The six components of a Project Management Methodology

Have you ever felt lost in the labyrinth of project management methodologies? Fear not, as we embark on an enlightening conversation with Mounir Ajam, a guru in the field with nearly four decades of experience. Together, we dissect the complex world of methods, methodologies, and frameworks, setting the record straight on their distinct roles in the project management realm. From the precision of the Critical Path Method to the comprehensive SUKAD Way and the innovative Uruk PM Platform, we demystify these concepts to help you navigate your projects with confidence.

In the heart of our discussion lies the anatomy of a project management method, broken down into six essential components by Mounir himself. We scrutinize each element, from stage management processes to the often-neglected supporting actions integral to managing scope, cost, quality, and risk. Tailoring these frameworks becomes a focal point of our dialogue, revealing how customization can drastically enhance outcomes for project owners and contractors alike. Get ready to absorb Mounir’s insights and transform how you perceive and execute project management.

As we venture into the digital frontier, the Rook platform stands as a testament to Mounir's dedication and the transformative power of AI in project management. We unravel the myths surrounding methodologies and standards, contrasting them with tools like the PMBOK Guide and ISO standards. The conversation doesn't end here; our website awaits with a trove of resources, from thought-provoking blog posts to our dynamic YouTube channel and podcast series. Join us in this quest for project management mastery, and let's continue to shape the future of efficient and effective project delivery.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Good day, howdy, and welcome to the 4PM podcast. My name is Munir Ajam. My core passion is project management in community. I come to you with at least close to 35 years of experience. My eagerness to share knowledge and to mentor and coach groups help organizations transform the way they manage projects to a higher level. 4pm's tent in this case is shortened for us for what we call value, which means project, program, product and portfolios, so a lot of our topics will be around this 4PM. Let's get going.

Speaker 1: 0:52

Today I'm going to talk about this very important topic to us because it's a foundation of what let us actually start our company, and it's a hot topic that we always see many posts online and there's actually quite a bit of interesting discussion going on in the last two days and I'm recording this January 20, 2024 now. So what is the project management methodology? What is the project management method? What is the framework? And there are many, many topics goes on and always debate and what is a methodology and what it's not a methodology. There is an interesting discussion by my colleagues, trevor Nelson, on the question. Is that okay? We always say this is not a methodology. It's not a methodology. So what is the methodology? So we have. Here we go Now. We have recorded this presentation, or something similar like this, and past discussion and some webinars, so it is good time to try to summarize the various topics in one place.

Speaker 1: 1:57

So today, the focus is on defining what Muneer Oruk view a project management methodology. However, I can just jump and give you that, if you'd like to jump, you can. We need to build up the process. So here we go. A big discussion we always consider a project. Method and methodology are interchangeable topic. Well, you can, nothing will prevent people from using these terms to change it. However, we need to understand that there is a bit of difference. So let's see. What does it mean?

Speaker 1: 2:41

When we talk about a method, we often basically mean a method is something systematic to do something Right. So basically, I want to do X, I follow step one, two, three, I reach what I want. So it's a well-defined procedure or technique to accomplish a particular task or solve a problem. A method typically involves steps or action followed in a specific order. Again, this is why, sometime, a method could be a procedure or something like that. However, on the other side, a methodology is typically a set of method, a study of method. It's a comprehensive approach that give us some guidance of how to build a method, and there are many principles that goes into the process. So, obviously, methodology is much bigger and if we want to get into the more framework framework is even more general and is looser kind of a definition. So that is just, in general, what we're saying is less distinguished between a method that is very specific for a specific fit for purpose versus a methodology where it might be more a generalization of how to follow a method and project management.

Speaker 1: 4:02

So, when we talk about community or practice today in our community, project management community, how do we, when you use the word method, what do we mean? Well, I think one of the posts I actually posted yesterday on LinkedIn said well, probably this term is one of the most used, abused and misunderstood term that we've in the community. Why? Because everybody use the word method in a different way to mean different things. Like some people think, oh, every project must have a unique method or every project manager have a unique method, reality doesn't make a lot of sense, you know, obviously, so let's clarify. Well, on the left side of this illustration, what we have is that, basically, what some people call a method is typically an approach, a technique, even when we use the word method and the name that we use while managing a project.

Speaker 1: 5:00

So, basically, there are numerous concepts and approaches that we use within a project that we call the method, critical past method. This is a method. It is a method, but it's very limited to the idea of defining the critical past on a project when we use, you know there are forecasting method. You know, aurok uses concept called the six steps of performance management, which mean it lead to a forecast of a project. That is a method. There are steps. However, that is specific to forecasting a project. We can use method for defining, planning a project or identifying risk or managing risk. So there are a lot of specific technique approaches, tools, procedures, guidelines that we use within a project and we might call the method. Nothing wrong with that, just as long as you understand that these methods are usually limited in focus.

Speaker 1: 5:59

Same thing, actually, I can generalize here when we talk about project management software, ms project, for example. Ms project is a well known solution tool that help us manage schedule. You know plan, you know define the schedule, and I mean there are other functionality we can use with it. However, it's primarily about scheduling project. So, is it a project management software? Yes, is it a project management method? No, I mean in the idea of does it define a full method? Not necessarily. Again, depend on what your definition. So, again, many people are on the left side of that equation, other people including us, including Munir, including Oruk.

Speaker 1: 6:48

The approach we're using is that we use the term a method. Or, let me be clear here, we're not talking about development method or Whatever. We're talking about a project management method. When I use those terms, it typically mean the steps, the sequence, the process that will help us manage the entire project across the project lifecycle, and we'll show example later. That is a Rookway. That is a Rookway PM way of thinking. A PM method is there to help us manage the entire project lifecycle. Again, nothing wrong with the term. You use it whether you are on the left side or the right side, as long as we understand that the left side are method we use within a project, whereas the other one is the method to manage the entire project. What is the Rookway? So what is the Rookway PM perspective, the Rookway on this? How does this evolve? How do we use that?

Speaker 1: 7:59

If we look at Rook project management approach start with the methodology, in other words, a methodological process. So that is the general methodology concept, the set of method idea. That is how we started back in 2007, obviously before Rook existed. This is where Munir and other colleagues within the company at that time Sukad that we started in 2007, which led to something we call a camp, or the customizable and adaptable methodology for managing project. Notice, we use the term methodology on this and I know when we were doing this way, a lot of feedback. They thought you should use the word method. No, it is a methodology, because once I use the word method, that means there is one method. This is here we're talking about methodology. That means a set of method. So we have the concept of camp. Is that to define the methodological process that we outlined?

Speaker 1: 8:57

So when we develop camp, which led to many numerous videos, blog articles and books in those days, and even workshop, and finally we reached version three of camp due to these various workshops and videos and the feedback we were getting, we were updating camp from version one to version two and version three, which we documented in the project management beyond Waterfall and Edge Ahil Book, which was published almost exactly six months ago Six years ago sorry, december 20th 2007,. So six years and one month Now. Technically we can say Oruq PM is actually when we started to work to think about building the Oruq platform, we started with version three. Now that we have been working with the platform for a while, technically we can say the platform is really version four of camp, although really there isn't too much differences. There are some subtle differences here and there, some terminology differences and there are a couple of substantial differences. Again, we are not here to discuss the differences. We just wanted to show the historical perspective and how this has been evolving.

Speaker 1: 10:10

So, from methodology to method, the idea is that we develop camp as a methodological process with a standard model. There is, you will see later on, a standard model. In some of our other videos you will probably see what we call the standard model. So when we say the standard model, that mean the model that we built when we defined initially camp and, however, we did not remember, we did not call it a method because it wasn't set in stone, it's not one size fits all. So from that methodology, just from the standard model, we can develop tailored methods. So we can tailor, customize and adapt the process to fit a specific case or fit for purpose, as we continue to explain. So each of these methods must consider various variable and basically including, you know, vector, sector, domain, industry type, size, complexity, whatever you might want to call these variables. So that leave us to. Okay, a root PM view, a PM method, a PM methodology as inclusive of six core component. What are they? So what we are saying here, every method, every method must include the six component in order to call it a method per root, which means a project management method. I reiterate, I repeat myself, just to emphasize upon so a PM method should include the six core component. So what are they?

Speaker 1: 12:00

A project lifecycle, again, this is adaptive, customizable. It could be three stages, it could be 10 stages. That have to be some kind of lifecycle. How would we go from vision to reality, vision to reality, right? So that whole concept? Now, project lifecycle, obviously we're talking about the entire project. That mean it's definitely more than one stage. So there could be phases or stages, or both, depending on what you term you like and how do you like to break down your project lifecycle A phase or a stage? The piece of that lifecycle usually focus on something specific and then, because we have to break the project lifecycle into stages or phases. We have to manage a stage of the project, so we use what we call the stage management processes. Then every stage must deliver an output, a product, a result of that stage, and that output must go through a decision point which we call stage gate.

Speaker 1: 13:10

Now somebody will be looking at this and you're not going to get ahead of yourself seven years. You're talking about six components. There are only five here. I know how to count. So that's number six is the supporting action, and the reason we put it in the middle here was touching every one of them because most likely it can attach on everyone. Because what is supporting action? As you probably have seen in other videos and you will see here, we're talking about scope management, we're talking about cost management, we're talking about quality or risk. So when we make a decision, we must be considering risk. For example, when we're talking about stage, we need to manage the scope of that stage. When we talk about the output, the output might probably include the scope, the cost, the schedule. So there are different things. So we put it in the middle and touching on all these areas. So these are the six components of a project management method or methodology.

Speaker 1: 14:11

Another way of viewing this is the following you can see a project life cycle. So, if you look at a time span, you have the project life cycle from, again, vision to reality, whatever that life cycle is, and you have stages. That life cycle is divided into stages or phases, and then, ideally, we need to manage every stage, so we use a stage management, and then we need to produce an output of every stage at the stage deliverable, and then we have the stage gates. So these are the five that I was talking about earlier the life cycle, the stages, the stage management, the stage deliverable, the stage gate. Of course, now is the time for the six part, six component, which is the supporting action that we're talking about the scope, cost management, risk, quality and so on. So this is what a life, what a project management should look. Sorry, a project management method should look like If your project, what you call project management method and I'll touch on that, you know, in the last slide or the one before the last is that always come back to this, whatever somebody talk about ah, there is an X method, this is an X.

Speaker 1: 15:38

You know, x is the greatest project management method that ever existed, right, it's going to transform project management wherever right. Come back and see, does it have the six component? Okay, you will find that probably have two or three of them, maybe four of them, but does it have all six? No, is it the most to have all six? Actually, I thought about that a lot over the years and I believe yes. Now there are other things, of course, which we did not touch on. You know the style of the project manager, the personality of the project manager. You know the organization culture. Is it more of a control type of people? You know the leadership or autocratic? Again, all of these has to deal more with the people aspect of how to manage project, or the organizational cultural aspect. But regardless, you know, when it comes to the mechanics, when it comes to the reality of what a project management method should be, regardless of what type of environment you are in, it should have something like this.

Speaker 1: 16:45

Now, of course, what we're saying is that something like this. That doesn't mean fixed, set and stone, right it, basically it come back with the idea. This is remember, I was talking about the standard model of CAM. That's the standard model. However, the idea is that from this model we can modify.

Speaker 1: 17:04

Let me just highlight a couple of items here. I'm not going to go into the detail about every step here. Obviously, we need to start with the vision for the product, for the service, whatever you want that project to give you at the end. Again, this is a project owner. If I am a contractor doing construction work or software development work for a client, I'm not going to be, you know, my gate zero will be. You know, in my company it might be gate four or five from my project, from my customer. So this is a project owner model, right, and it obviously could be used for a project contractor as well. But it has to be tailored and customized. So we start with gate zero.

Speaker 1: 17:46

Remember, we include the early discovery phase on the project. We include the operational aspect of the project and then, with this, what you see here on the screen actually I go back here that is what we call. Notice what the last between seven and nine, what we call it. We call it PLC closure. This is a very important item. We are closing the PLC at gate nine, right. However, that doesn't mean the project is closed In the ROOP platform when we reach gate nine. On a model like this the project will move from. Actually maybe I step back In the ROOP platform where basically we have, when you start a project, when you upload a project, remember the project set up, the project will go into a future list.

Speaker 1: 18:33

Now everything is in one major database. However you can sort based on this categorization, there will be future project. Once the sponsor activates the project, the project will go into the active project list and once we reach gate nine, the project will go into what we call the completed project list. Notice, I'm saying the project is complete but it's not closed. We have to go sometime in the future. We do a success assessment after project completion to assess the validity of the business case that did the project delivered to what was expected of it? Right, and that could be done. You know, days, weeks, months or years after the project is finished depend on the nature of the project and only then, when we do the final assessment, we consider the project closed and the project will move from the completed list to the closed list. So we start with the future active, completed or closed. Of course we have one more category there. It's not very relevant, but it's important to know this In case we put the project on hold, if we terminate the project early.

Speaker 1: 19:46

We just so. Maybe we need to talk about that. If, for some reason or another, a project is being terminated early, then we immediately whatever we are gate three or gate four or gate two we jump to closure and we go and close it. So in that case, the project you know gate nine or whatever that gate will be we will skip all the intermediate gate and we'll go straight to closure and the project will be added to the closed project list. That is if we decide to terminate the project. However, sometime there might be some reason where we decide to put the project on hold. In that case we have a decision where that project will go back to the hold and will stay there until a senior manager reactivated it again. That is a special condition.

Speaker 1: 20:34

Remember, this is a standard model, which means a tailored method could look totally different than this. Not only look different in this at the high level, it's also the detail of every step would be quite different, which bring us to the idea of tailoring. Tailoring is a must to respect our diversity in the way we practice project. So remember, moving from methodology to method required tailoring, customizing, adapting, configuring the method to be a fit for purpose, setting. And how do we do that?

Speaker 1: 21:18

Well, here are few things we consider when we build the tailored method. And again, remember, we can build one for you at the client the project type, sector, which basically what we consider under the project type typically mean the sector is a domain category. For example, sector could be all in gas or capital project sorry, capital project for us and the platform. So when you go to do the tailored method, selection sector will come out first. So usually capital project, technology project, academic project, this will be more of what we call the sector. Then each sector will be broken down into domain. For example, under capital project you could have all in gas, renewable energy, and that's what we call the domain and the platform. And then within those domain there could be categories. So for example, in all in gas they could be offshore, onshore there could be a new facility, revamp facility, brownfield, greenfield, whatever that might be the case. Same thing in technology we could have domain could be software, hardware, transformation, whatever. There you could have this many categorization.

Speaker 1: 22:29

Ideally, down the road, maybe two, three, four, five years in the future we could have maybe hundreds of tailored method built into the platform, because there could be hundreds of scenarios. Right Right now we have built about 40 or 50 and we can build some for you and we will be able to adjust. So we first we need to define the type, then we define the project classification project class, size, complexity, degree, innovation. In this case we combine them and RU currently use four categories, four classes micro project, small, simple project, medium, moderate, complexity and large, complex. And sometime in the future we will add the fifth one, which is mega project. It's too soon for that. So these are the ones. Now, what does it mean? Micro project? So the complexity that have to be again tailored to you as an organization. You know, in all, in gas, a macro project could be $2 million. In technology, a $2 million project could be a mega project, right, so well, not mega, maybe large and complex. So that that has the classification has to fit your, your need, and we can work with you as a company on what would be considered the proper classification.

Speaker 1: 23:39

Then we have to consider the development approach Are we going to use for the development of the product, remember, so we are dealing here now. We are focusing on when we reach implementation and we want to develop the product. How are we going to develop the product? Are we going to use what some people call agile development? It's a relative incremental development. We can develop the product into an iteration or an increment, or or both. Or we're going to use traditional sequential or what we might like to call Big Bang, or are we going to use some kind of a blended approach that people call hybrid. You know, in general it depends on the nature of the project.

Speaker 1: 24:18

I'll give you a quick example here and I will be doing actually a case study on the on the development of the Rook initiative. Maybe in a few months I will have maybe an ebook and potentially maybe a presentation and videos on that. When we are developing a Rook, the first time when we develop the proof of concept, you know the first few months of development, that was a big thing. So basically I could not get access until the team, the development team, are actually giving me a product that I can test and use and that which is a proof of concept. So that's what more of a Big Bang. Since that point, we've been doing iterative, incremental. So every time we need to add a module, we actually design the first iteration, we build the first iteration and then we could have money. You know, we can update it, upgrade it so we can have multiple iteration, or we build some functionalities and then we later on add some more functionality and some more functionality. So it could be again, it could be a blend.

Speaker 1: 25:20

I don't like to use the word hybrid. I put it here because I know some people think that you know this is hybrid. I like to call it blended. Now why this matters, again, I'll go back to numbers studies and not by Rook. Unfortunately we're still in Utah market. We don't have our own case studies to demonstrate. I know from experience of multiple decades in the industry. I know this stuff works.

Speaker 1: 25:45

Otherwise I would not have dedicated almost now, you know, 2007 to today, 17 years of my life coming to maybe, 20 years of my life Dedicated to the study of methodologies and PM method, and now the last few years working on the Rook platform, developing the Rook platform. So if I don't believe that this is an actually a very powerful solution that could help organizations, say, billions of dollars, I would not invest my life and time into this. Actually, some of you might know, a few years ago I was semi retired and a bunch of my colleagues, people who've read my books, who've taken courses with me. They came back said, muneer, we need to take your ideas and put them into digital solution. So I came out of semi retirement just basically to build this. So to me, this is the legacy of my life, probably for my career, and but again, I'm not going to convince you with my word or by saying, trust me, it works.

Speaker 1: 26:48

I'm going to show you similar and what's interesting about the data on the screen. This is based on the methodology as a concept. Now what we have. Potentially, we could actually help client achieve better results than this. Why? Because it's a digital solution, right, so everything is in. You know it can help speed up the planning process, especially when we embed AI and you know, the other platform become AI-enabled platform and basically, it will allow people to use the platform and AI to accelerate the project planning, the project initiation, the project execution, implementation, and we can also use historical data and their community learning. There are a lot of great advantages, all of it within a digital solution that's set in the cloud above us and rain down on us with knowledge and powerful tools.

Speaker 1: 27:50

So here is these things Stagegatecom, obviously that companies specialize into the principle. However, they have actually asked for an independent benchmarking for the third party to validate the principle of a Stagegate model. And they show these kind of results Higher speed to market, which debunks the idea that some people think the Stagegate model is a bureaucratic, slow process. Actually it shows if you use it effectively it can help increase the speed of your product development work. It increase your profit and increase the chance of achieving success on cost and schedule. The data from below it's fixed from coming from capital project industry, from a book on benchmarking, multiple benchmarking studies summarized in capital project and clearly show the difference as well. Closing comments two slides on this. That's why there will be.

Speaker 1: 28:52

So we often debate and I started with my video with this idea we often debate what is or is not a project methodology. In this video we shared the six components of a project method. Actually it's very interesting. I have done this presentation a few weeks ago but I haven't had the chance to record it until today, but yesterday I traveled and also my colleagues and Bill Duncan commenting, and many other people are commenting on the idea, on the concept of methodology, and Trevor Post was very interesting, so probably look for Link Find Trevor on Linkin October I mean, sorry, january 19, I believe, or 18, and you'll probably find his post on this topic.

Speaker 1: 29:36

And basically, what's raising the question which is interesting is that we often talk about what is not a method, what's not a method. What is a method? That's what we try to do here A process covering the entire project, not a method limited in scope and used while managing a project, such as value management, critical path method or the kind of concept. I think I elaborated quite a bit on this during the presentation so I'm not gonna explain again. So that is one part. That brings us to the second question, which some might still have. An engineering question said what about? Or lingering question what about waterfall, agile, pom bot, iso, prince 2, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Well, I would say, when you have these questions, go back and I alluded to this earlier go back to the six component. Does that offer you the six component?

Speaker 1: 30:29

The Pumbak Guide is more of a. I know some people might not like that terminology is not a methodology. I will answer you on that one. It's a framework. It provides some guide, it's a general guideline of how to build a methodology and ISO would be the same way. So I already answered on this. On these two items I did not want to answer, but I think it's important to highlight. So, yes, pumbak Guide is a way they talk about life cycle, they talk about the stages, but it doesn't give you the steps, the sequence, the process. So that is why these are not method Agile waterfall.

Speaker 1: 31:05

Again, I have done many videos on this in the past, but before you go and watch some of the links I share with you here, think about it yourself. What do you think? If you like Pumbak, we have few interesting playlists and I call these are actually playlists, it depends. Series includes, I think, 10 or 11 videos, short videos, one to two minute videos about definition. So it includes definition of a method and methodology that I discussed in here, but would include something what are the differences Are usually, you know, somewhere between five and 10 minute videos. They talk about, for example, what are the difference between quality and grade? What is the difference between X and Y? Some of it could include method and methodology, so that could be also some additional content there.

Speaker 1: 31:53

When debunking the myths, I'm not going to tell you the last of the full part because in a way, I would have answered. My first bullet is that there are a series of videos Unfortunately, well, unfortunately or fortunately, you know the, the, the it depends series. It was an old series we just refreshed. So what you will see online today in our YouTube channel probably the first three videos of it, but we are gradually adding the other videos. What are the differences in debunking the myths? Right now they are there in the platform. There are many videos in there. These were recorded at least five or six years ago, so before a root project management. So if you see Sukhad or something that would explain.

Speaker 1: 32:35

So, in general, this brings us toward the end and basically, once again, if you'd like to continue receiving these things, visit our website. But I did not, I did not say in our website there is a tab called knowledge. You go there. You can find some links to our blog site, podcast site, the YouTube channel. So if you are a visual, you would like to see things visually. Obviously, youtube. If you like to read, you know the blog and, of course, the podcast is something we just released so far. We published three podcasts this year, so some of these topics are produced in a podcast format as well. So if you are, if you want to listen and enjoy and, of course, our link in here page as well, it's there where we share, where we typically share, these new publications and the new videos and audios. So this we say thank you for your patience and listening to 30 minute and we wish you success today, tomorrow and always.