im quite confused with methodology, techniques and tools, anyone can help me? thanks Saving Changes...
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Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Dear Allan, I hope that within Gantthead.com you find what you are looking for. But my question to you is, what exactly are you confused about? Is it the methodologies, techniques, and tools themselves that you find confusing or is it how they all relate that you find confusing..? Could you kindly re-post with a little more information..? I would be happy to post a reply. Cheers. -- Mark Perry, VP of Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
actually it is a question from my tutor, could u please help me to explain the differeces between methodology, techniques and tools. this question is about methodology system development. thanks:) Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Dear Allan, thank you for the additional information. To explain the differences between methodology, techniques, and tools; allow me to use a cooking analogy. Let's say you want to make Green Curry Chicken. Not being from Thailand, you have no idea how to make Green Curry Chicken, so you go find a recipe for it. Think of the recipe as your methodology. If you follow the methodology, you have a good chance of ending up with Green Curry Chicken. If you don't follow the methodology and you have not had prior experience in this, you might just end up with green chicken. In project management terms, this would be a failed project. Now, as you follow your recipe/methodology, you will no doubt employ some tools. You will need a tool capable of producing enough heat to cook with such as a stove or fire. You will also need a pot and cooking utensils. Think of these things as tools that you employ. Without tools, you can't get the job done. And as you follow your recipe/methodology and use your tools, you will come across techniques. Such as, you can use 2 cans of coconut milk or alternatively you can use 1 can of coconut cream and 1 can of water. Or another technique might be; reduce the hot chili peppers recipe amount by half when preparing Green Curry Chicken for those who can't take food too spicy. Think of techniques as suggestions that can be useful to help ensure success of the project. Methods, tools, and techniques. It's not that complicated. Now, it is likely that your tutor wants you to answer his question on your own through research and analysis, not through a discussion forum. Otherwise, he would have simply told you the answer. You might try to be a little more "studious" in your approach to learning. Perhaps that is why you are confused over something that is rather simple. However, your resourcefulness is commendable. Good luck in your studies! -- Mark Perry, VP of Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
I have also learnt from it. Please, based on your very educative response to Allan Houston, can one assume that Gantt chart, CPA, Milestones and PRINCE are both tools and techniques in project management?
Thanks. Saving Changes...
Mark Price PerryBusiness Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT InternationalOrlando, Fl, United States
Dear Eriks, you bet. Gantt charts, critical path analysis, and milestones are tools/techniques. And Prince, Projects In a Controlled Environment, is a leading project management methodology. For more information on Prince, see the official Prince website per the following link, http://www.ogc.gov.uk/prince2/. Cheers. -- Mark Perry, VP of Customer Customer Care, BOT International Saving Changes...
Dear Mark, Appreciate your earlier efforts and imagine you won't get this fifteen years later, but I will try nevertheless.
I was complacent with your March 19 explanation, although it lacked distinguishing other important variables including method, approach, procedure, and activity. Some confusion sets in with your Feb 19 response, especially the forward slash connecting tools to techniques. Milestones may be a tool, but they cannot be a technique.
A technique must include a verb. Therefore, milestones must be tools while the technique might be to establish milestones. A Gannt chart cannot be a technique but charting resource expenditures against plan might be. Therefore, it may be a tool, etc.
I'm not convinced I have it, but to my way of thinking now, a methodology is comprised of approach, methods (plural), and procedures. A procedure requires techniques (verbs) that use and/or create tools (nouns). Techniques are comprised of activities (WHAT is being done) and tasks (HOW it is being done, with tools).
So, Agile as a mindset is a methodology while SCRUM as a framework is an approach (like XP, TRIZ, etc). A Sprint Planning sessions one of the methods within the approach. One of the procedures required in Sprint planning is prioritization. Various techniques are available to conduct prioritization, such as a decision matrix, perceptual map, etc. Each technique requires multiple activities such as clarification of options or ranking of criteria. Each activity could be performed through various tasks such as coding criteria high-medium-low with a marker. (or, if the task was computational, we could count using our fingers, make marks with a stick in the sand, write it out long hand on paper, punch keys on a handheld calculator, etc.).
Therefore, the sequence would be Methodology - Approach(es) - Methods - Procedures - Techniques - Activities - Tasks---all discrete components of a methodology. Am I missing something, or am I wrong, or am I too anal about this? Saving Changes...
