Waterfall / Traditional or Agile Project Management Approach? Which one is right for you? – Part II
Traditional or Agile Project Management Approach? Which one is right for you?
There are certain principles and differences between agile and traditional project management approaches. We looked at those in previous post Waterfall / Traditional or Agile Project Management Approach? We should also understand that purest form of traditional (or heavy) or agile project management may be applicable to certain industries or specific kind of projects. In real practice, the line between these two may blur.
Yet, if you have to consider these two approaches distinctly and make a decision – let’s look at project aspects, or project scenarios that can help you choose between traditional or agile project management approach
|
# |
Project Aspect/ Scenario |
Use Agile Project Management |
Use Waterfall Project Management |
|
1 |
Project complexity, duration, size |
If smaller – can use agile |
If larger –Waterfall approach can be useful |
|
2 |
Does key stakeholder (primarily customer) has upfront clarity of requirements as |
If answer is no, go agile way |
If answer yes, then waterfall is more suitable |
|
3 |
Does customer requirement, project scope is changing or expected to change through project |
If answer is frequently, then agile approach is better. |
If answer is not often, then waterfall can be a choice. |
|
4 |
Expected/required ongoing customer engagement throughout project lifecycle – high
|
Go agile. |
No |
|
5 |
High level customer engagement– Primarily expected in the beginning and during User Acceptance Testing (UAT) phases. Intermittent and low level engagement expected during project execution |
Agile may not be most preferred choice |
Go for waterfall approach |
|
6 |
Is your team adaptive, skilled (or trained to be) for frequent scope changes/ dynamic/rapid delivery model |
If yes then Go for Agile |
If not ready, then take it slow |
|
7 |
Extent of Interface and integration with external processes, systems |
If basic – Yes |
If complicated and significantly interdependent – take waterfall approach |
|
8 |
Desired Time to Market |
If short and with rapid incremental improvement expected- Yes |
If all deliverables expected in a stipulated timeline – Yes |
|
9 |
If project documentation for audit and compliance purpose are required |
No |
Yes |
For any of these approaches to succeed, it is important to have
- Buy-in and strong support by Senior Management
- Well thought ways to manage resistance
- I can’t resist but re-emphasize Change Management here (training, pilot, champion)
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