What Is Project Management Methodology?

For a project that has a well defined beginning and end, what is its life cycle and how is it managed?  Effective and workable project management methodologies should be appropriate to the task at hand and the organisation.

 

For relatively simple projects in small businesses, established milestones, some checklists and a person to steer the project may be all that are needed.

 

For more complicated projects in a large business, a more well defined and structured approach is required. A more complex approach is required to establish and approve the project, monitor and steer progress, solve any problems, deliver the final product and finally close the project.

 

To help understand project management methodology, the project life cycle needs to be considered. The life cycle will depend upon the size and type of business and the size and type of the project. However, in general they will all have similar fundamentals. The project life cycles consists of the following elements: