Business simulations allow learners to interact with a realistic version of their work

environment.

A simulation game mixes elements of cooperation, competition and decision making with feedback

and repetition. Combining game elements with simulations, modern technology and media creates a

learning solution that has many benefits.

This kind of group simulation isn’t just teaching your learners about the scenario they’re facing, it’s

showing them how they can work together and learn from other people’s experience.

Business simulations seek to put the learner in a realistic scenario that they will encounter in their

work life. Putting them in an environment that recreates the real world lets them see the effects of

their decisions immediately.

To get the most out of a business simulation game there are several things you should do.

 Mirror real business challenges in your simulation story

 Blend physical tasks and technology to create impact

 Add an element of competitive challenge

 Test throughout development to hone the gameplay

 Use images and video to enhance the learner experience

 Use game data and reporting to add value to the feedback stage

If you create a business simulation that includes these elements you can expect to see the following

benefits.
 Benefits of business simulation for
learners
 Accelerated performance through experiential learning

Experiential learning has been shown to be more effective than other kinds of training in many areas.

A simulation allows employees to learn by experiencing the consequences of their actions and

repeating different strategies to see different outcomes.

Studies show that you can not only impact on learner’s knowledge of the content of the simulation but

also on more general skills.

Effectiveness of Learning Through Experience and Reflection in a Project Management Simulation

“The business simulation game improves not only conceptual knowledge about project management

but also team working and the participants’ other soft skills.” -

 Building critical skills in a realistic environment

Research into critical thinking in students shows that skills are improved by taking part in

management simulations.
 I Do and I Understand: Assessing the Utility of Web-Based Management Simulations to Develop

Critical Thinking Skills

“Participation in the simulations was an effective way to develop critical thinking skills” -

In this case the content of the simulation was secondary to the intended effect. Even if the content of

the simulation is not relevant to the exact role a learner plays in an organisation they will benefit from

taking part.

Critical thinking, teamwork and other soft skills all improve when learners take part in a well-designed

business simulation.

 Deepen learning through collaboration

Cooperation with colleagues is rated as the most important method of learning by learners

themselves.

Learners Voice report by Towards Maturity

“91% agree collaboration is essential or very useful” -

A simulation lets learners work together to achieve the best results. Learning from a colleagues

approach to a situation and their knowledge of the industry is more useful than reading about a

technique or fact.

Cooperating and competing with different teams that you don’t usually work with enables knowledge

sharing that isn’t usually possible.

 Achieve unprecedented engagement

Towards Maturity carried out research on the impact of  simulations in their report In-Focus Online

Experiential Learning . Two-thirds of respondents reported an increased engagement in the learning

when it involved a simulation or other similar interactive element.

Combining teamwork, interactions, rich media and game elements in one package creates a training

event that learners want to experience.

When learners want to take your training, and even repeat the session, you know it’s offering

something beyond the ‘traditional’ tick box standard.

Case study: GlaxoSmithKline VaxSim

Leading pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) wanted an interactive activity to support

its regular onboarding event for the vaccines arm of its business. GSK wanted the experience to be

as immersive and engaging as possible to give their employees an overview of how the different parts

of a global vaccines business work together.

VaxSim is a multi-media business simulation game that combines digital, video, gaming and live role-

play elements. One to twelve teams of between six and ten people play out a simulated financial

year, each team member having a distinct and key role (e.g. CEO, CFO, VP of Sales and Marketing,

VP of Operations).

They make quarterly decisions on what vaccines to produce, what tenders to bid for, what resources

they need and what hiring and customer relations activities they need to carry out to be successful.

They must choose their target market from a series of fictional countries.

Throughout the game, players must think on their feet to deal with unexpected situations such as a

fire in a manufacturing plant or the opportunity to hire a maverick salesperson.

 These game alerts may come in as a simulated news report, email, Skype call or WebEx meeting. 

The use of multi-media adds drama and propel the narrative along.

Debriefs are held half way through the daylong session and after the simulated year has finished.

Feedback from learners and L&D was positive with 100% of participants enjoying the experience and

90% believing it would be beneficial to their job.

Read more about the GSK business simulation in the Elearning Age magazine article .

Benefits of simulation for business

 Give employees an understanding of the wider strategic picture

Most learners don’t get to experience more than a handful of roles in an organisation. Putting them in

the position of a different role within a simulation allows them to experience how they fit into the wider

picture.

Using a simulation as an introduction to how a company operates gives new employees an overview

of the way it works that no traditional presentation can match. Allowing them to experience the role of

a different department gives them more empathy for their colleagues and their challenges.

Uniting geographically remote workers with a team-based simulation makes it easier for all

participants to understand the issues facing the different teams in your business.

 Provide quantitative assessment data

Modern business simulations use technology to incorporate the event into your learning platform.

Recording the actions taken and their results allows real time feedback to be displayed as well as

captured for later assessment.

 Quantitative data can be drawn from the various inputs the learners make to the simulation system.

The more sessions that are run the more data is collected for comparison and analysis, making a

simulation more valuable in the long term.

 Provide qualitative assessment data

Often a facilitator will be involved in running the simulation, giving L&D an opportunity to collect

qualitative data throughout the session.

Debriefs are an important part of any business simulation and offer some of the most valuable

opportunities to learn for the business and participants.

A popular starting point for business simulation debriefing is Sivasailam Thiagarajan’s 6 phases of

debriefing :

1. How do you feel?

2. What happened?
3. What did you learn?
4. How does this relate to the real world?
5. What if…?
6. What next?

By asking these questions of the learners, you can get a deeper insight into how effective the

simulation has been, and how it can be improved.

Introducing a mid-game debrief gives learners an opportunity to share thoughts and strategies with

team members, facilitators and opposing teams. Tweaks can be made to the simulation while it is still

happening to ensure everyone benefits as much as possible.

Combining the feedback and data from the simulation gives L&D a unique opportunity to compare

performance and results across teams and individuals.

How to Identify Business Opportunities
Find a business opportunity in every market need.
One of the first things you should remember in trying to identify business opportunities is that all enterprising
ventures answer, in one way or another, a particular human need. Whether it is a product or a service, it must
respond to what the buyers need or want.

Begin by studying your own community, village, or barangay. Is it self-sufficient or do the residents have to go out of
their way to buy pandesal, cooked food, or cooking oil? Or to have their shoes repaired, their cars washed, or their
homes pest-protected?

Study demand and supply gaps.

Find out how the present demand for certain products or services in the community is being met. Is demand for
some items being filled by local suppliers or producers? Find out whether or not local supply can cope with or totally
satisfy local demand. If not, this may suggest that there is room for still one more in the business.

To illustrate: Let us suppose you have learned that there is only one hollow block maker or retailer in your
community and that he can supply only about half of the community’s needs. On top of this, you notice a boom in
the construction business. You see many new houses and commercial buildings being built. From these
observations, you see a room for a new entrepreneur to bridge the gap between supply and demand.
That new entrepreneur can be you! However, you don’t just study the hollow block demand and supply only. It will
be useful, too, to look at the situation in the case of other construction materials (for example, steel works, fixtures,
grills, door jambs, cement, etc.) or services (plumbing, painting, landscaping, interior designing) to meet related
construction needs.

Study import-export movements.

Again, perhaps a number of products are being supplied by producers or suppliers outside the community or
imported from other countries. Study these imports. Possibly, given the resources, you can produce these. You may
not be able to produce the same high quality as the imported ones. However, if you can produce at a much lower
cost and sell the products cheaper, you have a competitive advantage there. You may find that your products
though cheaper and of lower quality will also be attractive in the market. For example, locally cured ham, corned
beef, tocino and longganisa have become acceptable substitutes for imported processed meats.

You may also take a look at products that the community is selling outside or is exporting. Usually, these products
are exported in raw or semi-finished form. For instance, rattan poles grown in the community are normally sold to
rattan furniture makers and processors outside the community. As a potential entrepreneur, look for ways of
increasing the value of rattan poles before selling or exporting them. If you succeed, then you can be in business.

One way of increasing the value of rattan poles is to process them into a form that can readily be used by the
buyers. How? By pre-cutting them into the desired sizes, by treating them with chemicals to prevent deterioration, by
varnishing them or painting them. Of course, the best way would be to manufacture rattan furniture or rattan
handicraft items like trays, boxes, coasters, etc. You can earn better this way.

Capitalize on available resources.

The availability of certain resources in an area can suggest business opportunities. These resources may be in the
form of raw materials, skills, information or technology.

Consider the following:

Raw materials. Identify the materials that are native to and abundant in an area. Study how to make money out
of these either through gathering the materials, trading them, partially processing them, or manufacturing finished
products out of them.
Local skills. Are specialized, traditional skills available in the community? Can these be used for commercial
purposes? Study these skills for possible upgrading and innovation. The availability of skilled weavers in a
community, for example, can be tapped by organizing a weaving, handloom, or handicraft industry.
Examples of traditional skills on which progressive enterprises have been built are: shoemaking in Marikina City,
slipper-making in Liliw, Laguna, woodcraft in Paete, Laguna, jewelry making in Meycauayan, Bulacan, and “antique”
furniture making in Betis, Pampanga.

Industry information – Reading technical and business journals will keep you updated on business ideas.
Newsweek Magazine, for example, has a regular feature on new products and techniques. Local publications like
MagNegosyo of TLRC and Entrepreneur Philippines Magazine give information that inspire new entrepreneurs.
Check out, too, the business features section of Philippine Daily Inquirer, BusinessWorld, and most other dailies.
Online, there are sites that will be useful, notably the DTI website, E-Yellow Pages, the UP ISSI website, etc.
Many private and government institutions conduct periodic studies which review the growth and performance of
certain industries. Such studies discuss a given industry’s problems and prospects for growth and expansion.
Obviously, they would provide useful information that will help you make wise investment decisions.
For example, the following were identified by the DTI as export winners in 2002:

o Processed fruits
o Marine products (fresh/frozen fish, shrimps)
o Carrageenan and seaweeds
o Electronics (components and parts)
o Metals (automotive and parts)
o Garments
o Furniture
o Jewelry (fine and custom)
o Holiday decor (Christmas, Easter, Halloween)
o Ceramics (decorative and tableware)
o Basketware
o Marble and marblecraft
o Construction services
o Information technology services
o Professional consulting services

A more updated priority list is given in the National SME Agenda prepared in 2004:

o Food
o Organic and natural products
o Marine products
o Wearables, including costume and fine jewelry, and footwear
o Leathergoods (handbags, belts, travel goods, gloves)
o Home furnishings
o Construction materials
o Micro-electronics
o Information Technology services
o Motor vehicle parts and components

If you engage in one of these industries, you will receive high priority in government incentives and support
programs. That means you get the first crack at credit, training, and technical assistance.

Technology. Look out for advances or improvements in technology. These might be useful in upgrading or
improving traditional production systems or starting a new business altogether. For example, research and
development in aquaculture has made prawn and bangus culture a viable business venture. Similarly, R & D in
waste utilization has given rise to new products like wood particle boards, organic farming, and volcanic ash
ceramics. Canned laing, and vacuum-fried tahong are also new products developed by DOST. And of course, e-
commerce has opened up new web-based businesses and new ways of doing business.
Adapt, complement, reshape.
Be observant. What are the people around you doing? Can you pick up something from it – with some modification?

Get familiar with the current economic situation in communities comparable to where you live. You can be inspired
by a number of projects which have worked in these areas and which you can adapt to your own local situation.
Don’t just copy and imitate. Innovate! Innovating is improving on someone else’s idea to make it work for you. This
might mean reshaping or repackaging goods or services to fit or match present trends or styles. Creative ideas may
add or change a product’s features and thus add more to its benefits.
For example, if you live in the province, you might wish to look at a project that has succeeded in the city. Internet
cafes, for instance, which first proliferated in Metro Manila, are now being set up in the regions. Fads like string-it-
yourself bracelets and necklaces, color-it-yourself ceramics, print-while-you wait shops, and badminton courts can
also catch the imagination of provincial markets.

Explore forward-backward industry linkages.

No doubt, there are a number of industries in your community. Find out what possible business ideas you can pick
up from what already exists. For example, a backward linkage of a meat processing plant in your area may spur
agribusiness projects like poultry or hog raising, transport services, supplies required for meat processing. Consider
also going into distribution of poultry feeds, egg trays and other inputs to the poultry raisers in the community. A
forward linkage, on the other hand, would explore opportunities in meat packaging, subcontracting, or trading and
distribution of finished products.

Screen and select the best investment alternative.

You may be able to identify a number of alternative business ideas. You may then narrow down the choice to two or
three possible projects, maybe food, garments or handicraft. But since you have limited resources, you can’t go into
all three projects at once. You will have to screen and select the best one.

Source: Your Guide to Starting a Small Enterprise -dti.gov.ph

=================================================================================================

Definitions
The difference between methodologies, frameworks, and methods has
always been a highly-debated subject, even in fields like Research and
Architecture. To help you understand these terms, let’s first have a look at
the following definitions:

Method
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a method as “a procedure or
process for attaining an object: such as a systematic procedure, technique, or
mode of inquiry employed by or proper to a particular discipline or a
systematic plan followed in presenting material for instruction”.

In other words, a method refers to a single action, tool, technique, process,

or way of doing something.
Methodology
Looking again at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for consistency, a
methodology is “a body of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a
discipline; a particular procedure or set of procedures”.

Essentially, a methodology is a collection of methods, practices, processes,

techniques, procedures, and rules. In project management, methodologies
are specific, strict, and usually contain a series of steps and activities for each
phase of the project’s life cycle. They’re defined approaches that show us
exactly what steps to take next, the motivation behind each step, and how a
project stage should be performed.

Framework
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a framework is “a body of
methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline: a particular
procedure or set of procedures” or “the analysis of the principles or
procedures of inquiry in a particular field”.

Similarly, the Business Dictionary defines a framework as being a “broad

overview, outline, or skeleton of interlinked items which supports a
particular approach to a specific objective, and serves as a guide that can be
modified as required by adding or deleting items”.

In the case of project management, a framework is an overview of how its

guidelines should be implemented. While methodologies offer strict
principles and practices for completing a project, frameworks are more
flexible because they can adapt to changing situations or to a company’s own
needs, leaving room for the person in charge to find the best way of
completing a project. You can also bring new existing methods or practices
to the framework you’re working with.
Projects can be brought to a successful end in various ways. But the best and
most popular project management methodologies, methods, and
frameworks are always changing. New concepts appear all the time. An
entire string of methods, tools, and techniques lies behind all successful
projects. In fact, as a project management practitioner, you’ll probably get to
use more than just one of these during your life.

However, project management methods, methodologies, and frameworks

are not just for project managers. The entire project team must understand
their usage, purpose, and basic terms. This will ensure that the whole
process will go smoothly regardless of your choice. Remember that no
project or team is the same. A methodology or framework that worked for
someone else might not be the right one for you. That’s why it’s best to test
how you can use them for your own projects.

We created this extensive guide for beginners to help you pick the project
management methods, methodologies, and frameworks that will fit all your
needs according to your industry and project objectives. In the last part of
the article we mentioned some methods, methodologies, frameworks,
guides, and other approaches that are sometimes debated in a project
management context but are incorrectly labeled as project management
methodologies. We also reached out to a couple of project management
experts to offer you a practitioner’s opinion on them.

We’ve divided the article into three distinct sections. You can click
on each one to skip directly to it:

Definitions

Project Management Methods, Methodologies, and Frameworks

 PRINCE2
 Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM)
 Critical Path Method (CPM)
 Adaptive Project Framework (APF)
 Extreme Project Management (XPM)
 PRiSM
 Benefits Realization Management (BRM)
 Crystal

What about Agile, Scrum, and the others?

 Agile
 Scrum
 Kanban
 Scrumban
 Extreme Programming
 PMI’s PMBOK® Guide
 Lean
 Six Sigma
 Lean Six Sigma
 Waterfall
 Rapid Applications Development (RAD)
 DSDM
 Rational Unified Process (RUP)
 Feature Driven Development (FDD)

Definitions
The difference between methodologies, frameworks, and methods has
always been a highly-debated subject, even in fields like Research and
Architecture. To help you understand these terms, let’s first have a look at
the following definitions:

Method
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a method as “a procedure or
process for attaining an object: such as a systematic procedure, technique, or
mode of inquiry employed by or proper to a particular discipline or a
systematic plan followed in presenting material for instruction”.

In other words, a method refers to a single action, tool, technique, process,

or way of doing something.

Methodology
Looking again at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for consistency, a
methodology is “a body of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a
discipline; a particular procedure or set of procedures”.

Essentially, a methodology is a collection of methods, practices, processes,

techniques, procedures, and rules. In project management, methodologies
are specific, strict, and usually contain a series of steps and activities for each
phase of the project’s life cycle. They’re defined approaches that show us
exactly what steps to take next, the motivation behind each step, and how a
project stage should be performed.

Framework
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a framework is “a body of
methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline: a particular
procedure or set of procedures” or “the analysis of the principles or
procedures of inquiry in a particular field”.

Similarly, the Business Dictionary defines a framework as being a “broad

overview, outline, or skeleton of interlinked items which supports a
particular approach to a specific objective, and serves as a guide that can be
modified as required by adding or deleting items”.

In the case of project management, a framework is an overview of how its

guidelines should be implemented. While methodologies offer strict
principles and practices for completing a project, frameworks are more
flexible because they can adapt to changing situations or to a company’s own
needs, leaving room for the person in charge to find the best way of
completing a project. You can also bring new existing methods or practices
to the framework you’re working with.

Project Management Methods,

Methodologies, and Frameworks

PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled

Environments)
PRINCE2 is a project management method that enforces the need to split
project accountability between a board and a project manager. While the
board’s responsibility is to bring in the required resources and focus on
business justification, the project manager handles all tasks and manages the
team on a daily basis.

PRINCE2 offers better control over your resources, increased risk

management, defined team roles and responsibilities, an emphasis on the
end user and the final product, a consistent approach to review cycles,
organized plans, and controllable project management phases. This method
contains all the needed tools, practices, and procedures that will favorably
take a project from start to finish.

Best for: Construction and architecture, marketing, but works for other

industries too.
Tools to use: Microsoft Project, in-STEP BLUE, P2ware

Resources:

PRINCE2 Certification Information

PRINCE2 in 100 Seconds

Key Benefits of PRINCE2

Managing successful projects with PRINCE2

Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM)

The Critical Chain Project Management method focuses on a project’s
timing, reducing duration estimates, calculating buffers, notifying activity
completion, measuring progress, and setting priorities. Any project team
that uses CCPM starts off by creating an initial project schedule. Then, based
on resource availability, they establish the task dependencies and activities
that must be completed so that the rest of the project can be finished
successfully without any delay. This is the “Critical Chain”. It’s the longest
path until the project’s end after you’ve done resource leveling. All of the
tasks that are part of it require special resource reserves and backup plans to
ensure that nothing will postpone them. The schedule made using this
method allows free time slots (known as project buffers) to be placed
between these important (critical) tasks so that deadlines are met effectively.

“CCPM encompasses much good practice but the seminal development

concerns managing variability using aggregated buffers and the use of a
management signalling tool (buffer management). This project management
development is a natural extension to flow based systems management
developments in manufacturing such as Kanban and Drum-Buffer-Rope.”,
remarks Roy Stratton, the author of Critical Chain Project Management
Theory and Practice.

Best for: Manufacturing, construction.

Tools to use: Aurora CCPM, A-dato, ProChain

Resources:

Video Summary — Critical Chain Project Management

Critical Chain Project Management Theory and Practice, by Roy Stratton

Critical Path Method (CPM)
A Web Design project in Paymo: activities of the Critical Path

The Critical Path Method can be used to establish the priority of a project’s
activities, reassign team roles, evaluate risks, and distribute resources
accordingly. This method helps teams identify milestones, task
dependencies, and deadlines with ease. To begin with, create a model of the
project and add four elements:

 A list of the tasks that need to be completed

 The duration of each task
 The dependencies between activities
 The endpoint of a task

A Critical Path refers to a sequence of critical activities (dependent or

floating) in a project that determines the longest succession of tasks that
have to be completed on time in order for the project to meet the deadline.
Critical activities aren’t always the most important, difficult, or costly ones in
a project. A task is considered “critical” if, when delayed, it influences the
project’s completion time.

The system will automatically calculate and indicate which activities are
“critical” and which aren’t based on their duration, and how this changes
over time. The Critical Path Method is based on the notion that work on a
new task can’t start unless you’ve finished your previous task duties. In this
way, CPM supports the team to complete work faster, distribute resources
correctly and evenly, and spot bottlenecks to avoid any further problems in
time.

Best for: Manufacturing, science, construction and architecture,

engineering, but can be adapted to other industries as well.

Tools to use: Lucidchart, Microsoft Project, Smartsheet

Resources:

What Is a Critical Path in Project Management

Critical Path Method (CPM) — Instructional Video

Learn PMP Critical Path In 17 Minutes Flat

Adaptive Project Framework (APF)

The Adaptive Project Framework (APF) borrows several elements and
processes from other project management methods, methodologies, and
frameworks. You can use these for your own projects in a personalized way.
What distinguishes APF is the way in which you create a project. A decision
is first taken to pick the most suitable existing approach and adapt it to your
own project.

Projects are then divided into smaller task groups and handled by different
teams. The latter are in charge of evaluating the outcomes of each project
group and identifying possible ways to improve performance. The client is
also involved in the project development process to ensure that they are fully
aware of the changes that go into it.

No project is the same. This is why this framework makes it easier for you to
adapt a project to an approach and balance it against your own objectives,
identified risks, and changing client demands.

Best for: Information technology, environmental protection.

Tools to use: Paymo

Resources:

Introduction to the Adaptive Project Framework: Managing Complexity in

the Face of Uncertainty, by Robert K. Wysocki

Adaptive Project Framework: A new level of agile development

Extreme Project Management (XPM)
“Importantly, eXtreme Project Management is not a methodology. Rather, it
is a flexible project management framework and set of leadership practices
for delivering value in the face of volatility.” says Doug DeCarlo, author
of eXtreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles, and Tools to
Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility.

Work through XPM is done at a fast pace and with several twists and turns.
Extreme Project Management is required by projects with unpredictable
development or that face considerably more changes than traditional
projects do. Doug also states that “It is applied in complex project
environments when:

 Failure is not an option

 Speed, innovation and profitability count
 Quality of life is important.”

In XPM, plans are no longer reliable. Situations can change every second.
Project team members have the freedom to bring their own touch to a
project or task for which they hold complete accountability. A radical shift in
the way your team thinks and regards a project will happen.

Chaotic client needs and tasks, spontaneity, uncertainty, and less control
over projects are now a normal daily occurrence they will have to adapt to.
That’s because at the base of XPM lies the belief that work on more difficult
projects can only be done through trial and error. Thus, any unpredicted
mistake or bug will be fixed on the go.

Best for: Software development.

Resources:

eXtreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles, and Tools to

Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility, by Douglas DeCarlo
XPM — from idea to realization
PRiSM (Projects integrating Sustainable
Methods)
A project management methodology that considers all environmental factors as well as human rights, work values, and
corruption prevention

How does green project management sound to you? If you’re looking for a
sustainable way to manage your projects, try PRiSM.
This project management methodology was built around environmental
factors and how they can influence the development of the project
management process. It helps project teams eliminate pollution or waste and
save energy. Since PRiSM also deals with human rights, labor values, and
corruption prevention, it’s so much more than just an approach to the way in
which you handle nature.

Best for: Construction, architecture, landscape, and any other work that

can impact the environment.

Resources:

Green/Sustainability Project Management Overview

The GPM® Reference Guide to Sustainability in Project Management

Benefits Realization Management (BRM)

Benefits Realization Management is a framework which ensures
stakeholders that a project has achieved the desired benefits. Projects are
finished when all benefits have been met.

BRM imposes the need to find all benefits at the beginning of a project and
make sure that all tasks are conducted and evaluated to help a business
reach them. A Business Change Manager helps the Benefits Owner with this.
While the latter one has to identify the business’ benefits and establish
methods for handling them, the Business Change Manager is in charge of
evaluating the project’s progress towards reaching those goals.

The ultimate goal remains to increase the return on investment based on the
organization’s strategy.

There are 3 steps BRM takes a project through:

 Identify benefits: determining and categorizing a business’s or
project’s benefits and the people who will be in charge of handling them
 Execute benefits management: overseeing the management of
benefits to avoid risks and find new opportunities
 Sustain benefits realization: monitoring the performance of a
project’s benefits and ensuring they’re valuable even after
implementation

Best for: Information technology, but works for any other type of work that
focuses on benefits.

Resources:

Benefits realization management framework explained by PMI

Benefits Realization Management: Strategic Value from Portfolios,

Programs, and Projects, by Carlos Eduardo Martins Serra

The Essential Guide to Benefits Realization Management: The Art of BRM,

by Alex Antar

Crystal
We reached out to Dr. Alistair Cockburn, the developer of the Crystal
methodology and one of the initiators of the Agile Movement, to have him
resume this methodology in a few words: “Crystal is a family of related agile
methodologies based on the ideas that:

 No one methodology can fit all projects

 They should be tuned by the project participants to fit themselves,
 They should be light and communication-centric.
The three elements common to all Crystal family members are frequent
delivery, close communication, and reflective improvement. Crystal Clear,
Yellow, and Orange have been used on projects from three to 50 people in
size, informal projects, and ISO 9001 projects.”

With this flexible methodology, people are the most important part of a
project. All processes must be adapted to their needs. While the books
describing Crystal provide resources for tuning the details of your team’s
method, there are no specifically required techniques or tools. The way in
which you use Crystal depends entirely on your project and team.

For example, Crystal Clear is commonly used for projects handled by small
teams and those who work from a single location. Crystal Sapphire, on the
other hand, is preferred for large projects that might pose a risk to human
life. This ability to adapt to different project types is why Crystal focuses on 6
main elements: people, interaction, community, communication, skills, and
talents.

The members of the method family are color-coded according to how many
people are being coordinated (Clear, Yellow, Orange, Red, and so on).
Several versions of Crystal Clear, Yellow and Orange are described in the
books.

Best for: Software development.

Resources:

Crystal Clear: A Human-Powered Methodology for Small Teams: A Human-

Powered Methodology for Small Teams, by Alistair Cockburn

What about Agile, Scrum, and the others?

There are other popular methods, methodologies, frameworks, approaches,
guides etc. which are not project management methods, methodologies or
frameworks.
The main issue comes from the fact that people don’t understand the
difference between a project and a product. They are often used
interchangeably, but in project work it’s important to understand exactly
what they are.

A project is a one-at-a-time endeavor with the aim of creating a product or

service. It has a start and end date, as well as a clearly defined outcome. It
usually goes through five stages — initiation, planning, execution,
monitoring and control, and closure.

A product can be anything from a physical product, to a software or a service

that satisfies the needs of a group of users. It goes through a life cycle, being
developed and introduced on the market, grown in acceptance until it
matures, and retired once it’s no longer needed.

Unlike a project, a product is not a temporary endeavor. It evolves and

adapts to the current user’s needs to prove its utility and avoid being retired.
Hence, it can include several projects that aim to maintain, improve, or
diversify it.

Briefly put, a project is a temporary initiative to create a product,

while a product is something that delivers value as a result of a
project.

We’ve previously debated the difference between project and product

managers if you’d like to have a look at their main duties.
Agile
A series of short delivery cycles (known as sprints), team feedback, and client reviews to deliver results as part of Agile
development

“Just like its name, Agile means being adaptable — the ability to gracefully
adapt to rapidly changing customer needs”, says Kamlesh Ravlani, Agile
Coach and Scrum Trainer at Agile For Growth.

We must first distinguish between the concepts of “agility” and Agile. While
“agility” refers to the ability of quickly responding to change, Agile is a
mindset or set of principles and practices that were originally mentioned in
the Agile Manifesto. It’s best suited for products and initiatives that face
diverse changes during their progress.

Agile development is based on brief delivery cycles (known as sprints) tightly

coupled with regular feedback sessions. In order for a process to be Agile, the
work environment should assist the continuous and intense collaboration
with co-workers and clients. Strong communication facilitates regular
feedback that lets you change the product’s evolution during every sprint.
Stakeholders will then go over each step and propose improvements
accordingly.

By using these principles, the entire team becomes accountable for a

product’s development and success. This is why each person is responsible
for tasks that contribute to planning, developing, and delivering a project.
Agile teams don’t use clearly established roadmaps or focus on monitoring
because the entire planning phase is iterative and flexible. All goals are
defined before starting work, but you can always change the deliverables or
final results.

Best for: Software development.

Tools to use: Jira, Agile Manager, Planning Poker

Resources:

Scaled Agile Framework

Manifesto for Agile Software Development

Mike Cohn’s Agile and Scrum blog for the software industry

Agile Glossary
Scrum
A framework that divides software development into small cycles that usually span across two weeks and are used to
review work and fix problems during daily stand-up meetings
“The Scrum framework is used mainly for product or software development.
The good thing about this methodology is that you can use Scrum not only to
design better software, but also, for example, to run the marketing division
of a media company or build a better mobile phone.

Scrum can even be helpful when writing a book. This framework is more
than just highly effective. It’s a productive and creative way to deliver high-
value end products. It’s suitable for complex environments where teams
have to quickly react and adapt to new situations within a system. It‘s not a
very suitable framework for a simple, obvious, easy, and predictable
environment.” remarks Luis Gonçalves, Management Consultant and
Founder at Evolution4All.

Through the Scrum framework, small, cross-functional, and self-organizing

teams work closely with the Product Owner. The latter is responsible for the
product’s development and, ultimately, success. There’s also a Scrum Master
who serves the team by eliminating any issues during the project’s progress,
holding meetings, and preparing the product backlog for the next sprints.

This framework is divided into smaller cycles (known as sprints) —

commonly a timebox of 2 weeks. During daily stand-ups, the team reviews
what they’ve done and what they will work on for rest of the day during a
daily stand-up meeting while also exposing the difficulties they encountered
or which they could come across in the future. Sometimes teams prefer to
have this meeting weekly instead.

Best for: Software development.

Tools to use: OrangeScrum, Scrumwise, Axosoft

Resources:

Scrum Certifications

Natalie Warnert’s blog: Confessions of a ScrumMaster

Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, by Jeff
Sutherland
Kanban
The structure of a Kanban board
Kanban is a pull-based manufacturing method that has been adopted by IT
teams in recent years. When applied to project management, it’s a method
and visual tool that gives you a quick glimpse over all project activities and
their evolution.

The typical approach consists of using either a physical or virtual board with

three default columns (To Do, In progress, Done). Tasks in the form of cards
then move from one column to another whenever work is done or until they
are officially completed and approved.

Kanban focuses on continuous delivery and the whole group’s ability to

collaborate efficiently. It can also help you better organize your workflow and
spot bottlenecks before issues arise.

Best for: Software development, but it works just as well for any other
industries like digital marketing, architecture and construction, law,
education, support, design, and even for personal purposes.

Tools to use: Kanban Tool, Kanbanery

Resources:

12 Kanban Board Examples for Beginners

Instructional video for building a physical and personal Kanban

Scrumban
If you want the best of Scrum and Kanban at the same time, try Scrumban.
It’s a hybrid alternative solution for teams who are looking to make the
switch from Scrum to Kanban. That’s why it blends Scrum’s daily stand-up
meetings and demos with Kanban’s WIP (Work in Progress) limits and
continuous workflow.
Scrumban is used for software and product development that are often
interrupted or face regular changes or updates when it comes to activities
and their priority. Planning is done only when demanded while estimates are
optional. Similar to Kanban, it’s a visual method that relies on a board and
pull-system to manage tasks. The use of sprints with Scrumban remains a
highly-debated topic. When sprints aren’t used during a project, changes can
occur at any time as long as there are still resources available.

Best for: Software development, marketing, operations, production

support, maintenance.

Tools to use: GetScrumban, Kanban Tool, SwiftKanban

Resources:

The Scrumban [R]Evolution: Getting the Most Out of Agile, Scrum, and Lean
Kanban, by Ajay Reddy

Scrumban — Essays on Kanban Systems for Lean Software Development, by

Corey Ladas

Introduction to Scrumban — Instructional Video

Extreme Programming (XP)

This Agile framework was created to help you improve the overall quality of
agile software development. “Every agile team should consider using the
technical practices that form a part of Extreme Programming.” says Mike
Cohn from Mountain Goat Software. Being developed for software
engineering work, XP comes with a set of engineering principles that you can
impose to improve your product’s quality such as test-driven development,
unit and automated testing, continuous integration, pair programming,
refactoring, and many more.

Usually, Extreme Programming teams work in iterations that span across

one or two weeks (depending on the project’s specifications). Similarly to
Scrum, it relies on quick sprints, constant releases, and frequent stakeholder
collaboration to boost productivity levels. XP can help you avoid employee
burnout and increase the quality of what you deliver. Outcomes are delivered
only when they are needed and aren’t dependent on a due date, helping you
efficiently meet your client’s requirements and increase their satisfaction.

Best for: Software development.

Tools to use: Targetprocess

Resources:

Extreme Programming (XP) — Instructional Video from Udacity

A Gentle Introduction to Extreme Programming

Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change, 2nd Edition (The XP

Series), by Kent Beck with Cynthia Andres

PMI’s PMBOK® Guide

PMI’s PMBOK® Guide is different from the other ways of managing projects
mentioned in this list. It’s a set of standards or, simply put, a body of
knowledge, a guide that contains structured information on managing
projects. Created by the Project Management Institute (PMI), it divides your
project work into five distinct but related process groups:

 Initiation: holding the first meetings with the client and obtaining the
authorization to start work
 Planning: setting the objectives, establishing a scope, and creating the
project’s plan
 Execution: completing work on tasks and preparing deliverables
 Monitoring: overseeing the evolution of the project and reviewing its
performance
 Closure: ending all contracts and delivering the final results

PMI’s PMBOK® Guide is used mainly in USA, Canada, and the Middle East.
It sets the baseline for project management’s processes, and techniques. Its
status as a methodology is debatable because it’s truly a reference guide that
establishes the universal benchmarks of project management and not an
actual methodology.

On this debate, Dmitriy Nizhebetskiy from PM Basics observes that “The

approach described in PMI’s PMBOK® Guide is not a methodology. In real
life, it would be inefficient to implement such an approach to a full extent.
The real value is in the PMI’s vision of the scope of project management and
responsibilities of a project manager. It explains what you may need to do to
lead a project. It teaches you to select appropriate tools and techniques for
the current project. Moreover, it shows what it takes to integrate all
processes together.”

Best for: Construction and architecture, finance, consulting, governance,

quality assurance, and more.

Tools to use: Easy Project, OpenProject, Microsoft Project

Resources:

The PMBOK® Guide and Standards

What is PMI®? — Paymo Academy

Lean
Lean was originally a product manufacturing method and is still used today
for product development. If you’re looking to lower your project’s waste rates
and eventually eliminate them completely, try Lean. It aids the delivery of
highly valuable products by using fewer people and resources in much less
time. An emphasis on the customer’s desires, removing problems and
possible risks or hazards, and frequently improving systems can cut out
waste in terms of time and costs.

Using Lean helps small teams progress and create greater outcomes in a
short time span, without having to overspend on materials. The main focus
when using this method is to deliver valuable products and increase the
organization’s profits with fewer resources. Lean also guides companies to
quickly adapt to constantly changing client standards, needs, and actions.

Best for: Manufacturing, construction, and any other situations where the

focal point is eliminating waste.

Tools to use: LeanKit, Kanban Tool, Kanbanize

Resources:

The Lean Construction Institute

How To Implement Lean Manufacturing, by Lonnie Wilson

The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles From the World’s Greatest

Manufacturer, by Jeffrey Liker

Six Sigma
Six Sigma is an approach and methodology for eliminating defects and
improving the quality of your processes and results. Its principles can also be
applied to project management and product development. Using quality
control, Six Sigma (6σ) emphasizes the need to minimize bugs, defects, and
errors until they no longer affect a project or its outcomes. Before further
problems occur, existing data and error reports need to be evaluated. This
helps you find project nonconformities that don’t match the originally
approved product requirements.
Thomas Pyzdek, author of The Six Sigma Handbook, remarks that: ”Unlike
most project management methodologies taught in management classes at
universities, Six Sigma does not focus on the bottom line. Rather, it
considers the bottom line as the result of the work done within the
organization to add value. This approach teaches people how to analyze and
improve processes to do a better job of adding value. Six Sigma projects are a
primary way of achieving process analysis and improvement.”

With Six Sigma, any decision is made starting from existing data and
statistics. The goal is to deliver efficient, uniform, and defect-free final
products. To do this, Six Sigma employs the use of six distinct steps:

 Define: establishing the client’s requirements and project objectives,

appointing team members and leaders, and setting project guidelines and
team rules
 Measure: gathering performance data, identifying process and output
indicators, and setting up a series of causes and their outcomes
 Analyze: evaluating and comparing the existing data and identifying the
relationship between causes and effects
 Improve: constantly optimizing processes and finding new solutions to
existing or possible problems
 Control: creating a long-term control plan to keep all processes under
check
 Synergize: sharing the team’s results and acquired knowledge with the
entire organization to use them for future projects

Best for: Manufacturing, engineering, healthcare, market research, and any

other situation where the main goal is delivering a high-quality product.

Tools to use: KPI Fire, XMind, Microsoft Project

Resources:
The Six Sigma Way: How GE, Motorola, and Other Top Companies are
Honing Their Performance, by Peter S. Pande, Robert P. Neuman, Roland R.
Cavanagh

The Six Sigma Handbook, by Thomas Pyzdek

Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma is a combination of Lean and Six Sigma in an attempt to
reduce waste and defects at the same time. This hybrid result creates more
efficient projects that meet client requirements with fewer resources and on
a lower budget. Teams collaborate to eliminate waste when it comes to
defects, wait time, inventory, overproduction, non-utilized talent,
transportation, motion, and extra processing.

Consequently, using Lean Six Sigma supports the simultaneous development

of your business, products, and people alike. Implementing this integration
can change the way in which your entire company handles its projects, sees
defects, and treats quality.

Best for: Manufacturing, transportation and logistics, service, and any

other situation where the target is eliminating waste while creating more
value.

Tools to use: KPI Fire, TRACtion, XMind

Resources:

What is Lean Six Sigma, by Michael L. George, David Rowlands, Bill Kastle

The Lean Six Sigma Institute

Waterfall
The structure of the Waterfall approach where each series of tasks must be completed before work on the following one
can start
Waterfall is a traditional approach that separates the product development
process into groups of related tasks that must be completed before moving
on to the next group or phase. Hence, it requires extensive planning.
Establishing all steps before you start working on the product’s development
helps minimize hazards and further errors. This has your team always
knowing what they should work on next and what to expect in the future.

The 5 core phases commonly used with Waterfall are:

 Requirements: finding out and analyzing what the client’s needs are

and what the final product should do
 Design: choosing the right technology and creating the product’s
mockups and detailed architecture
 Implementation: solving problems, implementing solutions, and
completing tasks
 Verification (Testing): finding out if the product matches the
established performance requirements and conducting quality assurance
 Maintenance: fixing errors and bugs to ensure the product can be used
easily without interruptions

Waterfall practitioners believe that putting more time and effort into the first
stages of product development can prevent risks from happening and save
you hours of maintenance time. Waterfall also provides clear and detailed
timelines and costs. These will guide your team towards becoming more
productive.

The downside of Waterfall is that it’s rather outdated for the requirements of
modern software engineering. Writing code and simultaneously performing
quality assurance is rather difficult since each stage of this methodology
depends on the previous one and no activities overlap. With Waterfall, teams
have to wait for those in charge of the preceding steps to finish their work. If
the latter are late, all other tasks could be postponed.

Best for: Construction, manufacturing, and media production.

Resources:

Waterfall Process — Instructional Video by Udacity

Understanding the pros and cons of the Waterfall Model of software

development

Rapid Applications Development (RAD)

The rapidly-changing markets prompt organizations to step up their
product-delivery processes to keep up with their competition. The Rapid
Applications Development iterative process was created to do just that:
speed up the development and delivery of high-quality products.

RAD was the first software development process to solve what previous
processes couldn’t. Apps required long lengths of time to be fully developed.
Their requirements were changing so often before completion that they were
sometimes unstable and unusable. With the RAD approach, apps could be
developed on time and within budget.

Despite its fast pace, the RAD method ensures that all essential features
work properly. It helps you build products around object-oriented
programming and the users’ needs in terms of UI. Prototypes are used in
place of any documented design specifications. There is very little
(sometimes none) planning done before the start of product development,
with emphasis on the actual development and prototyping process.

Best for: Software development.

Tools to use: OutSystems, FileMaker, Mendix, Nintex, Salesforce
Lightning, ViewFlux, InVision

Resources:

Rapid Development: Taming Wild Software Schedules, by Steve McConnell

Rapid Application Development, by James Martin

Dynamic Systems Development Method

(DSDM)
The Dynamic Systems Development Method was first used as a software
development method. It was created in 1994 (before the official Agile
Manifesto) after project managers who were using the costly Rapid
Application Development approach wanted a better way of structuring their
work.

DSDM brought them more organization, responsiveness, reliability,

proactivity, and an iterative manner of handling tasks and projects. The
method also prioritized schedule and quality over functionality through the
MoSCoW method (Must have, Should have, Could have, and Won’t have).
This technique uses stakeholder communication to identify the order and
importance of their requirements.

DSDM clearly defines all roles, responsibilities, and communication

techniques for team members. This method also guides you to establish
strategic goals and deliver valuable benefits in less time without exceeding
your budget. This philosophy allows teams to maintain their focus and
achieve project goals once they follow the eight core principles:

 Focus on business needs

 Timely delivery
 Collaboration
 Don’t compromise quality
 Build incrementally from solid foundations
 Iterative development
 Continuous and clear communication
 Demonstrate control

Best for: Software development.

Resources:

DSDM: Dynamic Systems Development Method: The Method in Practice, by

Jennifer Stapleton, Peter Constable

DSDM: Business Focused Development, by DSDM Consortium, Jennifer

Stapleton

Rational Unified Process (RUP)

The Rational Unified Process is a process framework that, similarly to
Extreme Programming, gives the appropriate best practices, standards,
templates, and samples for software development. It also offers a more
organized manner of assigning activities and roles. The objective of this
process is to develop high-quality software that fulfills the requirements of
its clients and the needs of future users in time and on budget.

The RUP supports team productivity by offering all group members access to
a knowledge area that contains all the information and tools needed to help
them conduct development tasks.

The Rational Unified Process doesn’t have a fixed set of processes you must
follow at all costs. It can be adapted and customized to match the
requirements of any project. Each stage of this process is divided into
distinct iterations that need to be completed before moving on to the next
stage. The four stages the RUP takes a project through are:

 Inception: creating the idea behind the project and seeing if you have
the right resources to pursue it and if it matches your organization’s
needs
 Elaboration: modeling the software’s architecture based on the
available budget and resources and evaluating hazards and opportunities
to see how changes or new technologies could be added to a project as it
progresses
 Construction: undertaking software development from its design,
through coding and testing
 Transition: delivering the final software and making changes to
improve deliverables or fix any issues

Best for: Software development.

Resources:

Rational Unified Process — Best Practices for Software Development Teams

Rational Unified Process — Instructional Video by Udacity

Feature Driven Development (FDD)

Feature Driven development is an iterative and incremental software
development and delivery process. Teams commonly use FDD for long-term
product development that faces regular and repeated changes. The objective
of FDD is to create product features based on a client’s needs and
requirements.

To help you reach this goal, the FDD process brings a series of software and
product development best practices. The team will now work on developing
the features that hold the most value for a client and meet the expectations of
the product’s end-users.

Using Feature Driven Development, software engineers develop functional

features every two weeks (usually) and monitor their performance using a
series of industry standard procedures such as domain object modeling,
individual code ownership, regular builds, configuration management, and
more.
Through this process, teams dedicate the start of a project to clearly
understand what they will be working on. This is done without spending
extra time on evaluating the project or brainstorming its design.

There are 5 main activities that are part of the Feature Driven Development
process:

 Developing an overall model: proposing domain models that will be

added to the overall model to better outline the project as a whole
 Building a features list: identifying the most valuable features for
clients using the following functions: “action — result — object”
 Planning by feature: organizing the features and their application
procedures and assigning the people who’ll be in charge of them
 Designing by feature: prioritizing the features, finding design
solutions for them, and assessing the results
 Building by feature: starting to build and test code based on the
inspected feature

Best for: Software development.

Tools to use: SpiraTeam

Resources:

A Practical Guide to Feature-Driven Development, by Stephen R. Palmer,

John M. Felsing

Jeff DeLuca on Feature Driven Development — Podcast

So, what’s next?

In this article we give you just a basic introduction to the project
management methods, methodologies, and frameworks.
First of all, it’s important to identify in what type of projects are you
involved, then choose the appropriate method, methodology, or framework
that you should study and try to understand it thoroughly.

Since they are more strict and have clearly-defined processes and principles,
methodologies could be more suited for larger projects and beginner project
managers. Meanwhile, frameworks are better for those who have already
gained some experience in working on several projects and tried different
methods.