Strikt Or Loose PM

bas says : Just a question I'm always struggling with, what is better, a full control approach to PM (PRINCE2, PMP) or more loose like SCRUM, etc (keyword agile)?

Yes I know it depends, but on what?

Normally a start of a software project is loose, approaching the end you tighten control...

Cheers
Bas

Bernard says : Some possible considerations:[list>[*>Importance of the deliverable (time critical)[*>Budget for the project (cost critical)[*>Availability of resources (got anything better to do?)[*>Nature of the contract (fixed bid/lump sum vs. time & material/cost plus - maximize revenues)[/list>

ross_valusoft says : Hmmm, this borders on the "age old can of worms".

What is a project, when does it start, when is it finished and how to decide if it was a success and, for that matter, what is success?

A study done by KPMG Canada in 1997 across small and large, public and private, not-for-profit and commercial organisations showed a huge failure rate for projects originally estimated to take less than a year to complete. This was contrasted by the higher percentage of successful projects that belonged to the big, and or long, projects. The difference?

Well, it turns out that no one involved in the small projects thought that they deserved to have a formal plan and control method applied..."because they were just small projects". If you do not intent to succeed, why start at all?

So, I think that ALL once off activities (projects) deserve to have a plan and a PM to oversee them. The method used should suit the complexity, but they should not be allowed to roll along without monitoring and control....or it might be your job that is ditched when the project is judged to be a failure.

My $0.02