20 Software Project Management Methodologies for Software Development

Understanding Software Development Project Management

Whether you’re a seasoned project manager or new to the field, grasping these foundational concepts is key to successfully navigating the diverse landscape of software project management methodologies. So, let’s embark on this journey to gain a deeper understanding of the core principles that underpin effective software development project management.

What is a Software Development Project?

In a restrictive definition, software development is just a process of writing and maintaining codes. However, a real software development project covers much more tasks, from researching and conceptualizing ideas to launching, maintaining, and improving final deliverables.

Project Management for Software Development

Whether an outsourcing company is working on small-scale projects for startups or complex ones for large enterprises, project management is an integral factor in the software development process.

Software development is no longer the job of only software engineers, but rather involves many other stakeholders such as UI/UX designers or business analysts and therefore accompanies a higher level of complexity. Therefore, software development management is essential regardless of project scope.

This process entails various principles and practices, beginning with the specific requirements of clients and even ending with ongoing maintenance and continuous updates after launch.

Without project management, all people involved in the project hardly establish obvious goals and then fail to devise respective plans to meet the end on time and within budget.

Worse, the lack of project management translates to inefficient organization and supervision of the project. This can result in poorly functioning deliverables and crippling losses in terms of finance and reputation.

That’s why project management proves increasingly critical in software development and beyond. Along with this importance is the 10.67% growth of the project management software market, from USD 6.54 billion in 2024 to USD 10.86 billion in 2029.

20 Best Software Project Management Methodologies for Software Development

We all know project management methodologies come into three groups: Waterfall, Agile, and Hybrid. Waterfall is a model where each phase is sequential and dependent on the outcome of the previous one. Agile is a model that breaks your project down into iterative phases. Meanwhile, Hybrid is a combination of two or more methodologies. Today, we’ll elaborate on the top 20 project management methodologies for software development that belong to Agile and Waterfall:

1. Scrum

Scrum - Software Project Management Methodologies for Software Development

People consider Scrum the most widely used agile methodology framework. Therefore, Scrum still follows some fundamental agile principles such as responding quickly to customer feedback and changes, focusing on effective communication, and making collaborative efforts in short cycles.

However, Scrum itself has distinct properties. From Designveloper’s perspective and experience, we’ll detail these differences.

First, this management model enables your project to run within the shortest iterations, commonly known as sprints. Each sprint usually lasts 1-4 weeks when we execute pre-planned work items in the backlog and attempt to achieve our pre-defined sprint goal.

Second, the Scrum team often involves fewer members than other agile methodologies, with no more than 10 people including a Scrum master, software developers, and a product owner.

Here, a Scrum master doesn’t act as a leader, but rather as a team facilitator who educates both stakeholders and team members about Scrum principles. Accordingly, the Scrum master aims to ensure the high quality of deliverables, organize daily meetings to examine progression, and eliminate impediments to software development, and more.

How does Scrum Work? – Designveloper’s Perspective

A Scrum process operates according to the following steps:

Backlog Refinement: At the beginning of the sprint, we hold a Backlog Refinement meeting. This session is where we review, update, and prioritize work items in the product backlog that a product owner already prepared. It ensures backlog items are clear, sized appropriately, and ready for selection during sprint planning. This typically involves the product owner and development team members.

Sprint Planning: This dedicated meeting is where the entire Scrum participates. Here, we choose a set of work items we commit to delivering within the sprint timeframe from the refined backlog. Accordingly, we focus on setting up a sprint goal and building a plan for achieving it. We also assign certain points to each work item based on its complexity level. Throughout sprints, we can base team productivity and work efficiency on these points and make necessary changes to ensure the project runs more effectively.

Implementation: During the process of software management, all members hold daily meetings to track progress. Further, this session is where we identify roadblocks and propose proper solutions to these challenges. At Designveloper, we also leverage the Pair-programming technique to gather different solutions we brainstormed and select the most optimal solution. This helps us improve the quality of our deliverable and even our work.

Sprint Review: This step occurs at the end of the Scrum sprint. It’s time for us to present our work to a product owner and receive feedback.

Sprint Retrospective: We also hold this meeting at the end of the sprint for all members to look back on what worked well in the past sprint and how to improve products. Also, we share our opinions, benefits, and bottlenecks we encountered, then suggesting the best solutions to overcome these challenges and improve team productivity.

Why Should You Choose Scrum?

Scrum focuses mainly on quality and operates within a limited time frame. So, it’s suitable for projects in fast-changing environments.

Rather than a fully-featured management methodology, Scrum is an approach with a set of principles and processes of Agile. However, it has different methods and tactics to deal with project management. Specifically, it emphasizes the project team, short “sprints,” and regular stand-up meetings. To be more specific, there is often no project manager, so the team needs to possess excellent team collaboration, self-organization, and self-management capabilities.

Thanks to the Scrum sprints, you can have no difficulty in managing large and complex projects. The “sprint” 30-day approach and daily stand-up meetings also contribute to the rapid iteration and development of your project.

Large, complicated software development projects with highly experienced and dedicated development teams could capitalize on Scrum. This methodology, however, can also apply to other projects of IT and digital marketing.

Recommended reading: What is Agile Software Development?

2. PRINCE2

PRINCE2 is a project management methodology that divides the responsibilities between a board and a project manager. The board is responsible for necessary resource management and business justification, while the project manager deals with daily tasks and manages the whole team. This method includes all the needed tools, practices, and procedures to control resources and focus on the end-users and final improved product.

With the requirement of extensive documentation and the guiding principle “learn from experience”, this method emphasizes the role of experience in reducing your project risk. But you have to redo the documentation and re-allocate resources when changes are necessary, which may slow down your project.

The UK government predominantly uses this methodology, PRINCE2, in almost every project. You can opt for this methodology for complicated and big projects with consistent requirements. They can range from construction, architecture, and education projects to digital marketing and IT ones.

3. Crystal

Crystal - Software Project Management Methodologies for Software Development

Crystal is a collection of lightweight Agile methodologies that highlight people and collaboration rather than software management processes and documentation. There are various Crystal variations (e.g., Crystal Clear, Crystal Orange, etc.) customized to project size and team dynamics.

This methodology promotes self-organizing team with robust ownership and minimal hierarchical management. Project activities are usually timeboxed with frequent reflection and adaptation cycles. Meanwhile, documentation is typically kept light, focusing on what most matters for clear understanding and communication.

Further, regular meetings such as daily stand-ups and weekly reflection workshops enhance collaboration. Other specific ceremonies and practices within Crystal also vary depending on the chosen variation. For example, Crystal Clear has smaller teams (6 or fewer members) and less formality.

Crystal is suitable for small, co-located teams with a high level of trust and communication. Besides, it’s ideal for projects with limited scope changes and well-defined requirements.

4. Lean

Lean is a method that was once used in manufacturing, more specifically, the Toyota Production System. Despite initially being a method to minimize waste in the manufacturing process, it now refers to three wasteful practices throughout the project management process, known as Muda (wastefulness), Mura (unevenness), and Muri (overburden).

This method can allow small teams to achieve more remarkable results and create valuable products with profits in a short time without overspending on materials. It also guides enterprises to adapt to changing customers’ requirements. However, they need to have a large budget to invest in it because it is expensive to implement despite reducing costs.

Many projects across different industries from construction to education are using Lean. However, only some projects whose focal point is to reduce waste for more efficient workflows could get the most out of this methodology.

As the name states, lean software development works toward the idea of eliminating all redundant features, requirements, and so forth from the software development process.

Although this model shares some pieces of philosophy with the agile methodology, there is some difference between them. Apart from waste elimination, lean software development services encourage the product’s fast delivery, adaptability to any dimension, and more. These major principles enable risk and cost mitigation and boost a better decision-making process.

However whether the framework works well hinges on the development team’s competence and the commitment to all Lean principles. Therefore, to guarantee the effective use of this model, development teams often use such tools and techniques as value stream mapping, options thinking, etc.

5. Six Sigma

Six Sigma (6σ) is a customer-driven quality management methodology focusing on eliminating defects during the entire production process. It requires evaluating existing data and error reports to detect non-conformities that fail to match the initially approved product requirements. And thus, it contributes to a better quality of the project output.

By focusing on this method, companies could turn out more competitively priced products and win more customers. However, because Six Sigma looks into business processes minute-by-minute and produces a lot of empirical data, it might lead to complicated and time-consuming procedures. Moreover, adopting its protocols often increases the overall costs for businesses.

This method could function well in larger organizations and enterprises specializing in engineering, manufacturing, healthcare, marketing, etc. You can use the Six Sigma methodology in any other industry where your primary goal is to deliver high-quality products to attract more clients.

6. Extreme Programming

Extreme programming XP is another popular project management methodology. It is to better software quality and ensure responsiveness to client’s changing requirements. Despite similar values or principles to Scrum, it features rules around technical practices of designing, coding, and testing, making it convenient for various types of projects.

Using the Extreme Programming method, the project team doesn’t need to use too much documentation. Instead, it will tackle the problems and ensure regular testing for the software products to be on time. However, this method focuses more on code rather than design. This is a downside because good design is crucial for software apps.

This methodology is suitable for projects with unpredictable development or requiring more considerable changes. This method could have applications in complex project environments when your projects are not allowed to fail. You also want to focus on speed, innovation, quality, and profitability.

7. Critical Path Method

The critical path method CPM, critical path analysis, is to identify and schedule your project’s critical tasks and all their dependencies. The longest sequence of critical tasks will constitute the critical path and establish your project timeframe. It is quite helpful for determining the priority of your projects’ activities, reassigning the team roles, evaluating risks, and distributing resources.

This method allows you to schedule crucial tasks better and complete the project as quickly as possible without any critical steps being missed. However, everything needs to be carefully planned initially. Thus, those with little real-world scheduling and project planning experience may find it hard to calculate the time and distribute resources to each activity accurately.

This method is most appropriate for projects with interdependent components. Therefore, you can use it when necessary to finish a task before another can begin with flexibility or prefer a visual way to map out the tasks’ sequence.

8. Gantt Chart

Gantt - Software Project Management Methodologies for Software Development

A Gantt chart’s display is in the form of a bar chart that demonstrates all events and tasks of a software development project. The left side of the chart shows a detailed list of activities performed in multiple phases such as planning or execution. Meanwhile, the top illustrates a determined time frame. A horizontal bar represents the duration, start date, and end date of an activity.

The Gantt chart method accompanies various benefits including:

Monitor which task is assigned to whom;
Make project adjustments more convenient;
Examine and report how things work;
Help stakeholders clearly visualize how the project is conducted;
Detect and report issues during the software development life cycle, thus producing suitable actions with ease.

Yet using this method in software development management comes with some drawbacks, more noticeably the time-consuming creation, management, and update of the chart.

9. Scale Agile Framework (SAFe)

SAFe is an umbrella framework that helps large organizations leverage the benefits of Agile methodologies at scale. It provides a structure of managing various Agile teams working on large, complex projects with dependencies.

This software management methodology implements Agile principles at three levels:

Portfolio Level: Focus on strategic vision and investment planning. It helps prioritize features and epics that fit your overall business goals.

Program Level: Manage the delivery of large features and epics, typically over a timebox of several months (Program Increment or PI). It also includes such activities as PI Planning to divide epics into user stories, identify work for teams, and ensure alignment across the project.

Team Level: Agile teams work within the PIs, conducting sprints (typically 2 weeks) to deliver user stories and features. They use popular Agile practices like stand-up meetings, backlog refinement, and retrospectives.

This Agile methodology is ideal for large organizations with various Agile teams working on interconnected projects. It helps maintain agility while monitoring dependencies and ensuring alignment with strategic goals.

10. Kanban

Kanban is another prevalent Agile framework that development teams use to visualize their work. In particular, a Kanban board, albeit physical or virtual, consists of several columns that represent respective items such as In Progress, Testing, or Done, whereas sticky notes that demonstrate specific tasks are attached to the board.

This design allows all project participants to visually monitor the overall workflow and the progression of individual tasks in one place. When existing tasks are completed or when new tasks come up, information on the board will change accordingly.

However, the Kanban model has some limitations such as no timeframe or confusion over whether the information is up-to-date. So those engaging in this methodology should prioritize information transparency and frequent communication so that team members may know exactly the project’s progress and at what phase the process is.

11. Black Box Testing

We’ve all seen this before, it’s one of the most common and recognized methodologies in software development. It’s a common practice to test and develop software, but you’ll find that a lot of teams that do this use a very high degree of formality and rigidity.

Some of the techniques used to control the environment the software is running can lead to it being difficult to achieve good reproducibility and long-term metrics.

However there is a cost to using this type of testing, namely time and resources. A more efficient, but more rigid approach to testing would be to combine a high degree of formality with a good amount of manual testing.

12. Prototyping Model

The prototyping model is the earliest stage of software development when you create a simple design and then move on to testing it. Prototyping is best used for problems that have a very small cost to solve.

For example, a team of software developers might want to prototype a simple report using the Velocity Scrum framework. In the process of prototyping, they’ll have a working prototype that they can quickly expand into a fully functional software package.

The version control system built into the project management tool might be the next step, which ensures that a design document can be copied and pasted into a new document as the code changes. Next, the test team tests the code to find bugs and make any necessary changes.

13. Rapid Application Development Model

Rapid Application Development Model (RADM) is a flexible, agile software development process that can deliver major business value within just 6 months.

That’s right — you can begin delivering massive ROI in under 6 months. Further, the entire process is designed to enhance your existing architecture with customer-centric innovations, while at the same time making you more efficient at deploying incremental changes.

The use case is driven development is a fast-paced, iterative approach to software development that focuses on real-world applications. It utilizes a continuous integration methodology, combining waterfall methodologies with agile methodologies.

14. Spiral Model

Spiral - Software Project Management Methodologies for Software Development

This method, which is based on the spiral model, is one of the most popular software development methodologies. Developers create a set of requirements for their proposed project. In turn, they submit them to the project managers, who place a value on them and turn those values into schedules and estimates.

Once these estimates are finalized, development starts. Some of the advantages of this method include:

Very good communication between the development team and the project managers.

Can be used for both large-scale and small-scale projects.

Built-in project coordination.

You don’t have to worry about unclear project goals because everything is clearly spelled out. The project approach has clarity and logic, focusing on needs and opportunities to deliver the best results.

15. White Box Testing

Sometimes, when we’re working on a software project, we want to be able to see what our application is going to look like before it’s done. That’s where white box testing comes into play.

White box testing is a software development methodology that allows developers and testers to use virtual machines and simulation software to test a system without actually installing it or modifying the code.

This methodology can be especially useful in situations where we don’t know what components we’re going to be using or what functionality we’re going to be supporting.

If you’re thinking about implementing white box testing into your application, you can check out the white-box testing methodology provided by the Society of Test Automation Specialists.

16. Rational Unified Process (RUP)

RUP - Software Project Management Methodologies for Software Development

RUP is a comprehensive software development methodology that highlights a structured, risk-based, iterative approach. It offers a detailed framework with phases, workflows, activities, and deliverables (“artifacts”). RUP is a heavyweight approach compared to Agile methodologies.

This methodology outlines several phases with well-defined activities and deliverables:

Inception: Define project vision, scope, and feasibility.
Elaboration: Fine-tune requirements, identify architecture, and anticipate risks.
Construction: Develop, test, and incorporate software components.
Transition: Launch the software and transition to production use.

Further, RUP highlights thorough quality control, iterative development with prototypes, and risk management throughout the software development process.

It’s well-suited for large-scale, mission-critical projects with complex requirements and a need for strict control and documentation. In addition, it’s ideal for projects where requirements are well-defined upfront and stability is crucial.

17. Joint Application Development Methodology

This is the method that is used by the greatest software developers in the world. So, in the joint application development methodology, you will combine the experience of two or more developers.

Those who start the project will receive the credit and the money for the final result. To implement this methodology, you will need two developers who are in a similar position in terms of skills.

However, the key point is that developers who start the project will receive the credit and the money for the final result.

As the name suggests, this methodology is made up of objects and their relationships and works on the principle that objects are either visible or hidden. Once they are visible, they are marked as such.

18. Dynamic System Development Model Methodology

One of the most well-known software development methodologies, this approach is known as DSDM (Dynamic System Development Methodology).

It uses a software design approach rather than developing individual components to fill specific requirements. Developing components allows development teams to focus on one component at a time, rather than the whole application at once.

This methodology provides flexibility but requires that development teams work cooperatively to do the job. Many developers, especially those newer to the industry, assume that DSDM is better for large teams. But in reality, large teams can become counterproductive. Instead, teams that work well together will get more done in less time.

19. DevOps

DevOps aims to promote collaboration and integration between development (Dev) and operations (Ops) teams. Its goal is also to break down silos and build a continuous delivery pipeline.

Accordingly, DevOps works by using practices and tools to streamline the software delivery process by automating the following tasks:

Version Control: Track and manage code changes using a version control system like Git.
Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD): Automatically deploy changes to production environments after successful testing to allow for faster releases and minimized risks.
Continuous Testing: Run automated tests after every build to ensure code functionality and quality.

DevOps is beneficial for projects that look for faster feedback looks, more reliable deployments, and better software quality. Accordingly, it’s ideal for projects demanding regular updates and releases, where agility and speed are important.

20. Structured Programming

Structured programming is a paradigm that underscore the importance of generating clear, maintainable, and readable code. It achieves this by encouraging the use of well-defined, logical control flow constructs and modularity. Besides, it divides complex programs into smaller functions. This promotes code reusability and easier debugging.

Structured programming depends on three fundamental control flow structures:

Sequence: The computer runs each line of code one by one in the order it’s written.
Selection (if-then-else): Enable conditional execution based on a certain condition. Only execute code blocks when the condition is true.
Iteration (loops): Repetitively execute a code block based on a specific condition (e.g., while loop) or a pre-defined number of times (e.g., for loop).

Structured programming is considered the best practice for most software development projects.

5 Tips for Choosing the Right Project Management Methodologies

The above section shows that different project management methodologies are more suitable for specific projects. To pick the methodology best serves your needs, you must consider factors impacting what you select. Here are a few particular things you could keep in mind when opting for project management methodologies.

1. Evaluate the Project

You should be clear about the final deliverables and ways to get your project done by gathering initial requirements. Depending on specific project initial requirements such as budget, timelines, complexity, etc., you could pick different methodologies. For example, if you are required to form a large and diverse team, a flexible method will be most suitable.

2. Evaluate Your Team

The project management methodology is a blueprint for the project, so your team must know how to read it. Hence, if your team has little experience with a project management methodology, it is challenging to complete the project successfully. You should choose what fits your team members rather than forcing them to adapt to an unfamiliar method.

Moreover, you had better consider your team’s strengths and weaknesses to opt for the right project management methodologies. If your team is highly disciplined, motivated, and experienced, Scrum could be a smart choice. And if you have limited resources, a resource-efficient approach such as Critical Chain Project Management will offer better results.

3. Evaluate Your Organization

Your company’s organization, culture, and past records will significantly determine the type of project management methodology you choose. Some project methodologies are only suitable for large organizations with established hierarchies. Others could work well for smaller, leaner ones.

For example, if your past records reveal that all your Scrum projects were delayed and poorly performed, you ought to avoid this methodology in the future.

4. Evaluate Your Stakeholders

With some methodologies, stakeholders must frequently be involved in every project stage. For example, in the Agile methodology, you need stakeholders to give feedback regularly. If they are busy, a method with lower requirements of stakeholder involvement would be better. Moreover, it would help if you considered the demands of your stakeholders. If they want to change the project scope regularly, you can accommodate this demand by selecting a more flexible project management methodology.

5. Evaluate Your Tools

There is a certain correlation between the methodologies and the project management tools. So, the available tools you have may affect your choice of project management methodologies. You could list all the pros and cons of the software tools you currently use and look into the tool requirements of a specific project methodology. Ideally, you should pick the method that works well with your existing tools. It may be expensive to purchase new tools and time-consuming to retrain your team.

A Final Thought on Project Management Methodologies

In a nutshell, there are several project management methodologies with their strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, you should evaluate your project requirements, your team, your organization, your stakeholders, and your current tools. By doing so, you can select a methodology that aligns with your strengths and your project goals. Hopefully, our article has helped you learn something about popular project management methodologies besides Agile. And may you be able to choose the right choice the most suitable one for your business?

With this latest technology now available, it is a much better option for you to switch to Designveloper. We offer all of the services needed for any size business and more – from web development, to mobile application design, and consulting. We are here waiting for your call! Give us a call today if you want an estimate or just some advice on how we can help your company with these new developments in technology!