Traditional Project Management: Why You Should Use a Classic

When a new project comes down the pipeline, it can be unclear which project methodology will help bring it to fruition.

As you consider your options, you may find it’s simply best to go with what you know and stick to tradition -- traditional project management, that is.

Traditional project management is essentially a bare-bones approach to project management, as it’s relatively simple and doesn’t require the use of any fancy charts. It’s common for those using this method to choose project management software to help them set proper milestones, coordinate and organize specific tasks, and hit their goals. 

Not all projects are complex and require a detailed approach. Some have a clear sequence of events and don’t need many changes. Those are the projects where you might use this more straightforward approach. 

As you go about learning the ins and outs of traditional project management, it' important to keep the two methodologies in mind:

• PMBoK: PMBoK stands for Project Management Body of Knowledge, and includes the entire collection of processes, best practices, guidelines, and terminologies, and that are considered to be standard within the project management industry. This methodology is extremely valuable for companies because it assists in standardizing practices across different departments, adjusting processes to suit specific needs, and avoiding project failures within program management.
• PRINCE2: Most commonly used in the UK, European countries, and Australia, PRINCE2 stands for Projects IN Controlled Environments. This methodology focuses on managing resources and risks by dividing the project into smaller stages. It also defines clear roles and responsibilities by using specific processes to manage the project life cycle. It's ideal for teams that aim for an organized and controlled project plan before beginning. 

Traditional project management triangle

With any project, you need to plan on constraints before beginning. In traditional project management, there are three factors that make up what’s known as the project management triangle. 

These factors include:

• Scope: The act of specifying all the project development steps, which should always include what will and will not be done. Defining the scope helps keep the project under control. 
• Time: You can control a lot about a project, but you cannot control time. It can be incredibly challenging for a project manager to know how to use time efficiently, keep the project on schedule, and reach all desired outcomes. 
• Cost: The project manager should define the project's budget as early as possible. Once it’s established, it should be compared to what the customer or client initially presented.

All three of these project constraints depend on one another. For instance, if the team reduces the time allocated to the project, the cost will likely increase. Additionally, the scope defines the pace and the number of resources needed to accomplish the project. Maintaining a balance among all three sets the team up to complete the project successfully. 

Traditional project management vs. agile project management

In addition to traditional project management, project teams can also choose agile methodology to take their project from an idea to reality. Because both are so common, it’s essential to understand how they are different.

The main difference between traditional and agile comes down to the timeframe. The traditional workflow means the project team will plan the entire thing from start to finish. Because it follows a fixed sequence, there’s a specific emphasis on linear processes, prioritization, upfront planning, and documentation. 

Agile is a modern project management methodology. With an agile workflow, the team breaks down the project scope into phases lasting two to eight weeks, often called sprints. At the end of each phase, the team takes lessons or insights and adjusts the next iteration before beginning. Agile teams often choose this workflow for more complex projects and software development. Since it’s a more flexible approach, there’s less upfront planning and prioritization, as changes and developments are likely to occur.

Other key differences are that an agile approach requires high client involvement, whereas traditional  requires very little after execution. An agile framework is preferred for small and medium-scale projects, while more large-scale projects require a traditional approach.

Choosing which method is best for your project will depend on your industry, how complex the project is, what the project scope entails, the workflow you want to use, and the project goal .

Traditional project management lifecycle

In traditional project management projects go through the classic project life cycle. The project life cycle has five stages: ideation, planning, execution, monitoring, and close. Project managers decide the tools and strategies they prefer to use in these various stages.

Initiation

In the first stage of the project management lifecycle, the project team will create the ultimate goal, define the objectives, and list all of the project requirements, risks, deliverables, and objectives. These are often determined by taking a look at the business case for the project. Everything will be established and explored from the ground up before the project begins.

Planning

Next up is planning, where the team goes more in-depth regarding the identification of project activities. All of the necessary resources will be determined, including the project budget. A comprehensive project plan will also be documented so every team member has an understanding of their specific responsibilities, in addition to risk management plans. 

Once the planning phase is complete, it's common to present the project manager and the project team member with a Gantt chart. This type of chart provides you a simple overview of a project and can be incredibly useful in presenting tasks, activities, and key milestones in a timeline layout, so nothing falls through the cracks. 

Execution

The documented project plan will then be put into action. The project manager will evaluate the overall quality of the project while also making sure the team sticks to the schedule. The team strives to perform the work defined in the plan while the project manager keeps tabs on the status and works to clear roadblocks for the team.

Monitoring

In the monitoring stage, the team will pay close attention to specific details like the scope of the project, costs, and quality. Additionally, a reporting system for the project will be established and any revising to the project plan will occur.

Closing

Once the entire project is wrapped up and completed, the project manager will get the stakeholders or client’s acceptance and approval of a job well done. The contract will be closed and the final report will be issued. Then, the team will make any recommendations or share lessons learned to apply to future projects.

Benefits of traditional project management

Organizations that choose traditional project management as the go-to development strategy experience many benefits.

Clearly defined objectives

With traditional project management, everything is pre-planned so each team member knows their responsibilities and the project's requirements ahead of time. A comprehensive plan with defined objectives before the project begins allows the team to work as efficiently as possible with little supervision.

Controlled processed

The project manager has most of the control in a traditional setup and almost all changes have to be approved by this individual before they can be implemented. This allows for minimal deviation from the plan that was devised during scope management. 

Singular accountability

Because the project manager has all the control, they also hold most of the power, meaning they’re accountable for whether or not the project is a success or failure. This is also beneficial for project stakeholders who always know who to go to for updates, concerns, or questions.

Clear documentation

In traditional project management methodology, having proper and concise documentation is essential. These documents standardize the entire process from start to finish while also being a tool for guidance for future projects and initiatives. 

Cost-effective

Projects that use a traditional method are usually easier to complete, taking less time from start to finish. With few chances of running into bugs, errors, or complex challenges during the lifecycle, traditional project management typically calls for fewer resources and last-minute changes, making them more cost-effective for organizations.

Challenges to traditional project management

On the other hand, it’s always good to be familiar with the potential challenges of traditional project management. Making sure the project is the best fit for this methodology can help organizations avoid these potential roadblocks. 

Rigidity

The main challenge with the traditional project management approach is its rigidness. If things go as planned, traditional project management shines, but this can be rare within business processes.

Since this methodology is based on pre-planning and executing, when things unexpectedly go wrong, the team can find themselves stuck, having to improvise on the spot, going outside the plan of action, and simply hoping for the best. And in some situations, the project team is forced to go back to the drawing board and create a new plan from the ground up.

Little customer input

When establishing a plan with traditional project management, the customer or client is looped in at the start. Their opinion isn’t needed during the rest of the development process until the end result is ready to be presented. This means there are few opportunities for customer collaboration with the development teams.

If the client’s requirements or expectations change, it’s often too late to go back and make adjustments. 

Top 5 project management software

Project management software makes it easy for employees, teams, and administrators managing team goals and long-term projects, in addition to coordinating individual project tasks. This is accomplished through a variety of tools to manage productivity, manage workloads, and allocate the resources necessary for the project to be successful. 

To qualify as a software solution within this category, a product must:

• Develop product plans and work breakdown structure (WBS) based on the scope.
• Create a budget and compare with actual expenses and costs.
• Manage and allocate resources based on availability.
• Support various project management methodologies
• Offer templates that can be modified or combined.
• Monitor the progress of projects, user productivity, and resource allocation.

* Below are the top 5 leading project management software solutions from G2’s Fall 2021 Grid® Report. Some reviews may be edited for clarity. 

1. Asana

Asana is a project management tool that helps teams orchestrate their work, from strategic initiatives to smaller projects. It provides a living system where team members can discuss, execute, and make changes to project priorities and tasks.

What users like:

“My favorite parts of utilizing Asana are the community, the ease of use, and their knowledge base. The community is quite active and can often problem solve or explain alternative methods for the vast majority of issues. Asana is a simple task management platform that lacks the customizability of some of its more sophisticated counter-parts, but is easy to deploy and train on.”

- Asana Review, David H.

What users dislike:

“The one thing I do not like about Asana is the excess of notifications it sends out. My inbox is always full of Asana notifications, BUT I know this is fixable as I can adjust all these things in settings.”

- Asana Review, Nicole M.

2. Smartsheet

Smartsheet provides users with an enterprise platform for dynamic work. This cloud-based platform makes it easy for organizations and teams to plan, execute, and report on work for a more efficient process and more successful outcomes. 

What users like:

“The best part about Smartsheet is that it allows for increased collaboration and access to information across our organization. We have implemented a SmartSheet form that we use in conjunction with other tools such as our injury reporting to collect information about the incidents at our facility. This allows us to collect relevant data in realtime and develop corrective action plans accordingly. We approve this over competitors products as people are able to submit forms without creating a Smartsheet account, increasing accessibility to the platform.”

- Smartsheet Review, Leah B.

What users dislike:

“While the product is feature-rich, it proves to be cumbersome for small projects. For project plans that aren't client-facing, and/or only have a single resource working on them, the features of Smartsheet can be overkill and do not end up saving much/any time.”

- Smartsheet Review, Derek H.

3. monday.com

Users choose monday.com because it’s an open platform where it’s simple to create the tools needed for every aspect of work. It’s easy-to-use, provides a visual interface with tons of apps, and allows teams to customize dashboards to their exact preferences.

What users like:

“monday.com has been an incredibly helpful tool for collaborating across departments. The user interface is streamlined and easy to use, with an incredible degree of flexibility based on the individual needs of each stakeholder. Customizing each board based on what it is tracking has been easy and effective. Even visually, the platform feels sleek, approachable, and modern.”

- monday.com Review, Mary N.

What users dislike:

“I've noticed that the website occasionally slows down. It also contains certain illogical constraints, such as the inability to transfer subitems of an article when moving it between boards, ensuring that you won't have to conduct this type of migration anytime soon. The inability to convert items to sub items and vice versa, as well as move items (and their subitems) between boards. This is a critical capacity that has taken years to develop. We've had to reorganize several of our boards, and not being able to do so with a single click has lost us time because we've had to go in and re-create each job individually.”

- monday.com Review, Glenda M.

4. ClickUp

ClickUp is more than just task and project management, it boasts reminders, goals, calendars, docs, and more. Plus, it’s fully customizable and works well with all different types of teams and organizations.

What users like:

“ClickUp has really helped me organize every aspect of my life and be able to share each part with the right people. I've used it to keep projects at work on task, make sure my schoolwork doesn't fall behind, and even for personal budgeting and goals! It (with all of its features) has helped my work management immensely.”

- ClickUp Review, Peyton P.

What users dislike:

“There are so many apps and features that it's easy to be overwhelmed. You can turn off the ClickApps you don't need, which simplifies the interface a bit, but there's so much going on in the software. It's hard to keep up with all the new features and updates when I'm busy running my business. I'm glad there's so much effort in making the software better, but it can be a bit much to handle sometimes.”

- ClickUp Review, Ben T.

5. Wrike

Those looking for a collaborative work management platform often choose Wrike. With so many organizations choosing a remote work environment for their employees, it makes collaboration across teams easier than ever.

What users like:

“We use Wrike daily to manage projects across the marketing team. There are over 50 of us working across disciplines, and Wrike helps us stay on track. One cool thing we did was customizing task statuses. For translations we use ready for translation/translated/translation published instead of the not started/completed schema.”

- Wrike Review, Justin B.

What users dislike:

“There is not much scope for personalization or customization of the product. It comes with a standard set of features, and whether you like it or not, that's what you get. In today's world, projects are so diverse, and products/tools must solve various problems with one solution. Wrike is good at solving one situation but not all. That's when the number of products we use gets out of hand, and I would like Wrike to be this one all-in-one solution.”

- Wrike Review, Sabharish K.

Tradition can be a good thing

Especially when applied to project management. Traditional project management is a great method to choose if you’re new to the industry or if your project lacks the complexities associated with other approaches. 

What will your team accomplish?

Now that you’ve mastered the art of traditional project management, learn about waterfall methodology and how it applies to projects.