Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme, Sixth Edition

Characteristics

To be used effectively, the Linear PMLC model works best with projects that have the following:

• Complete and clearly defined goal, solution, requirements, functions, and features
• Few expected scope change requests
• Routine and repetitive activities
• Use of established templates

Complete and Clearly Defined Goal, Solution, Requirements, Functions, and Features

You first have to have a clear understanding of what the project is trying to accomplish. That originally led to a statement of the project goal, which you and your client developed together. With the goal firmly established, you and the client were able to define exactly what had to be done to achieve the goal. The statement of what had to be done was detailed through a requirements gathering process that listed and documented the functions and features that spelled out the details of what had to be done. If you and the client were convinced of the completeness of the requirements document, then a Linear PMLC model was chosen for the project.

At the risk of being repetitive, I want to stress that the decision that requirements details were complete is a very subjective decision. You will never really know that requirements details were complete. On the other hand, you would probably know that some of the details were not complete or clear.

Few Expected Scope Change Requests

You are not likely to encounter a project that turns out to be totally free of any scope change requests. We live and work in a dynamic ...