures. You should always research and integrate for new project, teams and organisations. The transition period can be rough, but a broad skillset will ease the transition. You’re more likely to get other work cultures if you get other work methods.

Negotiate

It’s unfortunate, but project managers spend a lot of time justifying be