Enriching the Methodology
We’ve had a quick review of a few methodologies in the previous chapter: systems that give you a path through the project. When you have such a system, you can proceed and enrich it using the PMBOK Guide and other project management guides such as APMBoK and PM², or using various books that focus on different aspects of project management.
There are different domains in project management. PMBOK 7 categorizes them as follows:
- Stakeholders
- Team
- Development Approach and Life Cycle
- Planning
- Project Work
- Measurement
- Delivery
- Uncertainty
As you see, each of them is a group of related project management activities with the same theme: They are areas of focus in the project.
Your methodology probably covers all of these domains, but the way it does may not be explicit, and it may only cover the minimum you need in every project. You can go through the domains and identify how each of them is covered in your methodology, and then, based on the nature of your project, decide whether you need to enrich that domain of your methodology to achieve better results.
Be careful with the following when making changes to your methodology:
- Don’t make it too complicated, and don’t add extra elements unless you have good reason to.
- Make sure your system doesn’t lose its internal consistency; a single element may seem interesting on its own, but may not be compatible with the rest of the system.
- Integrate everything. Most elements are not effective unless they are properly connected to everything else and work together.
Let’s review the domains and see what we can do in each of them.