Comparing Agile with Traditional Project Management
(503 Words)
A new alternative to traditional project management is emerging, and it promises greater flexibility and success for both contractors/providers and their clients. Agile project management offers many advantages over traditional project management, and these can lead to increased benefits for all.
In traditional project management, planning and control methods are very specific and controlled. Each specific task is laid out, as well as the time each is expected to take. A large bulk if not all of the planning is done in advance in visibly defined stages of the life cycle of the project. Once a phase is finished, the next stage will occur, and the sequence should occur in one stage after the next in a perfect world. A waterfall is sometimes utilized to metaphorically describe the system.
Of course it is not a perfect world, however, and in reality even the best laid plans with traditional project management rarely come out exactly as planned. Companies and contractors alike go in knowing that many of the estimates will be far off due to unforeseen factors that arise numerously and substantially. Strife occurs as deadlines are missed and estimates fall far from their marks. Clients question estimates even before the work has begun based on issues that they might not even understand.
In agile project management, there is much more flexibility built into the system. Instead of focusing on every specific task, it focuses on features of the project, which will be constantly addressed in cycles by the different stakeholders. Once the domain is understood, stakeholders identify the specific features that need to be addressed and functionality is prioritized. The work is then begun in sections in a logical way with the information that is currently available.
A hallmark of the agile project management system is the constant reevaluation. Unlike traditional project management, where the estimation process usually ends after the initial planning stages no matter how right – or wrong – it is, in an agile project management system the planning and estimation continues throughout the project. Unforeseen consequences and events can be addressed as they happen. The sequence of the project can be adjusted to meet with environmental, business, material or other changes.
After each cycle the team will meet to discuss what needs to be done to best move the project forward. This could literally be daily, where the people discuss what is best to do that day. In other projects the cycles will be longer. Stakeholders that may be involved in the team include the customer, project manager, business analyst, developer and more.
Although agile project management can be beneficial, some customers want a specific list of every single task, no matter how inaccurate it is. Change is slow, but some companies are moving towards agile project management or at least a combination of the two methods.
Agile project management is very different from traditional project management. Learning about the differences between the two can aid a company in deciding what method is best for them.
Resources:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-manager/comparing-traditional-and-agile-project-management-estimation-techniques/4357
http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/the-blending-of-traditional-and-agile-project-management.html