The article is devoted to the analysis of project approaches in modern management. The object of analysis is project activity, the subject of consideration is project methodologies, their features and promising directions of development. The author identifies the advantages, risks and disadvantages of the main design approaches (Waterfall model, Agile, Scrum, Kanban) the tendencies and trends of development of the project direction in the nearest future. The work will be useful for students who study project management, employees of companies who want to start developing in the project direction, project specialists interested in new trends in the project direction.