Linear Project Management Life Cycle

The Linear PMLC model is the simplest and most intuitive of the five major models in the project management landscape. It assumes that you have as nearly perfect information about the project goal and solution as can reasonably be expected. The Linear PMLC model is based on that assumption and does not easily accommodate any deviations. Deviations such as scope change requests can cause major upheavals in the project schedule. Figure 10-1 provides a view at the Process Group level of the Linear PMLC model.

Figure 10-1: The Linear PMLC model

The first thing to note about this model is that each Process Group must be complete before the next Process Group can begin. After a Process Group is complete, there is no returning at some later point to revise work completed in any earlier Process Group. The Linear PMLC model is definitely not a learning model, which has been the major criticism about it. All too often, the project manager will jury-rig the Linear PMLC just to accommodate learning. This means changing the project plan, which just leads to further problems like having to reschedule resources and the domino effect that has on resources already scheduled for work on other projects. The result is the addition of non-value-added work.

The contemporary business world is one of constant change. The world isn't going to stand still just because you are managing a project. So projects that are not impacted by outside factors are the ones that are likely to succeed using a Linear PMLC model. Infrastructure projects number among those that can generally use a Linear PMLC model. Installing a network in a field office is an example of an infrastructure project. Projects that are repeated annually or more frequently can also do well with a Linear PMLC model.

Definition

The Linear PMLC model consists of the five Process Groups, each performed once in the sequence: Scoping Planning Launching Monitoring and Controlling Closing. The complete solution is not released until the Closing Process Group is executed. In the Rapid Linear PMLC model, the sequencing is followed through multiple swim lanes, with each swim lane defining a linear path. The Rapid Linear PMLC model has an integration process that the Linear PMLC model does not. The deliverables from each swim lane and the accompanying testing must be integrated in order to produce the final deliverables. This adds time to the schedule that is not present in the Linear PMLC model.

There is one feedback loop in the Linear PMLC model that is not shown in Figure 10-1, but it does not compromise the linearity of the overall model. That feedback loop describes how scope change or problem situations are received as part of the Monitoring and Controlling Process Group, and how they are processed and acted upon as part of the Planning Process Group. This added time is not accounted for in the original project plan. The result is usually an extension of the project completion date, and that has its own set of compromising problems.