You are working on a project with clear procedures based on past projects. The product is clear and the risks are fairly well known because the organization has done this type of work before. Which project approach should you use?
What Is Not the Answer?
It is not agile or adaptive. While the work is definable, agile is designed for high uncertainty work where requirements will change and evolve. This project has clear requirements and low uncertainty. Agile would be overkill.
It is not incremental or iterative. These approaches are for projects where you need to improve continuously or deliver in small pieces. The work here is straightforward and well understood. You do not need multiple cycles of refinement or incremental delivery.
What It Actually Is
You should use a predictive project life cycle, also called waterfall.
Why does predictive work here? Predictive approaches are designed for definable work where requirements are clear and stable. You know what the customer wants and it is not going to change significantly.
The product is well understood and the organization has done this before. There are proven procedures and processes to follow.
The risks are also known and manageable. Because you have experience with this type of project, you can anticipate what might go wrong and plan accordingly.
You can plan upfront. All work can be sequenced logically from start to finish. You design the entire solution, build it completely and test it thoroughly before release.
The approach can be to plan everything upfront, then execute the plan and deliver the complete solution at the end.
The Key Principle
Match the project life cycle to the level of uncertainty and change. Low uncertainty and clear requirements mean predictive. High uncertainty and evolving requirements mean agile or adaptive. Predictive works when you know what you are building and how to build it.
– David McLachlan
You can see what people are saying about David McLachlan here: REVIEWS
Navigate to Free Project Management and Leadership Articles through the links on the right (or at the bottom if on Mobile)
Also available are my Project Management Templates – they’re a great way to save 100s of hours when you’re first starting out:
 50+ Project Management Templates in Excel and PowerPoint (Excel Gantt Chart, Risk Matrix, RACI, Stakeholder Matrix and more!) |
 Pre-made Project Management Plan Templates: Save 100 HOURS! |