Project Management Methodology

When Jun mentioned Project Management Methodology (PMM) I didn't know exactly what he meant, it sounded quite complex. So, I came home and googled it. I found lots of information related to PMM. After I researched the topic I learned that PMM is a holistic approach about how to achieve goals, therefore, a very well paid skill!

There are several methodologies to manage a project, they all have different names, but at the end all of them have a common purpose which is to accomplish a goal within a specific time-frame and budget.
A project begins with an idea that requires a lot of thinking, learning, organizing common sense, and so on. A PMM is like a vehicle to transform an idea into a product or service where all people involved are satisfactorily rewarded according to their interests.
The PMM used by the IST (Information Services and Technology) at MIT has a clear logic explained in 5 steps:
1) Startup (establishment of the scope, goals, and preliminary plan).
2) Define and confirm scope/requirements (confirmation of scope and clarification of business needs).
3) Develop plan and secure resources (kick off the project according to the stakeholders’ agreed upon roadmap).
4) Track, control, report and review (monitor progress, report status and solve issues).
5) Completion and assessment (conduct final project review and knowledge transfer).

After reading about project management, it did not take much time until I bought the idea of needing to have a PMM in order to plan, assess risks, evaluate pros and cons, communicate, and unify criteria towards achieving a common goal. As an HR player, my contribution would be to make all stakeholders feel engaged in the project. Based on my knowledge of effective performance management, I assume that the more engagement there is towards the same goal, the more likely the project will be to succeed. So, my work entails understanding the big picture and each person’s interests/motivations in order to communicate and align the project objectives among the team members, and to create milestones that lead to the same goal.