When choosing a particular project management method, you need to consider several factors:
Project type
Is it an organizational project (e.g. to make company processes more efficient), an international development aid project, an IT project, or a marketing project? Depending on the type of project, other stakeholders might be involved who are pursuing different goals. For example, the marketing goal of an advertising agency is largely determined by the customer that it is advertising for. An internal organizational project, on the other hand, must take greater account of the wishes of the employees and managing directors. On a large construction site, you have to give higher priority to risk management than when developing an app.
Project size
The duration of the implementation and the number of people involved influence the complexity of a project. Large projects often require much more small-scale planning. However, some methods aren’t able to do this justice so they are only suitable for projects above a certain size. For implementing phases only a few weeks long with small teams of no more than five employees, these methods can be ideal.
Project phase
Sometimes it makes sense to use a different method for each project phase. When developing new software, for example, creativity methods are ideally suited for the initiation phase. But the later test phase, as well as delivery and marketing, place completely different demands on the employees.
Industry
Software developers like to use computer-aided solutions to create a project plan. However, they usually also have the appropriate technical infrastructure at their disposal. On the other hand, the employees of non-profit organizations are often not so well networked technically and may prefer to refer to themselves as anything other than IT experts. In social projects, continuous evaluation also plays a major role – consequently, only methods that allow evaluations like these are suitable for these projects.
Business culture
The business culture depends not only on the industry, but also on the size, age, and philosophy of the company. Small startups often prefer agile methods, while traditional companies prefer traditional project management and traditional methods. An open atmosphere, the desire for transparency, and equal participation in the team are characteristics of companies that are better advised with agile approaches. They promote personal responsibility, allow flexibility, and take into account the resulting need for greater coordination. In companies that rely on fixed structures, comprehensive documentation and detailed planning, traditional methods are often more readily accepted.