Which is the most suitable methodology for my project and my team? Four key tips to start with:

1. Start with the end in mind: What are your project objectives? What are the project outputs (deliverables)? What benefits (outcomes) are expected?

2. Assess what is already working: What work processes have you used that have been successful?

3. Assess the level of complexity and cost (Refer to the Project Sizing Guide).

4. Determine which is the best fit category (Portfolio) for your ANU project:a. Strategyb. Business Transformation:

i. IT Strategy and Enablement ii. Business Transformation

c. Capital works

Examples of previous ANU projects in each Portfolio are below.

Strategy Business Improvement CapitalIT Strategy and Enablement

Business Transformation

Examples

Admissions, Scholarship and Accommodation (ASA)

Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA)

College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) Reimagined

Connecting ANU

SSO

Data Network

CRM

CMS

HDR Administrative Program

Timetabling

eForms

Kambri(Student AccommodationNew campus buildings)

Car share

Acton Ridge pathway development

A project normally progresses through five main stages which make up the project life cycle: Initiating Planning Executing (Design and Implementation) Monitoring and Control Closure

Within each project stage, there may be variances in the processes and activities depending on the project management methodology or tools you apply.

The most common methodologies applied today are tabled below. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. When choosing a methodology you may adapt some activities to match your team’s needs. Whatever your approach, it must remain customer centric and allow project staff to develop ideas and solutions that will provide a high value return on investment while delivering the project’s intended outcomes.

Commonly applied on …

Methodology Description Pros Cons

All project categories

PMBOKPMBOK is the preferred project management approach at ANU. It is a guide published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) outlining best practices, terminologies and guidelines that are the accepted norm in the project management industry.

Because it focuses on the key stages and elements of a project, PMBOK can be applied to most types of projects, as they are likely to include these stages during their life cycle.

PMBOK is a set of guidelines for project management rather than a methodology, so while it can be used for most project types, another methodology may also be required.

Best for Strategy, IT Strategy and Enablement and Business Transformation

Adaptive Project Framework (APF)End goal is clear but the method for achieving these goals can change based on experience from each sprint.

Adapts to changes in strategy and organisation priorities.Design and build are based on face to face discussions.Requires less documentation.

Due to its flexibility, the team and stakeholders can lose focus of the primary goals.

Best for Strategy, IT Strategy and Enablement and Business Transformation

Agile End goals are less defined and at the end of each sprint, the stakeholder feedback guides and influences how to alter or improve the final product.

Increased collaboration, flexibility and speedy results.Design and build based on face to face discussions.Less documentation.

Stakeholders and resources cannot invest the time or desire to be involved at the depth required.

All project categories

WaterfallWith clearly defined goals and a set timeline, teams work through planned tasks in a set sequence.This approach is good for teams who are new to project management and planning. This can be an introductory process for simple projects that require little to no

Best for simple, unchanging projects.Close project manager involvement.Upfront planning and work through the six steps. Every step is pre-planned, making it easy to organise and assign tasks and predict upcoming workloads.

More documentation.Longer timespan before receiving the outputs.Customer involvement at specific times.It is prescriptive and does not allow for changes to process easily. Last-minute changes or updates to

flexibility in their process. the plan may disrupt the whole process.

Best for Strategy, IT Strategy and Enablement and Business Transformation

PRINCE 2 Best for projects that require regular reviews of progress against a business case.

Using PRINCE2 provides you with greater control of resources, and effective risk management.

It can be difficult to adapt to project changes, since a lot of resources are put into creating and maintaining those documents and logs at each stage of the process.

Best for Strategy, IT Strategy and Enablement and Business Transformation

Gartner concept Combine Design thinking with Lean and AgileCombines elements of Design thinking, Lean Startup and Agile into the different stages of project planning and execution.

Combines a number of methodologies which are all effective approaches to project management.

Having a singular planning phase at the beginning suggests that reassessment and planning are not required throughout the project, which is key to both Agile and Lean.

Supplementary methods and tools All project categories

Benefits RealisationBenefits realisation aims to ensure that projects deliver benefits (return on investment) via their outputs.Benefits realisation is a shared responsibility between project managers, business owners, executive sponsors, and senior leaders.

This approach ensures your projects contribute real value to the client and deliver the end results your stakeholders care about, asbenefits are explicitly defined, including how and when these benefits will be measured and delivered.This approach is best for projects that are less production focussed and more goal oriented with a specific outcome in mind.

Benefits are not always exact or measurable, so it can be difficult to know if they have been achieved. You need to put careful thought into developing effective metrics to measure the outcomes of your project, such as Return on Investment, process capability, faster delivery times, or greater customer satisfaction.

Best for Strategy, IT Strategy and Enablement and Business Transformation

Kanban toolIs typically used by teams with a continuous workflow and a steady stream of deliverables. This approach is good for managers who want a clear representation of

Kanban is fairly easy to implement anywhere and provides clear visibility into the workload and resource distribution within a team through visual representation.

The Kanban board must be kept up to date to be effective. It can also be hard to implement across multiple teams.

how work is distributed within their team.

Best for Strategy, IT Strategy and Enablement and Business Transformation

Lean toolBest for teams aiming to deliver a streamlined process using fewer resources, less money and time while still creating more value for the customer.

Lean is designed to help you deliver quality work while cutting down on inefficiencies. This is particularly beneficial if deadlines are tight, resources are scarce, or budgets are low.

It relies heavily on strict decision making and limiting the number of reviews, which many stakeholders can not commit to.

Best for Strategy and Capital projects

PRiSM Best for teams looking to create an environmentally friendly and sustainable process for managing projects.

Aligning corporate strategy with social-responsibility goals can bolster a company’s reputation. Further, your whole organisation can benefit from conserving energy, managing waste, and reducing distribution costs.

Environmental responsibility must be a priority at every level of the organisation, from executives to managers or the methodology will fail.

Best for Strategy, IT Strategy and Enablement and Business Transformation

SCRUM toolBest for Agile teams that have a heavy load of deliverables or a workload based on a steady stream of incoming requests.

This approach is fairly flexible and allows for quick development, especially in relatively small teams.

If one person on the team is not fully invested in maintaining Scrum, it can derail the whole system.

Best for Strategy, IT Strategy and Enablement and Business Transformation

Six Sigma toolA data-driven approach for teams that need to deliver high-quality, consistent products on a large scale (like manufacturing or software development).

This process is good for maintaining consistency and quality while looking at ways to constantly improve.

Given this is a progressive quality-assurance methodology, it can drive up costs in some cases.

More information about each method and tool is provided below.

Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK)

The PMBOK is a guide published by the Project Management Institute (PMI), outlining best practices, terminologies and guidelines that are the accepted norm in the project management industry. As such, PMBOK incorporates other methodologies that are widely used in project management. It breaks down a project into five processes: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing. This approach is preferred at ANU. Because it focuses on the key stages and elements of a project, PMBOK can be applied to most types of project, as they are likely to include these stages during their life cycle. PMBOK is the basis of Project Management Professional (PMP) certification provided by the PMI, and is a globally recognised project management certification.

Image from training PowerPoint.

APF

The APF method is a ‘learn by doing’ approach which can be adapted to changing project requirements. As with Agile, the project is divided into short phases, which are often called mini-projects. At the end of a mini-project, the team assesses their outputs with stakeholders to see if changes to policies or practices can be made to improve future performance. As such, change is a natural point of project evolution for this approach, and stakeholders have input throughout the project lifecycle. Unlike traditional project management strategies, which require teams to follow a set procedure, the APF is a highly flexible approach. The main reason to choose this methodology is if you have identified a project goal, but your process for achieving it is yet to be determined.

AGILE

The Agile method first establishes the customer’s requirements, and continues to collaborate with stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. Having identified a goal, the team completes a series of short-term product development cycles, called sprints, which involve planning their project approach, executing their tasks, and evaluating the sprint outputs. Consequently the product is improved with each iteration. Agile teams respond to feedback with immediate action and rapid development, making the approach ideal for projects that require fast solutions and an adaptive

approach. It is commonly used for product development, especially in the delivery of digital services and software.

KANBAN

Kanban is a technique for visually presenting a project’s workflow and managing workload capacity. Tasks are displayed on a board, known as a Kanban board, where all team members can see how a project will progress, and which tasks have been assigned to themselves and their team mates. Many teams use whiteboards and sticky notes to visualize their Kanban board and update progress in real time. This allows teams to visually track the progress of a project. Kanban boards are often used in conjunction with an Agile approach, to track the trajectory and progress of a project, and the allocation of resources. Kanban is not a project management methodology on its own, but a workflow management technique, and can be used in conjunction with Agile, Lean, Scrum, PMBOK, and PRINCE2 methodologies.

Examples are at: https://kanbanize.com/kanban-resources/kanban-software/kanban-board-examples/

Image from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosenfeldmedia/35473617030

LEAN

The goal of the Lean methodology is to maximise value while minimising waste, hence the term ‘Lean’. It aims to use fewer resources, less money and time while still creating more value for the customer. Like Agile, Lean focuses on stakeholder input and feedback, and early and rapid product delivery. Lean projects are designed to deliver continuous improvement, releasing regular updates that increase the value and efficiency of the product.

Lean streamlines business processes to achieve an efficient, waste-free system, which is regularly improved by reassessment and updates. It is a process commonly applied to manufacturing and software development, but is also a mindset that can be applied to business practice more broadly as well as the management of specific projects.

SCRUM

Scrum is an element often used within an Agile project management framework. It is a short sprint approach to managing projects, often tied to two-week cycles with short daily meetings. Within each cycle or sprint, the team agrees to deliver a set number of tasks for a project with a focus on expediting product turnaround and improving quality. Scrum is highly collaborative, and task ownership is determined by the team as a whole, as there is no single team leader who delegates tasks. There is however a Scrum Master, whose job is to remove any barriers to team progress and to coach the team through their project delivery process. At the end of each cycle, the team reviews their deliverables, and notes any changes to be included in the next sprint. Then the cycle of development and assessment begins again.

Image from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agile_Project_Management_by_Planbox.png

Benefits Realisation Management

Benefits realisation refers to your project’s successful delivery of its intended outcomes, i.e. that the planned benefits of your project have been realised. Benefits Realisation Management (BRM) focusses on ensuring benefits are delivered throughout the entire project, rather than just at its conclusion. Successful BRM consists of three main actions:

Identify benefits: to determine whether projects, programs, and portfolios can produce the intended business results.

Execute benefits management: to minimise risks to future benefits and maximise the opportunity to gain additional benefits.

Sustain benefits realisation: to ensure that whatever the project or program produces continues to create value after the project is completed.

These three behaviours are integrated into every aspect of the project, to ensure that the focus remains on deliverables, which helps ensure the project’s benefits are fully realised.

PRINCE 2

PRINCE2 stands for PRojects IN Controlled Environments. PRINCE2 projects require a strong business justification, identifying a clear need, a target customer, realistic benefits, and an accurate understanding of the project’s cost. A project board owns the project and is responsible for its success, while a project manager oversees the day-to-day activities.

The PRINCE2 methodology focuses on organisation and control over the entire project lifecycle. This means projects are thoroughly planned before commencing, each stage of the process is clearly structured, and all aspects of the project are finalised at the project’s conclusion. Though it emphasises dividing the project into manageable and controllable stages, PRINCE2 still allows for flexibility and tailoring practices to suit the needs of the project. PRINCE2 differs from methodologies like Agile and Lean in its focus is on structure and documentation, a key benefit of which is that the extensive planning and documentation can mitigate risks during a project.

Image from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PRINCE2_Procesmodel.PNG

PRiSM

PRojects integrating Sustainable Methods (PRiSM) blends project planning with environmental sustainability measures to reduce negative ecological and social impact when carrying out projects. PRiSM is generally used for capital works projects, and helps project teams eliminate pollution or waste and save energy. In order for it to function successfully, the PRiSM approach requires the buy-in of all areas participating in a project, from the executive to the project support team.

Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a statistical-based, data-driven approach and continuous improvement methodology for eliminating defects in a product, process or service. Six Sigma works to improve quality by identifying what is not working in the project, through statistical analysis. It applies quality management, including empirical statistics, and employs personnel who are experts in these disciplines. Since this is a data-driven approach, this process works best for teams that need to deliver high-quality, consistent products on a large scale. Because of this, it is typically only used for longer-term, large scale projects or businesses, like manufacturing or software development.

Waterfall

The Waterfall methodology is strictly sequential and heavily requirements-focused. This method is divided into discrete stages, beginning with an analysis of the project scope, issues and possible solutions. Each stage is self-contained, and completed before moving onto the next stage. Because of its rigid structure, the project team needs a clear idea of the project demands from the very beginning, as there is little allowance for change once the project is underway. This inflexibility is one of the limitations of Waterfall. This approach is best applied to short projects with clearly defined requirements, where advanced planning has fewer risks of disruption later on.

Combine Design thinking, Lean and Agile (Scrum)

This approach combines elements of Design Thinking, Lean Startup and Agile processes for the development of a customer-focused product or service initiative. It begins the analysis and design process using Design Thinking, then moves onto a Lean Startup approach for the development and testing phase. Finally it delivers the product through the Agile incremental delivery and continuous improvement process. This allows the project team to deliver value faster, having addressed the customer problem or service issue early in the project planning phase.

Image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143213400@N07/24748794537

The image below shows where the commonly used methodologies reside on the grid in terms of adaptability and structured approach.