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3.2.4. Common Methods and Techniques: Part 3

💡 First Principle: Structured methods for governance, decision-making, and continuous improvement provide the procedural backbone for navigating the complexities of project execution.

Scenario: In a predictive project, a significant change to the scope is requested. The project manager uses the formal 'CCB (Change Control Board)' method to review the request. In an adaptive project, the team identifies a recurring bottleneck during a 'Risk Review meeting' and uses 'Kaizen' and 'Value Stream Mapping' to analyze and improve their process.

The final set of common methods and techniques supporting various project management functions.

  • CCB (Change Control Board): Formal group that reviews, approves, or rejects change requests (common in predictive).
  • Risk Review meetings: Regular meetings to discuss identified risks, responses, and new risks.
  • Status Meetings: Meetings focused on reporting project progress and status.
  • Facilitation techniques: Skills used to guide group discussions and processes effectively.
  • Decision Making techniques: Structured approaches for making choices (e.g., multi-criteria decision analysis).
  • Problem Solving techniques: Structured approaches for identifying and resolving issues (e.g., brainstorming, root cause analysis).
  • Value Stream Mapping (VSM): Lean technique to analyze the flow of value delivery and identify waste.
  • Kaizen: Philosophy of continuous, incremental improvement involving everyone.

⚠️ Common Pitfall: Running status meetings where team members simply report what they've done. Effective meetings are for problem-solving, decision-making, and removing impediments, not just status reporting (which can often be done asynchronously).

Key Trade-Offs:
  • Formal Governance (CCB) vs. Agile Change Management: A formal CCB provides strong control and auditability, which is crucial in some environments. In more adaptive environments, changes are managed through backlog prioritization by a Product Owner, which is faster but less formal.

Reflection Question: How does 'Value Stream Mapping' directly support the 'Focus on Value' principle by helping to identify and eliminate waste?