Project Methodology: Scrum vs PMBOK and Project Life Cycle Analysis

This report delves into the realm of project methodologies, focusing on the comparison between Scrum and PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge). It begins by defining project methodology and its importance in achieving project goals within budget and schedule constraints. The report then explores the core differences between Scrum, an agile framework tailored for software development, and PMBOK, a comprehensive set of guidelines applicable across various industries. It highlights the structured approach of Scrum, with its iterative sprints and self-managed teams, contrasting it with PMBOK's more general framework. Furthermore, the report examines how the Scrum methodology integrates with the project life cycle, emphasizing its adaptability and ability to handle changes in IT development projects. The analysis underscores the benefits of Scrum in terms of providing clarity, control, and the ability to incorporate user feedback, ultimately leading to more efficient and successful project outcomes. The report concludes by suggesting that the choice of methodology should be based on project-specific needs, with Scrum being well-suited for complex and dynamic projects, and PMBOK for more predictable scenarios. Finally, the report underscores the importance of considering various environmental variables when selecting the most effective project methodology.

Running head: PROJECT METHODOLOGY
PROJECT METHODOLOGY
Name of the University
Name of the Student
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................2
Discussion......................................................................................................................2
Project methodology..................................................................................................2
Importance of project methodology in project management.....................................4
Compare and contrast between Scrum methodologies and the PMBOK
methodologies............................................................................................................5
How SCRUM methodology relates to the project life cycle......................................7
Conclusion......................................................................................................................9
References....................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The PMBOK or Project Management Body of Knowledge is the collection of the
best terminologies, guidelines, practices and processes that is used by the industry of
project management as a standard. As new practices and methods are discovered, the
book of knowledge needs to be disseminated and updated. According to Schwaber,
Scrum is a framework which is utilized to address complex problems those are
adaptive in nature and used to deliver high quality products both creatively as well as
productively. The framework is created by keeping in mind the focus on value and
high visibility of the project which is taken into account by the developers for creating
a deliverable. The research aims at describing and comparing these two common
methodologies and how the chosen methodology can be related with the project life
cycle.
Discussion
Project methodology
A manager assigns a project to achieve the proposed planned results and goals
within a defined budget and schedule. For assisting managers at every step of the
project, certain methodologies are implemented from the initiation to the closure of
the project.
Figure 1: Project management methodologies

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(Source: Abrahamsson, Salo, Ronkainen & Warsta, 2018)
Project methodology is the straightforward way to assist the team through the
development and execution phases of the PMLC or Project Management Life Cycle.
It is a model which is followed by project managers for achieving the project
objectives and is used for employing the design and planning of the project.
According to Jack Meredith, Samuel Meredith and Samuel J. Mantel, project
methodology is the application of everything that a project manager needs to manage
the project parameters ("A guide to the project management body of knowledge:
PMBOK (®) guide", 2018). The manager is expected to develop and execute a plan
according to the specified parameters such as cost, specification and schedule. This
approach focuses on the outcomes of the project in terms of requirement. A
deliverable is produced by every project phase which is used to meet the objectives of
the project. To provide breaks in the project logically with the key decision points,
phasing of the project is carried out. The methodologies can be divided into three
criteria namely initiation, control and closing.
The initiation contains the goals, assumptions, deliverables, objectives, risks,
scope, costs, duration, benefits and issues related to the project. The control phase
involves the tracking and management of the project. The closing phase is often
overlooked but it is important to decipher whether the project has managed to perform
with the given costs, duration and tolerance (Abrahamsson, Salo, Ronkainen &
Warsta, 2018). A customer acknowledgement is necessary to understand if the project
has achieved its goals and objectives.

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Importance of project methodology in project management
A well planned project management methodology is necessary for carrying out a
successful project. As projects are getting complex in nature, they include a lot of
parameters which are difficult to manage. The complexity of managing these projects
is much greater along with the risk factor. The methodology enables the organization
to tackle such projects in a systematic and well organized manner. This allows the
operational team to have a tactical, strategic and operational advantage in project
management.
Project methodology is used for providing confidence to the senior management,
partners and customers that the delivery organization is capable enough to run such
large projects in a profitable manner (Stackpole, 2013). This allows the delivery
organization to carefully analyze the difficulties and risks associated with the project
and put strategies into place to minimize the extent of the risks and overcome.
The tactical benefit of the methodology in project management is that it allows
the managers (who are working off site) to have confidence in status assessment
validity. These allows them to figure out the problems and overcome it whether they
are technical or business related. On the operational level, the methodology allows the
operational team to do the correct thing in a correct way for the first time (Pasian,
2015). This allows the organization to deliver the project in a cost effective way under
schedule.

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Compare and contrast between Scrum methodologies and the PMBOK
methodologies
PMBOK is a framework (general in nature) which can be used in any type of
projects and no specific methods are followed. It is not actually a framework but a
series of guidelines that can be utilized in project management tools and techniques.
Whereas, Scrum relies on specific methodologies where the steps are mentioned
clearly which is aimed at product (especially software) development (Brewer &
Dittman, 2013).
A global view of the aspects of project management is provided by PMBOK
which is used a reference for any development project. Due to the dynamic nature of
Scrum, it promotes a change in the work culture where all the elements are not
followed properly.
The differences between Scrum methodology and PMBOK methodology have
been further evaluated in the following table:-
PMBOK METHODOLOGY SCRUM METHODOLOGY
Methodology management Framework methodology
Helps to manage projects across different
industries
It is very specific for the management of
software project
The project is managed by the project
manager
The project is managed by the scrum
master and self-managed team
The project is divided into various phases The project is divided into sprints

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The work is prioritized and defined by the
project manager
The story points are written and
prioritized by the product owner
The phases are rebased if the schedules
are not achieved
The weight of the phases can be
increased or decreased by the sprints
Planned project Planned sprints
To go introduce a change in the system,
the customers are provided less flexibility
More flexibility with controlled costs are
provided to the customers
At the beginning of the project, project
planning is conducted
Project planning is done at the initiation
of the sprint and only for that specific
sprint
For reviewing the project at the project
closure, a project postmortem is
conducted.
After the sprint is completed at the end of
each sprint, a review meeting of the sprint
is conducted.
When the deliverables of the project are
met, the project is closed and delivered.
The project is delivered in iterations.
Until all the deliverables are met, the
project remains incomplete.
When all the deliverables are met, the
customer might chose to stop the project.
Based on the functionality, the estimation
history data of the project will be counted
such as time spent.
The project estimation history data is
counted according to the average burn
rate of the weight points.
The project manager communicates with The impediments are listed as maintained
and solved.

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the team when the issues are listed.
The time of the project is fixed and an
escalation is considered as an overrun.
The causes can be monitored closely by
the product owner as he is close to the
team.
The involvement of the customer is less. At every sprint meeting the customer is
present and he or she is a part of the
whole exercise.
Can be applied from anywhere and
anytime.
Requiring the customer involvement is
tricky as some projects are outsourced
from overseas.
Due to project transparency risk is
involved.
Risk can be seen at early stages and the
project can be withdrawn accordingly.
How SCRUM methodology relates to the project life cycle
In an IT development project, the development process of the project cannot be
predicted efficiently. Some parts of the project can be foreseen but it is difficult to
keep track of every elements of the project. A delay in the development process leads
to dissatisfaction of the client and increased costs. With the help of Scrum
methodology, developers can organize the development process and ease out the
development cycle. With the help of the Scrum Master, a lot of clarity can be
provided to the development team as well as the client side (Kononenko & Kharazii,
2014). The methodologies help the team to keep track of the IT development project
and overcome the hurdles properly. Studying each and every element of the software

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becomes easy as segregation of the elements of the software are offered by Scrum.
This helps the client manager or the clients to understand each process and determine
the next process. With the help of predictive analysis, Scrum helps the developer team
to have greater control over the project, track all the project levels and prevent delays.
The processes are broken down into several software development parts and the most
important features of the project are developed first in a fixed time.
The Scrum is also designed to handle changes and adapt with the development
environment with the help of iterative delivery and empirical process control. This
allows the developers to make changes to the project without compromising the
development environment (Roudias, 2015). Both the perspectives of the user and the
business are taken into account which is essential for the project life cycle. The client
can give feedbacks and check the progress at any time. A problem in the
implementation of the project life cycle highlights the fact that the sprint has not been
completed in the desired time and steps are taken to avoid the delay.
The chosen Scrum Methodology further relates to the IT development life cycle
as the project is handled by a self-organizing team where no team leader assigns a
specific task to the developers. The entire team handles the decisions as a whole. The
team is also cross functional giving the developers of the IT development project
enough time to take feature to its implementation from the idea. Every day the team
members, the Scrum Master and the product owner have to sit through a daily
meeting where the tasks and issues are discussed. The daily meetings are seen as a
method to synchronize the work of the developers (Sachdeva, 2016). At the end of
every sprint, the progress is shown to the product owner as well as the stakeholders
who provide their valuable feedback that can be used in the next sprint. This feedback

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loop is essential for every development life cycle and allows the developers to make
changes to the product functionality.
Conclusion
Although PMBOK is recognized globally and contains good practices which has
been accumulated over the years, it is not suitable for small projects and employs
difficult processes for keeping the development team connected. It contains projects
from all types of industries and the general techniques, tools and outputs are defined.
Whereas, Scrum is the framework which does not impose a precise procedure to be
followed but provides several processes where following all the processes are not
mandatory. It gathers requirements from every deliverable and uses the feedbacks to
maintain an exact cost and time estimation of the project. It is perfect for small teams
and generates scope for including adaptable changes in the project development life
cycle. To conclude the report, it can be proposed that several environment variables
need to be taken into context for choosing a correct methodology for the given
project. The requirements, agreements and possibilities of including the requirements
with the technology are important factors that should be addressed by the project
managers. PMBOK is a good option if the scenario is predictable, simple and less
likely to include change requests. Scrum is perfect for those scenarios where the
requirements are not even close to the proposed agreement and the project is
complicated as well as chaotic in nature.

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References
A guide to the project management body of knowledge: PMBOK (®) guide.
(2018). Amberton.mylifeblue.com. Retrieved 3 March 2018, from
http://amberton.mylifeblue.com/media/Syllabi/Fall%202014/Graduate/
MGT6154_E1.pdf
Abrahamsson, P., Salo, O., Ronkainen, J., & Warsta, J. (2018). Agile Software
Development Methods: Review and Analysis. Arxiv.org. Retrieved 3 March
2018, from https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.08439
Brewer, J., & Dittman, K. (2013). Methods of IT project management. Purdue
University Press.
Kononenko, I., & Kharazii, A. (2014). The methods of selection of the project
management methodology.
Pasian, M. (2015). Designs, methods and practices for research of project
management (1st ed.). Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Roudias, J. (2015). Mastering Principles and Practices in PMBOK, Prince 2, and
Scrum: Using Essential Project Management Methods to Deliver Effective and
Efficient Projects. FT Press.
Sachdeva, S. (2016). Scrum Methodology. International Journal Of Engineering And
Computer Science. http://dx.doi.org/10.18535/ijecs/v5i6.11
Stackpole, C. (2013). A User's Manual to the PMBOK Guide. John Wiley & Sons.