Every project is different. So, if you apply the same methodology and practices to every project you do… Well, don’t expect to get the best results every time! The solution is tailoring. Make choices that match the needs of your project, client, and context.
And there has never been a better time for us to examine this question. Tailoring was a part of the sixth edition of the PMI’s Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide). And, since the start of 2021, it has been on the syllabus for the PMP Examination*. But, it is with the publication of the 7th edition of the PMBOK Guide (PMBOK 7) that PMI finally gives us guidance on how to tailor our approach and methodology.
Tailoring is one of the best aspects of the Project Management Institute’s PMBOK 7, so I shall draw from it extensively.
And the UK’s Association for Project Management (APM) also covers this topic in some detail in its APM Body of Knowledge, the APMBoK, 7th edition. Although the APMBoK does not use the word, ‘tailoring’, there is a lot of excellent content – particularly in section 1.2, ‘Life cycle options and choices’. For more about the APMBoK, please see our article, APM Body of Knowledge: What is it, Do You Need it?
But remember… Not all Project Managers are affiliated to the PMI or the APM. And nor do we all aspire to be. So, as you’d expect, this article gives my own perspectives too.
The PMI’s premiere certification is the Project Management Professional (PMP). The syllabus for its examination is in the PMP ECO, or Examination Content Outline.
The PMP ECO covers three Domains (not the same as the 8 Performance Domains of PMBOK 7):
Each domain has a number of tasks, which are divided into enablers.
In the PMP ECO, PMI suggests you need to know how to:
These are the four enablers for Task 13.
Getting your head around what tailoring is and, more important, how to do it, can be daunting. So I have aimed for the simplest possible structure for this article. I will answer the four questions that seem to me most obvious…
Every project is different. And, to quote the PMBoK 7th edition:
Professionals are expected to make informed choices and select approaches that match their specific context.
APM Body of Knowledge, 7th edition
Association for Project Management, 2019
Introduction to section 1.2
When I first started in Project Management, I was within the consulting sector. From the start, I learned the GOSPA framework, as a route through projects:
However, many people found the ‘Strategy’ part difficult. This was about choosing how to design a project approach that was suited to the needs of the project and its client.
We were tailoring our project to the client’s needs.
As with many Project Management jargon words (like milestone, gateway, and stakeholder), tailoring is a metaphor. And it’s instructive to look into its origin.
A tailor makes clothes that fit you. They are not ‘off-the-peg’ clothes that will fit you pretty well – and the next person too. They will fit you precisely, because a tailor measures you and fits them to the exact form of your body.
A specific methodology will fit a range of projects pretty well. But tailoring means adapting them and bringing in new ideas to make a perfect fit to the needs of the:
It is the Project Management Institute (PMI) that introduced the word ‘tailoring’. And their definition has evolved from a functional definition in PMBOK 6 to a more principles-based definition in PMBOK 7. I think both are instructive, but the newer definition (in PMBOK 7) is, for me, the one to focus on. It is, in my view, excellent.
Tailoring.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Sixth Edition
Determining the appropriate combination of processes, inputs, tools, techniques, outputs, and life cycle phases to manage a project.
Project Management Institute, 2017
Tailoring.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Seventh Edition
The deliberate adaptation of approach, governance, and processes to make them more suitable for the given environment and the work at hand.
Project Management Institute, 2021
As an aside, at time of writing this article (autumn 2021), PMI’s position is that both editions 6 and 7 of the PMBOK guide are current. That is, while PMBOK 7 is the newer, PMBOK 6 remains the basis for its CAPM examination syllabus and a core reference for its PMP examination syllabus.
Without a doubt, tailoring is a vital concept in modern Project Management. Your industry or your employer might call it something else, but it will be there; perhaps as:
So let’s find out why it’s so important now.
Actually, it’s no more important now than when I learned the GOSPA framework, back in 1994. But it’s more evidence, because of the obvious need to select a methodology on the spectrum from a purely predictive to a totally adaptive model of Project Management. And that spectrum is broad and fine-grained. So, there are lots of ways we can design and deliver our projects.
I do hope that the value of selecting and optimizing a methodology and approach to each project is evident. We must look at the individual characteristics of the project and its context and fit in with them. The alternative is a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
And, as my friend and former colleague, Tony Quigley used to say:
One size fits all is for silly hats.
Quigleyism: a humorous saying from Tony Quigley
Of course, many Project Managers like to use a familiar methodology or framework, like PRINCE or Scrum. And there is nothing wrong with this. They come with well-tested processes, toolsets, and structures that offer confidence and convenience.
But all of them are best applied with the benefit of good judgment. Unthinking and uncritical application of the whole framework is wrong – and often in breach of the guidelines within that framework. Rather, your job is to take the established methodology as a starting point. And then adapt it to suit your needs. This means:
If your project needs tailoring, then you need to be able to deliver tailoring. But the benefit to you is wider than just ‘being able to do your job’. Indeed, the more adept you are at understanding context, diagnosing need, and applying a broad range of ideas to that situation, the more opportunities you will have.
If you can adapt yourself and your project structures to more contexts, you will not only be able to deliver more effectively to time, to budget, and to specification. There will be a greater variety of project types that you will be able to take on with confidence.
Tailoring is not just a choice of Agile or Predictive Project Management. There are many other considerations. Let’s look at them.
Firstly, who will do the work?
Will your own people lead it, or will you bring in a contracted or consultant project management team?
And what about project resources? You can use your own staff, contracted or consultant staff, agency or interim workers, or outsource the whole thing.
Then, there are components that you can:
And this will link, of course, to:
See our article: Project Procurement Management [All the basics you need to know].
There is a broad spectrum of options to consider, with some ‘primary colors’ being:
And, of course, there many ways that we can hybridize these approaches. We have an article on this: Hybrid Project Management: What You Need to Know.
Our main article is Hybrid Project Management: What You Need to Know
In addition, we have:
What will be the stages and phases of your project? Although the terms ‘stage’ and ‘phase’ are often used interchangeably, I will use them to mean:
So this raises the two questions:
The other big tailoring decisions will focus more on small, but important, details. Which tools and techniques, and what templates and models will you use. This is about the pragmatics of what will work best for you and your team. And sometimes you will need to work within the constraints of what is available – or even mandated – within your organization.
Under this heading, we might include things like, for example:
Now we reach the crux of the matter. What is the process for tailoring an approach to your project’s needs and its environment?
In the previous section, we saw that we will need to tailor a number of things:
Here is my starter list, but it can never be exhaustive. Your situation may draw in other factors:
So, with all of this, how can these influence your choices? This is a big and complex question. And all I can reasonably do in an article of this scope (around 3,000 words) is offer some examples.
For my money, one of the best aspects of the new 7th edition of the PMBOK Guide is the chapter on tailoring. It offers solid advice on how to do it.
One of my quibbles with PMBOK 7, however, is its price. So it is great that I can point you to a free download from PMI that contains some of the core of that chapter. Therefore, do grab yourself a copy of PMI’s Tailoring Explainer.
As PMBPK 7 sets it out, the tailoring process has four steps:
You need to suggest the best – most useful and effective – tools, techniques, templates, and models to help deliver your project. These are what PMBOK 7 describes as the project’s models, methods, and artifacts. Your intent should be to optimize:
Of course, you will always be looking for an optimum balance among these often-competing priorities (and others).
And, where you have standard artifacts, you need to adapt (tailor) them to the specific needs of your project and the preferences of your team. And do keep the new versions and document lessons learned from their use. This is how our toolset grows and evolves.
The next step is to take a critical look at each area of our discipline. PMBOKs 1 to 6 referred to Knowledge Areas (of which there are 10 in PMBOK 6). PMBOK 7 talks of 8 Project Performance Domains. These are different, but overlapping ideas.
PMBOK 6 has short sections – usually a few bullet points – that point us to tailoring considerations within the chapters on each of its 10 Knowledge Areas.
PMBOK 7 has similar lists of bullet point tailoring suggestions for each of the 8 Performance Domains, at section 3.5 of the chapter on Tailoring.
These do offer helpful prompts. But nothing will beat getting your team together and brainstorming what areas of your practice you can improve by further tailoring and adapting your tools and processes. I recommend you adopt a rolling sequence of reviews, alongside lessons learned sessions within regular project team meetings.
As always, I’d love to hear your ideas, experiences, impressions, and questions. I will respond to any comment you make below.
Dr Mike Clayton is one of the most successful and in-demand project management trainers in the UK. He is author of 14 best-selling books, including four about project management. He is also a prolific blogger and contributor to ProjectManager.com and Project, the journal of the Association for Project Management. Between 1990 and 2002, Mike was a successful project manager, leading large project teams and delivering complex projects. In 2016, Mike launched OnlinePMCourses.
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