PMBOK 7 Perspectives: Tailoring Your Project Approach

In the Project Management Institute’s latest version of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK7,) the section on tailoring recognizes that project management isn’t one size or style fits all. Tailoring means that you tweak your project management approach, governance, and processes to your organization’s environment and work at hand. In this edition of Project Pointers, we’ll look at organizational factors that should drive project tailoring. 

• Use familiar methodologies (most of the time.) Deploying a new methodology takes time and practice. In most cases, familiar methods for project design and delivery will yield the best results. When possible, stick with what your team and management are used to.

That doesn’t mean you should never try other methodologies. Introduce them on small projects that aren’t critical, where you can afford to stumble for the benefit of education. Most organizations that have succeeded with agile started small and adapted the approach to leverage its benefits while avoiding its pitfalls. Over time, they became comfortable with agile methods, developed foresight to avoid problems, and obtained the speed and responsiveness agile provides.

• Accommodate the business’ risk appetite. Although all projects introduce risk, the degree of risk within any given project should reflect the risk tolerance of your business. Businesses with small profit margins or in highly-regulated industries where new approaches require government interpretation and new rulings might not support a risky project. Conversely, small businesses in a highly innovative market might demand fast technological leaps from their projects, which are inherently high risk. 

Tailor your management approach to take into account the project objectives and risk tolerance of your business. Aggressive timelines and new technology are appropriate when higher business risk is acceptable. If you need to reduce risk, use known approaches, conservative timelines, and sufficient time for planning and market testing. 

• Consider the depth of your customer relationships. Considerable project tailoring may be required based on the relationships you have with your customers and how familiar your customers are with your products and services. If you know your customers and their business processes, you might plan fewer activities to confirm requirements and verify solutions. Conversely, with a new market segment, you should plan for more market analysis, requirements validation and product verification. Whether you are adding an enhanced product to a respected product line or entering a new market with a brand-new offering, tailor your standard project planning and delivery approaches to match. If in doubt, plan more verifications with your customers – you and they will appreciate it! 
• Be mindful of the pace of change. The pace of change your business and your customers can handle is a significant factor in how you tailor your project and its deliverables. You may be better off delivering your project in small phases if your stakeholders are already dealing with a lot of change. On the other hand, if you need to leapfrog a competitor, moving fast with a significant change may be required. The nature of your business will also impact the pace at which you introduce change. A public utility company needs to be cautious and deliberate to protect vital infrastructure, whereas a web technology company can introduce change very quickly, assess the results and roll back a change with little to no impact. Adopt to the pace of change your business can handle, as it can be the difference between success and complete failure of a project.

For more about project management methodologies, check out Cyndi Snyder Dionisio’s Hybrid Project Management: Do What Works course.

Coming Up: 

Bonnie Biafore and John Riopel will talk about how to manage dependencies, meetings, and overall communication in hybrid projects on February 17, 2022, at 1PM MT. Traditional and agile/iterative project management approaches have similarities and differences, so you might wonder how to manage hybrid projects that use both. Although the approaches differ, there are points within a hybrid project where deliverables need to align. For example, a traditional deliverable must be completed before part of the agile effort can start – or vice versa. Even in hybrid projects, the project team is a single team that needs good communication and occasional team-wide meetings to make sure the project is successful.