3.2.1. Key Models in Project Management

💡 First Principle: Models provide simplified representations of complex realities, offering mental frameworks to understand, analyze, and navigate challenges in areas like team dynamics, change, and complexity.

Scenario: A project team is experiencing significant internal conflict, hindering progress. The project manager uses the Thomas-Kilmann model to identify the different conflict-handling styles at play and the Tuckman ladder to recognize the team is in the "Storming" stage. This understanding allows the PM to facilitate a more effective resolution.

Models provide frameworks for thinking and understanding various aspects of project management.

• Tuckman (Team Stages): Describes stages teams typically go through (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning).
• Kotter/ADKAR (Change): Models for managing the stages of organizational change.
• Cynefin (Complexity): Framework for understanding different types of complexity (Simple, Complicated, Complex, Chaotic) to guide decision-making.
• Herzberg (Motivation): Identifies factors causing job dissatisfaction (Hygiene) versus satisfaction/motivation (Motivators).
• Thomas-Kilmann (Conflict): Model describing five modes for handling conflict (Collaborating, Competing, Compromise, Avoiding, Accommodating).
• Situational Leadership: Adapting leadership style based on the team member's development level/task needs.
• Crystal: Family of adaptive agile methodologies scaling based on team size and project criticality.
• AUP (Agile Unified Process): Simplified version of the Rational Unified Process (RUP), emphasizing agile principles.
• SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework): Framework for implementing agile practices at an enterprise scale.
• LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum): Framework for scaling Scrum to multiple teams working on the same product.

⚠️ Common Pitfall: Applying a model too rigidly. Models are guides for thinking, not immutable laws. Real-world situations are often messier and may not fit perfectly into a single model.

Key Trade-Offs:

• Model Fidelity vs. Practical Application: A complex model might be more accurate but harder to apply. A simpler model might be less precise but more useful for facilitating a quick team discussion.

Reflection Question: How can using a model like Cynefin help a project manager avoid applying a "one-size-fits-all" solution to different types of problems?