What is the Methodology of Waterfall project management?

Project management aims to help practitioners successfully complete a project that complies with the client’s requirements. One approach companies use to achieve this directive is the phased or staged approach, which breaks down work in a series of steps. This is often called the traditional or waterfall approach. The waterfall project management approach or method was successfully used in many structural design and construction projects. When software engineering and development began to apply project management methods, the model was among the first methods used along with waterfall model tools. Learn More

3 Best Tools for Waterfall Project Management in 2023

Q: What are the Phases of Waterfall project management?

Waterfall is a sequentially phased approach where the progress of work flows from one phase to the next (like a waterfall). Progress depends on the deliverables of previous phase getting completed for the next phase to begin. Typically, the different phases and deliverables are: System/software requirements phase Analysis and design phase Coding/development or implementation phase Testing or verification phase Operations and maintenance phase

Image representing the waterfall method pf project management.

Waterfall project management is a traditional methodology originally based on civil engineering and construction projects but later on adapted for software engineering and IT projects. The sequential nature of the Waterfall model places project teams in a highly structured environment. The best tools for Waterfall project management enable teams to proceed from one phase to the next in a sequential, seamless way to meet the project’s schedule, budget, and scope.

In evaluating tools that facilitate the waterfall methodology, how do three top PM tools — monday, Wrike, and Smartsheet — compare?

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Best Tools for Waterfall Project Management

Here are our recommended project management tools for managing waterfall projects. These top project management software solutions will allow teams to keep well-defined projects from exceeding their schedule and budget.

monday.com

monday.com is an online platform for project management and other workflows. It enables project teams to centralize all information in a single place and plan projects using waterfall or any other method from start to finish. It includes modern features like custom dashboards, multiple work views, and team collaboration.

monday.com has an interactive Gantt chart that allows a team to plan, execute, and track projects using the Waterfall method with a visual and flexible platform. Users can set dependencies to make sure team members complete tasks on schedule and in the proper sequence. They can easily keep track of milestones and visualize important dates to deliver projects on time. Other features include automation, real-time updates, project dashboards, and project templates.

Read our complete review on monday.com.

How to Use Waterfall with monday.com

monday.com offers a template center where users can choose a Waterfall project template to get the project started quickly. Users can further customize the template by setting up groups for each project phase. They can add tasks, assign each task to a team member, and set a due date and a status.

When the project is ready to launch, teams can select the timeline or Gantt view to visualize the time frame for each task. The project leader can also set up milestones and task dependencies to inform all stakeholders of priorities and the sequence of tasks.

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Wrike

Wrike helps improve work visibility, enables cross-departmental collaboration, and offers task automation. This customizable tool allows teams to configure dashboards, workflows, request forms, and other features to match exact project requirements, including setups for Waterfall management.

Wrike includes an interactive Gantt chart to help teams visualize plans and progress. Its drag-and-drop interface allows users to create and share intuitive timeline views, task dependencies, shareable snapshots, baseline, and critical path analyses. Any adjustment of assignee, dates, or duration will reflect on the chart immediately and alert all impacted team members. Of course, users can also print the Gantt chart. They can import data from spreadsheets, MS Project, and other project management tools.

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How to Use Waterfall with Wrike

To set up a Waterfall workflow in Wrike, users need to first break down the project into the smaller tasks needed to move the team towards the project objective. From the Task List view, users can add all the tasks, set dates for each task, and also fill in task descriptions for a better understanding of the tasks. Users can also set a milestone at the end of a project phase and at the end project, or set it later on.

Users then need to switch to the Timeline view and display the tasks in a Gantt chart. Setting dependencies is easily accomplished by dragging a line from the end of the previous task to the beginning of the next task. Wrike will automatically reschedule all dependency-connected tasks if a start or due date of a task changes. The Gantt chart will also color-code the tasks to show progress updates. It also has filters to display specific work statuses, task owners, dates, or other criteria.

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Smartsheet

Smartsheet is a cloud-based project management platform for the whole enterprise. It is flexible for different use cases and departments with a variety of work views, reports, and dashboards. It tracks plans, tasks, resources, and schedules to allow teams using Waterfall or other project management methodologies to align work, people, and technology.

Smartsheet enables users to switch views between grid, Gantt, and calendar views of the same data for visualization of tasks. Users can set up a Gantt chart with dependencies to create a critical path. It has a drag-and-drop interface to easily adjust dates. Other features are automatic updates, real-time communication, and secure permission controls.

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How to Use Waterfall with Smartsheet

Users can display tasks in sheets and reports as bars in a timeline with a Gantt chart. Smartsheet will display any sheet or report with at least two date columns in Gantt view. In this view, the chart appears to the right of the columns with a divider splitting the screen between grid columns and the Gantt chart. Users can drag this divider to the left or right to widen the display of either section.

In the Gantt chart view, users can set dependencies and track relationships between tasks to ensure the proper sequencing. Users can also display the percent completion of tasks and view the critical path of the project. Smartsheet can filter multiple sheets so teams can see only tasks in the critical path. Project managers can share the timeline in PDF to keep all stakeholders informed of the project status.

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If you’re interested in learning more about other top-rated project management software, the editors at Project-Management.com actively recommend the following:

1 Wrike

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Wrike is the most powerful work management platform on the market, enabling teams to plan projects and collaborate in real time. Our award-winning software is trusted by 20,000+ companies across the globe, including Sony, Estée Lauder, and Siemens.

Wrike’s customizable features include Gantt charts, request forms, dashboards, cross-tagging, time tracking, and proofing. Integrate with 400+ apps from the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce. Automate repetitive tasks and achieve 50% faster planning. Work from anywhere with 100% access to your files via our mobile and desktop apps.

Whether you’re a small startup or an established brand, Wrike has the solution for you. Paid plans start at $9.80/user/month. Join our community of 2.3 million — start your free two-week trial today.

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2 monday.com

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monday.com Work OS is an award-winning no-code work management platform that helps teams manage projects and workflows more efficiently.

Used by 152,000+ customers worldwide, this fully customizable software lets you plan, manage, and track every project in one place. monday.com offers time-saving and easy-to-use features such as automations, time tracking, document sharing, and real-time collaboration. Multiple board views such as Gantt and Kanban help you structure and navigate tasks and projects the way you prefer, and dashboards give a high-level overview of your progress.

In addition, integrations with apps such as Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Gmail, and Excel, allow you to easily continue working with your favorite tools from within the platform. monday.com also offers dedicated solutions, such as monday dev and monday sales CRM, designed to answer the needs of specific industries.

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3 Smartsheet

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Smartsheet is a leading work execution platform that has real-time work management features, collaboration and automation tools. Users are presented with a familiar and easy-to-use spreadsheet-like interface. However, it has enterprise-grade capabilities that even Fortune 500 companies like Cisco, Bayer, HP, and PayPal are confident to adopt in their business. Strong project management features enable teams to utilize different views of real-time data, and switch easily from Gantt, card, grid and calendar views. Smartsheet has automatic update requests, and can be used for waterfall and agile projects, product launch, sprint planning, and more. The resource management feature provides users the visibility who is busy, and who is not, in real-time. They can also attach files, share sheets, get notified, view the activity log, export, email, and print.

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4 Zoho Projects

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Zoho Projects is an online project management application that helps its users to plan projects, collaborate with employees and clients, keep track of time, manage documents, and generate charts and reports. Users work on a central platform where they can keep track of progress, discuss ideas, communicate easily and stay updated. It is cloud-based and highly accessible, where user data is kept safe with stringent security systems. The software is also scalable depending on the number of projects, with the option to add more features. Zoho Projects is a cloud-based project management tool that helps you plan your work, track it efficiently, and collaborate with your team wherever they are.

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5 Cerri Project

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Cerri Project is a comprehensive PPM solution integrating project portfolio management and strategic planning features to drive value for your business.

Strategic execution of project portfolios, business initiatives and objectives.
Global capacity planning and visibility.
Streamlined workflows with process-driven project management.

Learn more about Cerri Project

The Waterfall methodology of project management is a sequential approach that splits a project into different phases. It is sequential in such a way that after the first phase, the next phase can only begin after the prior phase. Returning to a previous phase is not encouraged in the Waterfall method.

Waterfall project management is logical and easy to follow, presenting clearly what needs to happen from the start of the project up to its end. Each project team member has a defined role, and the phases or goals are not expected to change during the project duration. Waterfall project management is ideal for projects with defined goals and detailed plans that require a single timeline.

In waterfall project management, the progress of work flows from one phase to the next (like a waterfall). Progress depends on the deliverables of the previous phase getting completed for the next phase to begin. Typically, the different phases and deliverables are:

Requirements Phase

Stakeholders agree that the project team can gather and understand most, if not all, project requirements. The team conducts a feasibility study to clarify the purpose of the project and assess it in terms of cost or revenue. After the study, they produce a requirement specification where they detail the function and features of the solution to fulfill the requirements.

Analysis and Design Phase

In this phase, the project team analyzes the requirements and comes up with the design of the solution. The team creates a high-level or logical design that describes the purpose and scope of the project, data flow, and integration points. They can further transform the design to include specifications in hardware, software, architecture, testing, and security. At the end of this phase, the team produces a system design or architecture document and a project plan that details the waterfall schedule of the project.

Construction or Implementation Phase

With a design and a project plan, the project team proceeds to build the solution or develop the system. In the waterfall method, team members work on smaller tasks and deliverables that they integrate to form a bigger module of the complete system. Unit testing happens also at this phase. The combined output should result in the delivery of a complete system or product. However, if the team discovers that they need to make significant changes, it can mean going back to the analysis and design phase, and setting back the project timetable.

Testing or Verification Phase

At the testing or verification phase, the integrated system goes through thorough testing to check for all types of errors. The testing team uses design documents to create test cases. After every testing, the testing team gives the project team a report, which they use to repair all errors and issues found until the testing team no longer finds any. In some cases, the teams test the solution or product with the user for user testing acceptance.

Deployment and Maintenance Phase

After the testing phase, the project team deploys a working solution to the market or to specific customers. After a certain period, users may find defects and send the project team feedback and change requests. The project team will now enter change requests into a change management process that can result in revisions or initiate a new project.

In between the waterfall phases, the project team manages sign-offs and other documents signifying that the previous phase has been satisfactorily completed and the next phase can start.

Like any other methodology, the Waterfall model has its pros and cons. Therefore, it is important to understand the nature of the project so teams can choose the best project management methodology to deliver the project. For example, a project that follows a strictly linear process or workflow with little to no iterations required is a good candidate for Waterfall project management.

Pros

Straightforward planning – due to clear agreement between the client and the project team about the end product at the early phase of the project
Complete design – with all known deliverables, teams can finalize the design of the solution or the product with details
Accurate estimates – defined requirements allow the team to estimate costs, resources, and duration with greater accuracy
Measurable progress – a clearly documented project scope and project schedule enable the team to measure the actual progress against estimates and baselines
Repeatable processes – the inherent rigidity of the workflow makes it easy to replicate, letting teams copy successful projects as templates for similar, future projects

Cons

Little flexibility – due to the strict enforcement of a linear, sequential approach, teams cannot make rapid adaptations to new or changing situations
Late testing phase – results in late discovery of defects and issues
Costly changes – since any opportunity to repair problems happen at later phases of the project when significant costs are already incurred
Project size limitation – the sequential approach is not ideal for larger, more complex projects due to the possibility of an extended schedule for each phase, as well as costly fixes for rework discovered at later phases
End-product availability – customers will have to wait for the whole process to finish to see and experience the product or solution

Ready to Try a Project Management Tool for Your Waterfall Projects?

Many teams continue to use Waterfall project management today, especially for clearly defined projects with many moving parts within a structured workflow.

Even with Waterfall’s relatively straight-line approach to completing a project, however, its is a best practice for teams to use a single project management tool that is flexible enough to handle both linear, sequential models like Waterfall and iterative, adaptive models like Agile. Regardless of methodology, modern project management software is powerful enough to manage rapidly changing requirements and accommodate greater customer participation and collaboration.

3 Best Tools for Waterfall Project Management

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