Project managers are always focused on delivering the right product to their clients in terms of value and quality. In doing so, they embrace thorough project management planning by breaking their projects into stages where they take on the tasks in each stage step by step.
In reality, they are practicing waterfall methodology in their project management activities. Waterfall projects are always undertaken with the waterfall methodology where each phase is dependent on the deliverables of the previous one and corresponds to a specialization of tasks.
As a project manager, the task of executing a waterfall project is centered on your ability to make an upfront plan and execute it linearly without altering the plan in the process to achieve the goal of your project.
Waterfall project allows the logical progression of steps to be used throughout the software development life cycle in the form of the cascading steps down an incremental waterfall.
Sinnaps, an online project management tool is a planning tool that can be used by the project management teams in creating their waterfall model that will be used in executing their projects. It will aid them in splitting the tasks of the project into sub-tasks that can be undertaken with ease.
It enhances your ability to meet the deadlines of your project by calculating the critical path of your activities with task dependencies thereby saving you a lot of time in the process and help you in achieving the objectives of your project.
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Waterfall Project: Know What It Takes To Do It
The process of a waterfall project should be kick-started with the gathering of the relevant stakeholders and customer to brainstorm and plan sequentially to accommodate the requirements of the product.
In planning your waterfall project, you should ensure that the project stages are arranged in the right sequence because you cannot commence a set of activities until the end of the previous one.
Waterfall Project Planning:
No doubt, if you get it wrong in your planning, a phase will be late and it could push the other phases that are a sequel to it thereby making the waterfall project to exceed its deadline. The project team needs to ensure proper documentation of the stages and the requirements of the project from start to finish.
Furthermore, documentation improves the knowledge of the project team and they can easily plan their time while carrying out the project.
The use of simple project plan template will help the waterfall project team in documenting the plan to get the best out of the phases of the project and it can also be referenced in the future by the team for another project and save them of time in the process.
Sinnaps has different simple project plan template that can be used by the project team. It is very easy to use and will properly communicate the waterfall project plans to the relevant stakeholders.
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Also, the waterfall project team should integrate proper project management technique so that the goal of the project will be accomplished with effective planning. In a project plan example, the team should properly state what it aims to achieve and how to go about it.
Furthermore, you should ensure the waterfall project is divided into discrete and understandable phases to enhance your ability to execute the project successfully. Again, the project team should ensure better cohesion among them during the design so that they can be in the know of everything necessary to be taken into consideration.
Projects that Use the Waterfall Model
No doubt, the fact that the waterfall model enables the project management team to break down their projects into smaller chunks that they can easily execute and manage makes it useful in different fields of humanity.
Projects that use the waterfall model include information technology (IT), construction, and manufacturing.
The waterfall model affords the teams in these sectors the opportunity to embrace a structured approach in managing the activities of their project and aids them in achieving the milestones of their project.
Waterfall Project Plan
The role of a waterfall project plan in the success of projects cannot be over-emphasized. It aids the team in planning their activities through the phases of the waterfall project model. The phases in the waterfall project model include the following;
- Requirements: this is the stage in the waterfall project plan where the requirements of the customers are gathered at the commencement of the project. It is in this stage that every phase of the project is planned until completion.
- Design: in this, the design is divided into logical design and physical design sub-phases. In the logical design sub-phases, the possible solutions are thoroughly brainstormed and put into theory by the team. In the physical design sub-phases, the theoretical ideas and schemes are made into concrete specifications.
- Implementation: here, the programmers will assimilate the requirements and specifications from the previous phases and produce the actual code.
- Verification: in the verification phase, the customer is required to review the product to ensure that product measures up to the requirements set at the inception of the waterfall project. This is always done by releasing the finished product to the customer.
- Maintenance: in this, the customer will use the product regularly during the maintenance phase to uncover bugs, inadequate features, and other errors that occurred during production. Then, the production team will fix anything necessary until the satisfaction of the customer is achieved.
In waterfall model example project, it is built and tracked in every phase sequentially with waterfall model from research and discovery to testing and development. This will ensure that everything is in order until the project is completed.
The scrum project plan is essential in software development activity; it is always a function of how the product backlog is created. Hence the product owner should painstakingly create the product backlog items that the project team can work on with ease during the sprint sessions to ensure that the right product is delivered to the customer.
For example, Sinnaps is an agile tool that will support the backlog development of the team and will assist you in carrying out your sprint.
