Even the best project plans are only as good as the techniques behind them. Seasoned project managers know that each methodology brings a distinct advantage, but applying the right one at the right stage is where the real expertise lies.
The challenge isn’t just following frameworks but knowing when to adapt, hybridize, or pivot techniques to fit the project’s dynamic needs.
In this guide, we’ll explore 17 advanced project management techniques broken down by project lifecycle stages to give you a nuanced understanding of where each technique fits best.
Let’s dive into the techniques that drive high-impact project outcomes.
What are project management techniques? Is there a difference between project management tools and techniques?
Project management tools and techniques might both sound similar, as both of them are used in a project to help you achieve its goals. However, they are fundamentally different and equally important to successfully complete a project.
A project management technique is a way to understand a high-level overview of the plan to execute the project. It deals with what are the series of steps that need to be taken to reach the project goal.
A project management tool, on the other hand, answers how you are going to execute the steps laid out and reach the result. It is a resource that helps you put the multiple layers of the project plan into action.
Now that we know about the difference between project management tools and techniques let’s explore some popular project management techniques below.
List of project management techniques based on the project lifecycle
Before we jump into each advanced and basic project management technique in detail, let’s first see which phase of the project lifecycle they are best suited for. This will help you tailor these techniques into a hybrid approach that works best for your project.
Why? Because project management techniques are essentially industry best practices, with “industry” being the key focus.
However, many organizations mistakenly treat these processes as rigid frameworks that must be followed by the book, which is a critical misstep. These techniques should instead be adapted to align with the organization’s strategic roadmap for effective planning and execution.
Project initiation techniques
- Project Chartering – Formalize the project’s purpose, scope, and stakeholders to start work
- Stakeholder Mapping – Identify and categorize key stakeholders based on their impact, influence, and interest in the project
Project planning techniques
- Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) – Break down the entire project into smaller, actionable, and clear steps
- Critical Path Method (CPM) – Create a series of critical tasks’ sequence that are critical to the project’s success
- PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) – Lay down all the best, likely, and worst scenarios to determine the duration of the project
- Risk Management – Track all the potential risks and create a process to mitigate them on time
- RACI Matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) – Define roles and responsibilities of everyone on teams for clarity and accountability
- Resource Breakdown Structure – Optimize allocation of budget, people, resources, and tools for maximum value
Project execution techniques
- Agile Project Management – Adapt your output based on ever-changing project needs
- Scrum Framework – Manage the project using sprints, daily stand-up meetings, and clearly defined roles
- Kanban Board – Visualize your entire project workflow using custom cards and columns
- Waterfall Project Management – Follow a linear, phase-dependent, start-to-finish approach in your project
- Six Sigma Methodology – Focus on data-driven insights to reduce defects and improve the project process
- Lean Project Management – Center your project process around minimizing waste and promoting improvement
Project tracking techniques
- Gantt Charts – Visualize task dependencies, schedule, and timeline to reduce delays in delivery
- Earned Value Management (EVM) – Track the project’s performance by comparing the plan vs the actual progress
- Change Log – Manage the changes in scope by setting up a process to keep everything on track
17 project management techniques and tools explained
Now that we know which phase of the project management lifecycle these tools and techniques fit in, let’s look at each of them in detail.
1. Agile Project Management
What is it: Agile project management is a flexible and iterative approach to managing projects, which focuses on working based on constantly changing customer needs. It involves focusing on short team milestones to achieve quick delivery and accurate communication.
How it works: A work plan is divided into smaller durations called sprints that last up to 2-4 weeks. Each sprint has a specific goal, list of responsibilities, and milestones. This method promotes cross-team collaboration, accountability, flexibility, and adjustment of priorities as needed.
Who is it for: Agile project management is best for software development teams and companies that focus on large, constantly evolving projects.
2. Scrum Framework
What is it: Scrum is a framework derived from the Agile methodology. It focuses on short cycles known as sprints. Each person has daily meetings and clearly defined responsibilities, so every single person works with flexibility and accountability.
How it works: All the work is broken down into smaller chunks, and at the start of every sprint, everyone commits to a certain number of tasks. It becomes their goal to accomplish this high-priority work during that sprint, where they are accountable for the output.
Who is it for: Scrum works best for tech startups and product development companies that need to go to market quickly.
3. Kanban Board
What is it: Kanban is a technique that focuses on visualizing a project with cards and board. It shows the progress of the overall project as well as all individual tasks with a simple division of To Do, Doing, and Done.
How it works: In the simplest Kanban Board, all the work is divided into three categories: To Do, Doing, and Done. It is a basic project management technique that can be applied to every project where all the team members can focus on their own tasks and have limited dependencies.
Who is it for: Everyone. Kanban board can be used by all teams but is particularly helpful in cross-team collaborations, where it is helpful for every team to know the progress of their task.
4. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
What is it: WBS is a technique used by project management to break down a massive project into smaller, more manageable tasks. As per the technique, it is easier to organize 10 small tasks one after another in a logical flow than to just have one task on your list, and have no idea how to approach it.
How it works: The WBS technique focuses on accomplishing smaller tasks well, so the complexity of larger tasks does not feel overwhelming. So, every single task is broken down into subtasks until it reaches the point where it feels doable.
Who is it for: WBS is best if you have huge projects on your hand like developing an app or building a house where the end goal may seem very big and overwhelming.
5. Gantt Chart
What is it: The Gantt chart is a project tracking technique that has been around for a century and is still very popular. It is another way of visualizing your project progress, but this technique emphasizes more on the dependencies between tasks and the project timeline.
How it works: Tasks are represented with horizontal bars in a Gantt chart, which have a dedicated start and end date. The length of these bars indicates how much time it will take to complete them. You can set project milestones and visualize if your project is on track or not using this chart.
Who is it for: project managers in construction, manufacturing and event planning can use this chart as they work with strict deadlines and dependencies.
6. Critical Path Method (CPM)
What is it: Every project has a sequence of important tasks without which it cannot be completed. CPM is a project management technique that helps project managers identify this series of tasks, so the project progress is not delayed.
How it works: After identifying these critical tasks, they are structured in a sequence based on dependency and logical hierarchy. This entire sequence will provide a general estimation of the project’s duration.
Who is it for: This technique is best suited for large-scale infrastructure projects.
7. Waterfall Project Management
What is it: Waterfall is the oldest project management technique where all the tasks within the project follow a linear method. There is a predetermined sequence of requirements, design, execution, verification, and testing.
How it works: Make a list of all the tasks and resources for every stage of the project mentioned above. Ensure nothing is missed, as the Waterfall technique does not offer space for a lot of changes. Start working on your tasks one by one in a linear sequence, where one stage can only start if all the tasks are completed from the previous stage.
Who is it for: Waterfall is a process best used in projects with a clear timeline or a fixed budget. There are no sudden changes, and everything follows a guideline.
8. Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
What is it: PERT is a technique which determines the most critical timeline of your project. It is similar to CPM, but PERT deals with task dependencies and estimates to complete the project on time.
How it works: Break down all of your tasks in detail and add it into a logical sequence. Here, the PERT diagram helps you identify activities that are interdependent and map out a sequence of the most critical tasks.
Who is it for: This technique is best used by project managers R&D, software, or high-uncertainty projects.
9. RACI Matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed)
What is it: RACI is a very important project management technique used extensively for large projects. But it can be incredibly helpful when executing small projects as well. It clearly defines roles and responsibilities for everyone working on the project, so nothing is missed or used out of context.
How it works: Every person in the team is given these roles:
- Responsible: The person is responsible for doing the task
- Accountable: The person is accountable for the delivery and final decision on the task
- Consulted: The person provides expertise on the task or gets involved if needed
- Informed: The person who is informed about the current status and updates on the task
Who is it for: This project management technique is helpful in cross functional projects with big teams, especially in sales and marketing firms.
10. Risk Management
What is it: Risk management or risk register is a tool that tracks and documents potential risks throughout the entire project.
How it works: Consider all the risks your project might encounter during its term, detail their likelihood, what the potential impact it will have on the project, and how to derisk or mitigate it. Outline who is responsible for derisking the situation and action plan.
Who is it for: Risk register can be used at any scale, but it is the most used in high stakes industries like Finance and Healthcare.
11. Lean Project Methodology
What is it: Lean project management is a structured technique that aims to reduce costs and wastage while building a product. The emphasis is on increasing customer value by building a high-quality product.
How it works: Identify the value of the product, set up a workflow relevant to every step, break down tasks for development, pull the work from every stage before completion, and make constant improvements to your workflow.
Who is it for: Lean methodology is mostly used by Manufacturing companies and Operation teams.
12. Six Sigma Methodology
What is it: Six Sigma is a project management technique that uses financial analysis, statistics and project analysis to reduce defects, errors, and variation in the project. The central idea of the technique is to complete the entire project process in a controlled manner to get consistent output.
How it works: Six Sigma has a framework called DMAIC, which focuses on helping managers clearly define, measure, analyze, improve, and control task input and output for better delivery.
Who is it for: Quality control teams in Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Services use this framework extensively.
13. Change Log
What is it: Change log is a detailed record of all the change requests and implementations of the same made within a project. It is a formal record that preemptively helps with scope creep and keeps the stakeholders in confidence about the project’s budget, timeline and resources.
How it works: Create a detailed change log sheet in a project management tool where you outline who requested the change, what was the reason, what was implemented, and how did it affect the scope, budget, and progress of the project.
Who is it for: It is most frequently used in IT firms, consulting firms and service-based industries.
14. Resource Breakdown Structure
What is it: Assigning the right resources to the right projects is crucial. A resource breakdown structure helps you organize and categorize resources and prevent bottlenecks.
How it works: A project management tool with resource management capabilities helps you break down equipment, cost, personnel, and other resources to optimize everything to its maximum potential.
Who is it for: This method is best used by operations managers, project managers, and HR managers across big companies undertaking multiple projects.
15. Stakeholder Mapping
What is it: Stakeholders are a big influence on any project. During big projects where multiple stakeholders are involved, this technique of stakeholder mapping will help everyone on the team understand which stakeholders need to know what and when.
How it works: Prepare a quadrant with priority levels high/low and level of interest/influence. Group all your stakeholders here on the basis of this metric and prioritize engagement strategies.
Who is it for: Project managers, business analysts, and change management teams in enterprise companies or agencies use this project management technique.
16. Earned Value Management (EVM)
What is it: EVM is a project management technique that objectively takes into account the project scope, cost and time to accurately forecast how the project will progress and when it will be completed.
How it works: EVM uses multiple metrics like planned value, earned value, actual cost, and more to compare actual work done and planned work with cost. By comparing these metrics, project managers can track the changes in their project and pivot strategies when needed.
Who is it for: This technique is popularly used by government sectors companies, education industry, and consulting firms.
17. Project Chartering
What is it: A formal document that defines the project’s purpose, scope, objectives, and key stakeholders, providing the official authorization to begin the project.
How it works: It outlines high-level deliverables, timelines, roles, and responsibilities and serves as a reference point throughout the project lifecycle. Get approval from the project sponsor or top management to initiate the work after creating the project charter.
Who is it for: Project managers, senior leadership, and stakeholders across industries use it to align expectations and get clarity before project execution.
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