Project Management what Agile Means to your Processes People and Projects

(407 Words)
An agile approach in project management can provide a more flexible, proactive and reactive business strategy. In a project that follows the traditional, or waterfall, method of management, the estimation process of the project take place primarily at the beginning of the project. Each process and its time span are formulated before the first step is undertaken. Of course, many well-planned projects do not turn out as hoped, and thus the desire for a more flexible process emerged. Agile project management process took form.
When project managers create an agile project they do not plan for the entire project at once. Instead small features of the project are planned in a series of iterations, explains Rick Freedman of TechRepublic. The processes will therefore be shorter, and then reevaluation will occur. Each specific feature is considered at a time.
In agile project management, processes are much more streamlined, and the project management team can focus on one at a time with all of the relevant knowledge. With traditional project management, there are many more assumptions to be made since none of the project will have yet taken place. Thus the processes may be created in a more accurate time span. With more knowledge, the processes can be honed to fit the exact situation.
Agile project management has a great effect on the management team. Generally the team is made up of a number of stakeholders who meet at regular intervals to discuss the next iteration of the project. Customers, project managers, business analysts, and developers are just some of the stakeholders that may be involved in the team. In an agile process, the stakeholders will take a more active role throughout the process. This will also require the effort of the people involved to attend and participate in team meetings.
According to Project Smart, agile project management is uncomfortable to some because of the lack of a full project plan and estimation at the very beginning. Some people are resistant to this type of management because they want everything laid out. The problem with traditional management is that even if everything is spelled out in a plan, chances are it will be inaccurate because of all of the issues that can arise and change it.
Agile project management is an excellent method to deal with the changes that inevitably occur with even the best laid out plans. Project managers should understand its effects on processes, people and projects.