How To Use Iterative Process to Improve Project Outcomes

May 26, 2023 - 7 min read

Wrike Team

As projects become increasingly complex and multifaceted, a more flexible and adaptable approach to project management is essential. Using an iterative process can help you improve project outcomes by allowing for continuous refinement and adjustment of project goals and objectives. Let’s take a closer look at the key components of an iterative process and how to implement them in your next project.

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Understanding the iterative process

Iterative processes break a project down into smaller, more manageable cycles or phases. Each cycle involves planning, executing, and reviewing the work performed, with the goal of making continuous improvements to the project as a whole. This approach allows for more flexibility and the ability to make adjustments as needed, which is particularly important in fast-paced industries like software development, where requirements can change rapidly. Breaking projects down into smaller cycles will allow the team to test and refine their work more quickly.

Key principles of iterative processes

A few key elements make up the principles of the iterative process. These are:

Emphasis on collaboration and communication: A strong emphasis on collaboration and communication among team members and stakeholders ensures that everyone is on the same page and that any issues or concerns are addressed in a timely manner.
Flexibility and adaptability: By breaking a project down into smaller cycles, teams are able to adjust their approach when project requirements shift.
Continuous feedback and review: This allows teams to identify areas for improvement, make adjustments as needed, and verify that the project is constantly improving.

Iterative process vs. traditional project management

Traditional project management approaches often rely on a linear, sequential process of planning, executing, and delivering a project. In contrast, iterative processes allow for more flexibility and the ability to make adjustments when necessary. It is cyclical, requiring regular feedback and adaptation. By focusing on collaboration and continual improvement, iterative processes can help to mitigate risks and increase overall project success.

Implementing iterative processes in your project

Now that we've explored what the iterative process is and how it differs from traditional project management, let's take a closer look at how to implement it in your next project.

Assessing your project's needs

Assess your project's requirements and identify any potential barriers to success. If necessary, conduct a thorough risk analysis and identify any potential stakeholder concerns or conflicting project goals.

It's also important to consider the size and complexity of your project. Iterative methodologies are particularly well-suited to large, complex projects with a high degree of uncertainty and ambiguity. If your project is smaller and more straightforward, a traditional project management approach may be more appropriate.

Choosing the right iterative methodology

There are several iterative methodologies to choose from, including Agile, Scrum, and Lean. Each methodology has its own unique approach and set of best practices, so it's important to choose the one that best aligns with your project goals and team dynamics.

Agile emphasizes collaboration, flexibility, and customer satisfaction, while Scrum is particularly well-suited for software development projects. As for Lean, it focuses on maximizing value and minimizing waste.

Setting up an iterative project framework

Once you've selected the appropriate methodology for your project, it's time to set up the project framework. Be sure to define project goals and objectives, establish iterative cycles, and identify key performance indicators to measure progress.

Remember to involve all stakeholders in the project framework setup process to ensure buy-in and alignment. Consider holding a workshop or series of meetings to establish project goals and objectives and to define the scope and timeline of the project.

Once the project framework is in place, establish clear communication channels and regular check-ins to keep the project on track. This may involve Daily Stand-up meetings, weekly progress reports, or other forms of regular communication.

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Key components of an iterative process

Now that we've explored how to implement an iterative process, let's take a closer look at the key components that make up this approach:

Defining project goals and objectives

In an iterative process, project goals and objectives are defined at the outset of the project and continuously refined throughout each iteration. By focusing on clearly defined project outcomes, teams can stay aligned and focused on achieving the desired results.

If a team is working on developing a new software application, set goals such as creating a user-friendly interface, improving system speed and performance, and ensuring compatibility with various operating systems.

Establishing iterative cycles

The heart of any iterative process is the iterative cycles, which consist of planning, executing, and reviewing work performed in order to identify areas for improvement. By breaking a project down into smaller cycles, teams can stay focused, adapt to changing project requirements, and identify potential areas of risk.

For the software development project mentioned in the previous section, break it down into smaller cycles, such as designing the user interface, developing the backend functionality, and testing the application.

Monitoring and adjusting project progress

Continuous monitoring and adjustment of project progress calls for regular feedback and review sessions, as well as the ability to make adjustments to project goals and objectives as needed.

If the software development team realizes that the user interface they designed in the first iteration is not as user-friendly as they had hoped, they can make adjustments to their goals and objectives for the next iteration to focus more on improving the user experience.

Incorporating feedback and lessons learned

In an iterative process, continuous feedback and review sessions are used to identify areas for improvement and incorporate lessons learned into the project going forward. The purpose is to keep the project aligned with stakeholder needs and goals and confirm that the team is continuously learning and improving throughout the project lifecycle.

After each iteration of the software development project, hold a review session with the team to discuss what went well and what could be improved. Then, incorporate these lessons learned into the next iteration for better results.

Benefits of using iterative processes

By adopting an iterative process approach to project management, you can realize a number of benefits, including:

Improved project adaptability

An iterative process allows for greater adaptability to changing project requirements or stakeholder needs. By breaking the project down into smaller cycles, teams can more easily pivot in response to new information or shifting priorities.

If a team is building a new mobile app and discovers that a key feature is not working, they can quickly address the issue and make necessary changes without disrupting the entire project timeline. This can ultimately lead to a more successful project outcome.

Enhanced stakeholder engagement

An iterative process emphasizes collaboration and communication among team members and stakeholders to keep all parties aligned and working towards the same project outcomes.

Stakeholder engagement is critical to the success of any project since stakeholders can serve as valuable sources of feedback. Their insights can inform project decisions and ensure that the final product meets stakeholder expectations.

Reduced risk of project failure

By continuously monitoring and adjusting project progress, an iterative process can help reduce the risk of project failure. Regular review sessions and the ability to make adjustments as needed can help to zone in on potential areas of risk and address them before they become larger issues.

If a team is building a new website and discovers that the user experience is not meeting expectations, they make certain changes and improvements before the website is launched. This can help to avoid costly and time-consuming rework down the line.

Increased efficiency and productivity

An iterative process can help increase overall project efficiency and productivity by allowing teams to focus on smaller, more manageable cycles and flag areas for improvement throughout the project lifecycle.

These cycles help to ensure that the project stays on track and is completed on time and within budget.

Conclusion

Adopting an iterative process approach to project management can help you improve project outcomes and increase overall project success. By breaking a project down into smaller cycles and continuously refining goals and objectives, teams can better adapt to changing project requirements and reduce the risk of project failure. Whether you're working on a large-scale project or a smaller initiative, using an iterative process can help you achieve your project goals and deliver high-quality results.

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Note: This article was created with the assistance of an AI engine. It has been reviewed and revised by our team of experts to ensure accuracy and quality.

Wrike Team

Occasionally we write blog posts where multiple people contribute. Since our idea of having a gladiator arena where contributors would fight to the death to win total authorship wasn’t approved by HR, this was the compromise.

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There are three main factors that determine the success of a new project or campaign: Excellent top-down and bottom-up communication, so everyone is on the same page with progress, challenges, and achievements; Organized and collaborative project management to make sure all work is completed on time and within budget; Collaboration between team members and across departments to bring in more ideas and breed innovation. But it's a mistake to think about these critical success factors for project management separately in today's innovative work environment. You can improve in all three areas by focusing on just one aspect of work: your collaborative project management. Refining this will enable everyone from the CEO on down to communicate with colleagues, manage projects and ideas, actively work together on tasks, and get work done efficiently. The best way to improve your collaborative project management is to bring your team out of the dark ages of back-and-forth email conversations and introduce a software specifically made to do the job. The Keys to Effective Collaborative Project Management Whether you decide to continue using your old methods, or you're looking for a new collaborative project management tool, here are a few things to consider: 1. You need a tool that updates in real time Some cloud-based and online software allow your team to share and monitor updates in real time; as soon as a change is made, that change is visible to everyone. That means your team will never accidentally work with outdated information (e.g. spreadsheets), so collaboration can move forward smoothly and efficiently. 2. Colleagues need to be able to work at the same time Live collaboration is the new hallmark of the best teamwork. One of the first popular tools of this type was Google Docs — one person updates the online document, and another person can edit simultaneously or simply watch the process as it's happening. Wrike is a collaborative project management tool that provides the same real-time collaboration capabilities on tasks and projects. 3. You can discuss work right where its being done Instead of keeping conversations in one tool (e.g. chat tools) and your actual work in another, you should find one tool that allows you to hold conversations right where work is being done. This way, if you bring someone new into your project or you need to pass off work, you can also give them insight into past decision-making and project-related conversations. They'll be able to get up to speed immediately, without you taking time out of your day to walk them through every project detail. 4. You need a consolidated place to store & manage all work-related information It's common these days to keep information saved in many different places, such as email inboxes, cloud file storage systems, and on the hard drives of personal computers. That makes it nearly impossible to ensure your entire team is working with the latest information. If you want to improve your collaborative project management, you need to find one place to store everything related to work — all your one-off tasks, long-term projects, files, conversations, meeting notes, and reports. Doing this gives your people immediate, always-available access to the information they need, without having to hunt through multiple tools. 5. You should be able to change project details & let the team know immediately Every team will need to change project details or priorities at one point or another. Your process or tool should allow you to update work and let your team know immediately, so that everyone is always working on the most important projects with the most accurate information. 6. You should be able to see what's coming next Effective project management software allows you to plan for future tasks and projects using scheduling, Gantt charts, task dependencies, and more. You'll be able to logically organize your tasks and projects, set up workflows to move work from beginning to end, monitor progress to make sure nothing falls behind, and check in with colleagues to see if they need help. As one project is ending, your team can immediately start on the next priority work. Free Collaborative Project Management Tool If you've decided to implement a collaborative project management software, try Wrike absolutely free for 2 weeks, and then upgrade or stay free. Invite your team to Wrike, complete a short project together using the tool, and see how we can help your team work better.

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Everything You Need to Know About Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) Estimates

A rough order of magnitude estimate, also known as ROM, is an estimation of a project’s level of effort and cost to complete. ROM estimates take place early in a project life cycle and guide strategy and planning choices. In this article, you’ll learn more about ROM estimates and how they are used in project management. Plus, keep reading to discover examples and how Wrike could be used to assist in creating a template for your own rough order of magnitude. What is the rough order of magnitude? A rough order of magnitude estimate is a general estimate of a project's level of effort and cost. It's usually performed during the selection and approval stage of a project. Generally, it’s used for estimating a project budget that doesn’t have a lot of detail. Project estimating is a vital aspect of project management because it helps determine the total budget for the project and whether or not it’s feasible companywide. It also helps keep track of the project's milestones and budget at the very beginning (more on that later). A rough order of magnitude is most commonly used for project screening. ROM is typically meant to be given to executives who need a high-level overview of how much work might cost. This is especially helpful when they don’t yet have the mandate to do a deep dive into the scope and requirements of the work. Comparing the ROMs of different projects helps identify which projects should be prioritized and which ones should be shelved. It can also help uncover and prevent scope creep later on. This tool also helps decision-makers at other levels of the organization make informed choices regarding the project's complexity and costs. That information is critical for proper scope planning before project kickoff. It’s important to know that a ROM estimate is often used for information purposes at the beginning of a project and it’s suitable for use for the lifetime of the project. How to make a rough order of magnitude estimate Estimating a ROM is often thought of as an art. They are quick to make, but the trick is learning how to make them well. Those who are more experienced in coming up with these estimates may have their own way of executing this process. Regardless of how well you understand the rough order of magnitude, it is important to consider the various factors involved in developing one. These include: A guesstimate range of what resources the project will require based on the information you have on hand Opinions from experts and/or higher-ups who hold a stake in the project A variance of at least -25% to +75% Keep in mind that, when calculating ROM, the goal is to provide a rough estimate that is largely accurate even if it’s not necessarily convenient for your plans. By this, we mean you may find it tempting to choose figures on the more conservative side in order to achieve a more desirable outcome. Unfortunately, using inaccurate stats defeats the entire point of creating the estimation in the first place. Great research can help illuminate areas of your rough order of magnitude estimate where it may be tempting to let bias enter into the equation. All that being said, a ROM estimate's variance is not significant enough to deter you from creating one. A ROM estimate provides a starting point for moving forward in much the same way a budget estimate is also used to determine your base. For example, instead of just presenting single-point estimates, managers should present budgets as a range. Remember: the estimate is derived from the available information. If information is missing, you’ll have to make do with what you do know for sure and move forward from there. In fact, you can expect to improve the estimate as the project moves forward. During the planning and implementation phases, the requirements and information will be refined. As you go along, you’ll learn through trial and error what the reality of the project actually is. Rough order of magnitude techniques One technique for creating a rough order of magnitude estimate is known as a definitive estimate. A definitive estimate is a technique that involves estimating an individual project phase or task's level of effort. Planning with this information upfront makes it easier to plot out workloads on visual charts while keeping your team on the same page. This step typically takes a number of hours to complete, but it is a successful way to get an accurate idea of the time and cost of any project. Other popular techniques and procedures for estimating costs include PERT time estimation, COCOMO, and function point analysis. Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) PERT charts are used to plan out tasks that will take a certain amount of time to complete. They can also be used to coordinate team members. Constructive Cost Model (COCOMO)COCOMO is a regression model that can be used for estimating the various factors involved in tech and software project management. It is typically used for estimating the size, effort, cost, and quality of a project. Function Point Analysis (FPA)Function Point Analysis is a method of estimating a company's clear business significance. It helps in the evaluation, management, and control of software development. When estimating ROM, it is best to try and estimate in buckets of time and costs. Doing so helps minimize the number of, well, numbers that are required to provide a complete and accurate estimate. Rough order of magnitude examples There are two ways to think about estimating ROM. You can create effort ranges or buckets with approximate figures that any task can fit into. Alternatively, you can use historical data to guide decision-making. Here are some hypothetical rough order of magnitude examples: Creating buckets In this example, a project manager will define effort ranges such as small, medium, and large. Within each range is a total number of hours, personnel, and/or budget needed for tasks that fall in that category. For example, a small bucket may indicate that a task will take two to four hours and is relatively simple or affordable to complete. It all depends on the specific project. Here is a very simple example. Let's say you're considering eating a sandwich for lunch. You know that tasks such as spreading peanut butter and jelly onto two slices of bread would fall into the small category — low effort, low time, and perhaps even a single knife instead of two. However, if you noticed that you're currently out of bread and you know it would take 20 minutes to drive to the store, that task would fall into the medium category because it would take considerably more resources to complete when compared to the spreading task. Historical data Historical data means pulling information from past projects. These projects may have similar tasks, goals, or outlines. This information is good to have on hand in your project management solution. You can use data from projects that didn't go as well as you'd hoped in order to refrain from repeating his mistakes. You can also use data from projects that went above expectations to see where you can replicate those choices here. Let’s continue with our sandwich example. You may have found that in the past when you were craving peanut butter and jelly, it was worth it to you to make the drive. In fact, it also allowed you to run several other errands (a.k.a. projects) at the grocery store. Based on this historical data, you may find that, despite the effort involved, the payoff was worth it in the end. So choosing this path again will be profitable. First-hand experience First-hand experience refers to how experienced the person creating the rough order of magnitude is in this particular field, project type, or as a project manager in general. An expert who understands project management will likely come up with a more accurate ROM than someone on their first day of work. First-hand experience is valuable because you have plenty of anecdotal evidence to back up your estimations from other related projects. It's also helpful because it allows planners to be intuitive about the process and consider the people involved. For example, you may find that a particular supplier often experiences delays. Although the supplier representative promises otherwise, you've seen it happen time and time again. Knowing this, you can factor that into your rough order of magnitude. Now we’ve come full circle with our peanut butter and jelly project. You may have learned from first-hand experience that, despite your intense craving for it, these sandwiches aren't actually worth it for you. You may even have regretted eating them right after you finished and wished you’d opted for a turkey sandwich instead. Knowing this, you may draft an estimate that confirms the amount of resources and effort needed will not have the ROI expected and it would be better to not move forward with it after all. This information isn’t something you can necessarily track with a report. It’s simply a memory of what you’ve experienced in the past. Using this knowledge will help you make better, more informed decisions in your ROM with information you can’t find elsewhere. How to use ROM in project management Project estimation techniques help managers identify the most critical elements of a project and provide them with accurate estimates. These techniques can also be used to plan for resource allocation. It is important that you have an estimate in place before you start a project. Without an estimate, you may not know how long it will take or what resources will be needed. Cost is often one of the most challenging constraints in project management. Having enough money to complete the project is one of the most critical factors in managing it. Creating a ROM will help you understand whether or not it’s financially viable before you even begin. Another key component of a project is time. Having the ability to determine the duration of the work and when specific tasks will take place is very important to project planning. By estimating your project schedule, you can arrange for the people and resources that you need when they are needed. It also allows you to set expectations for the clients. You can create a rough order of magnitude for any project. But there are several project management situations in which it may be necessary to come up with a ballpark idea of what resources will be needed: Larger than normal projects where you will need to provide more detailed information about the project Projects that involve teams across different countries where there may be varying costs and exchange rates Projects that are customized to the client or unique to your team where the product or service is innovative and the scope of the project is being managed through Agile project management methods Even if your project doesn’t fall into one of these categories, a ROM can be used to determine whether or not it’s viable. This is helpful when you’ve got limited resources and more than one project to choose between. Using Wrike to create a rough order of magnitude template Wrike is a project management tool that streamlines the process of organizing, creating, and coordinating a rough order of magnitude. First, start by checking for any historical data from relevant projects you’ve successfully completed. All Wrike users have access to their own detailed project reports. If you have historical data, you can go straight to a more detailed cost figure. It will give you a more accurate and detailed estimate. If you don’t, continue creating your ROM. Then, start breaking the big components of the project down into smaller pieces. Some planners use the top-down approach or the bottom-up approach, both of which can be accomplished with the help of Wrike. A top-down estimating technique breaks down a project into discrete phases and tasks. This method works by estimating the overall time for the project, as well as the phases and work tasks that will be completed within that time frame. If a client tells you that the project has to be done in six months, a top-up approach allows you to estimate how much time you can dedicate to each activity within the project. A bottom-up estimate is a technique that works by estimating multiple tasks and aspects of a project. This step-by-step process combines the various estimates into one final project estimate. In project management, orders of magnitude are typically referred to as broad-brush categorizations of sizes. So use a range when adding in timelines for individual phases and expenses. Tip: don’t forget about project costs spent preparing the ROM and the project management itself. This will take up about 20% of your estimated total time allotted to the project. Next, go above and beyond by using Wrike to calculate risk. Project risk is a set of events that could significantly affect the quality or schedule of a project. It can be triggered by various factors such as unforeseen delays, budget cuts, and legal issues. By estimating the risks involved in a project, you can plan for how those risks will affect the project and develop a risk management strategy later on if you feel that the ROM is convincing enough to adopt the project. Tip: If you’re stuck, talk to your finance department to see if they can help you get a better idea of what things cost. Finally, consider what project planning may look like. Project planning for Agile projects is usually done in phases, with estimates being created initially before the beginning of the sprint. These estimates are then updated during the sprint. Estimation can also happen during a sprint retrospective, where you update the backlog based on the outcomes of the previous sprints. It can also be done during the sprint planning session. The project team is responsible for estimating projects and managing the estimates. They are also involved in the development of the project's documents and databases. Having one central hub for all project estimates makes it easier to organize and communicate your vision and ROM results. As you progress through the project, you should start to produce smaller ranges for accuracy. Over time you will reach a cap for each category that is both realistic and attainable. As the project details become more detailed, the accuracy of the ROM estimates decreases until they are no longer accurate. In conclusion The more data you have about your project, the better it is to draft current project estimates. A project estimation tool can help you build up estimates and track against actuals. It can also help you improve your estimates by recording errors and lessons learned. Discover how Wrike can help you improve your planning and execution with our free trial.

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How To Use Iterative Process to Improve Project Outcomes