Project Management Methodologies Explained: The Waterfall Project Management Methodology
The waterfall project management methodology is a well-established methodology designed to manage a project.
Its step-by-step sequencing ensures that projects are broken down into logical stages, with new stages generally only beginning once previous ones have been completed.
In a complex program of work with many key project streams, often multiple project streams can commence and run in parallel. These are highly sequenced based on the critical path and key dependencies. Changes to project plans are made via established change management protocols, allowing a project to meet a specific deadline for deployment.
The waterfall project management methodology works well when applied to longer-term projects requiring a simple, singular timeline. They can also be effective on complex programs of work with high dependency requirements and the need for sequencing, where specific requirements are well established and known.
The approach ensures timely delivery of projects within scope, time and budget. So, how can you get started on implementing the waterfall project management methodology in your next project?
Phases of the Waterfall Method
The waterfall method can be understood and implemented through a series of phases. At a very high level these can be broken down as;
Requirements Gathering:
Management begins by gathering documentation and all necessary information for the project and establishing comprehensive requirements.
RFI/RFP Procurement Phase:
Often, these requirements can feed into a tender and vendor selection process.
Business Case:
A business case is documented to support the strategy, project objectives and deliverables and the commercial principles required to gain approval to fund the project.
Mobilisation and Design Phase:
Is a phase that assists to establish the program governance principles and readiness to support the program implementation phase. This will cover all the governance requirements including the master project schedule and the work required to support all the active project streams for the overarching program of work. In this phase all the strategies and plans are formulated and signed off and resources and vendors are mobilised to support the implementation phase and the master schedule.
Implementation/Build Phase:
The team begins work on creating a functional product or build requirements of a multi-faceted program of work.
Testing Phase:
The testing strategy defined in the Mobilisation/Design phase is now executed to ensure that the build is fit for purpose and ready to sign off into the deployment phase. There can be many phases and types of testing based on the requirements and specific project and these would be set out in a specific test strategy. Any showstoppers are surfaced and evaluated to determine next steps in line with the risk profile and cost, time and scope implications. In some cases, it will be necessary to compromise or re-prioritise to re-evaluate next steps.
Training Phase:
Training is an important part of business readiness to move into the final project phases. All users need to be suitably trained and capable of transitioning into full utilisation of the product and solution. Underlying changes to workflows and operational processes form part of the deployment.
Deployment or Delivery Phase:
At this stage, the project is ready to launch and is now ready to be deployed or delivered into the market. Sometimes this also involves a transition phase.
Benefits Realisation:
A project is not complete on deployment or delivery but on the realisation of the business benefits. It is important that as part of the business case these are clearly articulated, and the form of measurement and reporting noted so that success can be measured and quantified post the successful delivery of the implementation phase.
Maintenance:
Post a successful deployment phase, the project moves into the maintenance phase which is the final phase of the waterfall project management methodology.
The product or service has been delivered, benefits realisation is being tracked and reported and an ongoing maintenance plan is put in place to ensure that the product or service continues to perform.
Lessons learnt and retrospective:
Is a post deployment phase that looks retrospectively at the project and the key learnings. This allows for a continuous improvement cycle to be implemented for future projects.
All the above phases are supported by a program governance framework and change management protocols to underpin a successful delivery approach.
Pros of the Waterfall Project Management Methodology
The waterfall method provides an extensive array of benefits to teams and managers due to the way in which projects are streamlined and structured. The division of the project into sequential phases makes it easy for project managers to continually oversee and clearly articulate and observe individual phases of the project. It provides clarity for teams to easily understand what needs to be done, how to do it, and by when to do it, in order for the project to progress.
From an outward-facing perspective it also allows for great sequencing and planning to communicate changes and benefits to customers and clients. This also allows them to plan and get ready for the changes ahead and in the case of new product launches allows for marketing and sales strategies to be executed accordingly to stimulate interest and demand.
Documentation is a key strength of the waterfall methodology. It affords some protection and mitigation against resourcing impacts and inconsistencies in staffing and relies heavily upon it for project progression. This makes the training of new staff members more efficient and effective.
Other project management methodologies rely on the retention of knowledge within the team, making it more difficult to manage staffing inconsistencies. Regardless of team members new or old, the team members know the specific expectation of scope and can work tightly to scope as well as potentially work across multiple projects at the same time.
Like all methodologies, along with the pros there are also cons that present themselves in certain situations that may make the waterfall approach ineffective for some projects.
Cons of the Waterfall Project Management Methodology
The most notable issue that may arise for teams working under a rigid waterfall project management methodology is the lack of flexibility that the sequential process allows. Even minor alterations to the expected scope of the project can entail delays and may require revision of prior phases of the process, or at worst, the revisitation of the project blueprint entirely.
Furthermore, the inflexibility of waterfall project management can greatly impact project timelines. If one activity is behind schedule, all other activities will also be delivered late, negatively impacting the project deadline.
Whilst the waterfall approach is inclusive of a maintenance phase, by the time this point is reached, it may be too late to fully incorporate client feedback. Testing allows for an opportunity to involve clients and an important part of waterfall is ensuring that clients and customers are taken on the journey in some way so that feedback can be incorporated along the way.
The waterfall project management methodology is not well suited to programs of work where there are frequent changes. If this happens once a waterfall project is underway, ensuring some flexibility, robust decision-making processes and an efficient change management process can go a long way to protecting the important aspects of scope, time and budget.
In Summary…
In summary, the waterfall project management methodology is a fantastic project management tool for teams looking for more established guidelines when completing a project.
The method’s rigorous planning phases allow teams to move forward confidently in completing a project, ensuring they have the time and resources to do so successfully. It is most beneficial for projects which are not forecast to have any major changes, and does not require consistent, in-depth revisions to be made throughout the process of creation.
The waterfall project management methodology does a great job at setting projects with constraints up for success. Having said that, change is almost always a necessity along the way in project management and so regardless of the program methodology, all methodologies must ensure that change is anticipated, and a change management approach agreed as part of the program charter upfront. This is a vital and key element to driving a successful project.
Angela Goodsir
Thinkly Founder and Director, Angela Goodsir is an enterprise wide executive with a proven track record in transformative industry and business change and has a vision to drive businesses successfully into the future.
