Project Management: What Is It? PM Best Practices

Project management: fundamentals, methodologies and best practices

Continuous risk assessment and mitigation Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Waterfall provides structure and predictability, making it well-suited for projects with well-defined requirements and stable environments.

Related articlesAgile

offers flexibility and adaptability, making it ideal for projects with evolving requirements or uncertain outcomes. The decision to use waterfall or Agile depends on several factors, such as project complexity, team dynamics, and organisational culture.

When to use the waterfall method Agile methodologies have become popular in recent years, but the waterfall approach still has its place in certain situations. Let’s explore how and when waterfall can be successfully used.

Projects with well-defined requirements

This methodology works best when:

Requirements are known and unlikely to change Stakeholders have a clear vision of the desired outcome The scope of the project is well-defined from the beginning.

Industries with strict regulatory compliance

Project management examples such as healthcare and medical device development, aerospace and defence and financial services with strict compliance requirements often adopt the waterfall methodology. These fields often require extensive documentation and adherence to specific protocols.

Knowledge TrainWaterfall is often used for large projects that have many interconnected components, lengthy development cycles and strict deadlines and budget constraints. Infrastructure projects or large-scale enterprise-wide system implementations are examples of projects where waterfall is often used.

19 Feb 2026Projects with limited customer involvement during development

Projects that don’t need much customer involvement during the projectThese project management examples cover a range of industries and situations, showing you what effective project management looks like and highlighting some common project management pitfalls to avoid in your own project management career.Waterfall can be used when:

The only customer interaction is at the start and finish

Little or no user involvement is required in the development cycle

The needs of the user are clear and stable. This method is effective when requirements are well understood upfront and do not change over time, as it follows a linear approach

PRINCE2 Agile book reviewEnhance your skills with our expert-led courses

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19 Feb 2026

Instructor-ledRead our review of the official PRINCE2 Agile guidance manual and understand how it combines structured project management with Agile flexibility.Introduction to Project Management course

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Project schedulingInstructor-led

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19 Feb 2026£999 +vat

Scheduling a project can be an important aspect of managing a project. In this article, we will be looking at how you can develop schedules that work, and resources that will help your project stay on schedule. Scroll down to read more.See all dates

Waterfall best practices

To enhance the success rate of waterfall project management, consider the following best practices:

Thorough requirements gathering and documentation To set a solid foundation for the project, gather and document all requirements comprehensively. This includes conducting detailed stakeholder interviews, creating a comprehensive functional specification, develop clear and measurable acceptance criteria and utilise formal sign-off processes for requirements documentation. Effective communication and stakeholder management

To ensure a project stays on track, ensure clear and regular communication with all stakeholders. This includes establishing regular status meetings and progress reports, clearly define roles and responsibilities for team members, maintain open channels for stakeholder feedback and utilise visual tools like Gantt charts to communicate project timelines and milestones.

What soft skills do project managers need?To deliver a high-quality product, it is essential to implement a comprehensive testing strategy early in the project, conduct multiple levels of testing (unit, integration, system, user acceptance), allocate sufficient time and resources for thorough quality assurance activities and document and track all defects and their resolutions.

Simon BuehringTo maintain project scope and control

19 Feb 2026changes

, implement a formal change request process, assess the impact of proposed changes on the timeline, budget, and resources, maintain a change log to track all approved changes and communicate changes and their impacts to all stakeholders.

Gantt charts and project timelines19 Feb 2026

Visual representation of project phases, dependencies, and timelinesDiscover the most important KPIs in project management. Check out our project management KPIs guide and learn how to use them.Tracking of progress against planned schedules and milestones

Identification of potential bottlenecks or resource conflicts.

Work Breakdown Structures (WBS)

Hierarchical decomposition of complex projects into manageable tasks Definition of clear deliverables, scope, and milestones Facilitating accurate resource allocation and estimation.

Critical path analysis

Stakeholder Engagement: A Key to Project Success with David LongstaffCalculation of the minimum time required to complete the project

Simon BuehringProject management software solutions

19 Feb 2026Centralised project documentation, communication, and collaboration

Automation of task assignments, progress tracking, and reportingScroll down to watch the webinar, listen to the audio, access the presentation slides, and read the transcript. Start improving your stakeholder engagement today.Generation of reports and analytics for informed decision-making.

These

tools and techniques

provide visibility into project progress, facilitate communication among stakeholders, and enable better control over project activities. By utilising these resources, project managers can effectively manage and execute waterfall projects within the structured framework of the methodology.

Conclusion

Project communication plansAdvantages of waterfall project management:

Knowledge TrainVast documentation

19 Feb 2026Predictable costs and resource needs.

Drawbacks of waterfall project management:Project success heavily depends on having an effective project communication plan. Our thorough guide helps you create an effective strategy to keep stakeholders informed and proactive during every stage of your project.Inflexibility to change

Late feedback and product validation.

Final thoughts on relevance

The traditional waterfall methodology still has relevance in modern software development, despite the popularity of

Agile

Project management vs programme managementWell-defined and fixed requirements

Knowledge TrainLarge and complex projects with rigid timeline.

19 Feb 2026Acknowledging both its strengths and weaknesses,

project managersDive into the differences between project and programme management to determine which is best suited for your organisation and can improve your project delivery. Read on to find out more. can decide when to use waterfall methodology. With a proper context and mindset, waterfall remains a valuable approach to successfully

delivering projects

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Project management stepsSee all dates

Knowledge TrainWhat are the main differences between waterfall and agile methodologies?

19 Feb 2026Waterfall is a linear and sequential approach, while

AgileProject management is crucial for success. Discover the essential phases and elevate your skills to ensure projects from start to finish deliver exceptional outcomes. is iterative and flexible. Waterfall emphasises upfront planning, while Agile embraces change and feedback throughout the development process.

Can waterfall and agile methodologies be combined?