The Agile Project Management

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

INTRODUCTION

A project must involve unique and complex activities that should technically relate to each other with a specific goal, a date of inception and a completion date (Wysocki, 2009). Though projects are unique but temporary activities, they bring about a change that can only be effectively handled by project management (Dalcher and Brodie, 2007).

Project management as defined by PMI is the process by which projects are well stated, organized and managed so that on delivery, the agreed benefits are accepted by the client. The idea behind successful project management is having knowledge of the appropriate tools, techniques and skills and when, how or where to apply them to meet the expected needs of the client (PMBOK, 2008). The emergence of project management was due to contemporary society demands and the development of more flexible management methods (Meredith and Mantel 2009). As the years advanced, due to developments, projects increased in size and style so there was need to improve on expertise, speed and quality. Therefore, organizations were endowed with tools that were effective for the planning, implementation and control of activities in a specified period of time, and ways to utilize available human and non- human resources, through the discipline of project management (Jack and Mantel Jr,2009). The success of project management lies basically in understanding the scope and integration of the tools and techniques appropriately with the five major processes which are initiating, planning, executing, controlling and closing. With the different views project management experts have, every project has an approach that is well suited to successfully execute it. The Traditional Project Management and Agile Project Management are two major approaches used to handle projects with more flexibility (Wysocki, 2009).

OVERVIEW OF THE TWO APPROACHES

The Traditional Management approach dates back to the 1950s’ as Process Control System (PCS) with a sequence of phases as define, plan, execute and close with the recognition of tasks in every phase. Professionals in construction and engineering used this system because of its well defined and matured practices (Wysocki, 2009). Also known as the "one-shot model", the traditional project management uses methods that are purposefully planned and controlled, with project life cycle phases that are very distinct and easily recognized (Hass, 2007; Hughes and Cotterell, 2009; ). The models that are typical to this approach are known as Linear (waterfall) and Incremental project management life cycle models with tasks completed in an orderly sequence working from top to bottom in each phase with minimal change during the project (Hass, 2007; Wysocki,2009).

The idea of Agile Project Management is concerned mainly with effective team communication and work. It came into existence in 2001 when 17 project management leaders came together to modify the processes they used in software development due to their characteristic similarities. The point was to make software development more responsive, having knowledge of more valuable processes that would deliver successfully. This method is rapid and flexible in handling projects. They named the processes they used, ‘agile’ meaning light. This meeting led to the emergence of the Agile Manifesto with four core values stating the importance of; Interaction of individuals over processes and tools, good team work over comprehensive documentation, collaboration of customer over negotiation of contracts and responding to change over following plans (Hughes and Cotterell, 2009). The models typical to this approach are called iterative and Adaptive project management life cycle models (Wysocki, 2009).

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE TWO APPROACHES

The underlying fact remains that both approaches have been tested to meet the needs of our ever changing and increasing organizations in the society. The use of any of the approaches depends on the type of project to be carried out and the individuals involved i.e. the client, project manager and the project team. The traditional and agile approaches both have their characteristics, differences, advantages and disadvantages with respect to their project planning processes.

TRADITIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT (HEAVY WEIGHT).

The Traditional Project Management is a disciplined approach because it is very detail driven and plan oriented from the start. Defined as being heavy weight, due to the comprehensive documentation performed with intense architectural design thus making the objectives of the project very clear for the project manager and his team. It is characterized by a sequential series of steps which include stable requirement gathering, solution building, testing and deployment (Wysocki, 2009). Here, every fragment of the project is planned upfront and once it is completed, it cannot be reverted. All activities in every phase can be envisaged with clearly used tools and activities (Hass, 2007). Due to the detailed planning and processes of this method, phases in their lifecycles are such that obstructions are eradicated from the beginning of the project. The two different models in the traditional approach are Linear and Incremental Project Management Life Cycles (Hass, 2007; Wysocki, 2009).

The Waterfall model which is a type of linear approach derived its name "waterfall" from the pattern of activities working from top to bottom in a structured progression of defined phases (Dalcher and Brodie, 2007). Based on the recursive nature of the waterfall model, natural milestones are created at the end of each phase while each phase is completed in a sequential order of precedence (Hughes and Coterell, 2009; Bassil, 2011). Though Hass (2007) suggests that once a phase is completed, it cannot be repeated, Winston Royce who first proposed the model outlined that the job can be done twice if possible to improve the approach (Dalcher and Brodie, 2007). It is characterized by a very limited scope for iteration and the executable code is checked against the products for each of the tasks in the life cycle for the purpose of observing variance. This makes the model change intolerant (Hughes and Coterel, 2009; Wysocki 2009).

While the linear model performs tasks in series of succession or in sequential order flowing downwards thereby releasing the deliverables only on completion of the project lifecycle, the Incremental model on the other hand is split into different increments for modifications by the client in later/subsequent increments to form a complete solution (Dalcher and Brodie, 2007;Wysocki, 2009). The difference between these two models is in the change of scope requests and breakdown of a complete solution for modification by the client. Therefore the incremental model adapts to minimal modifications, which reduces the cost of budget and increases business value because a partial solution is delivered for use and modification. The linear model on the other hand is somewhat tasking thereby wasting resources and finances and eliminates business value because a complete solution has to be delivered to the client at the end of the project (Sommerville, 2007).

AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT (LIGHT WEIGHT)

Agile methods are lightweight software design processes that use flexible technologies to improve software development through continuous iteration and client feedback to meet expected requirements (Rasmusson , 2010). The idea in this approach is to make the processes of software development light and sufficient so as to produce high quality deliverables (working software) in a short period of time (Abrahamsson et. al, 2002; Sommerville, 2007). The activities involved in this approach are requirements, design coding documentation and testing processes aimed at generating a working software. Agile methods rapidly adapt to change which makes them flexible in nature (Alleman, 2002; Wysocki, 2007; Dawson, 2009). There are several methodologies that use this approach one of which is Scrum.

Scrum is a complete approach that creates a new product with increased speed and flexibility through a process of overlapping phases with the involvement of a dynamic team, in an exerted effort called sprint. Sprint is a guaranteed time given where factors interrupting change are eliminated to enable developers focus on the sprint goal (Larman, 2004). Scrum methodology identifies the need for collaborative work among team members and their clients so as to make the system flexible in accommodating constant change in the environment (Hass,2007). In this approach, the duration of iteration is definite therefore scrum meetings are held consistently in small groups by the team members so that information is updated on the status of the project and people involved. Since the scrum team is self-organizing, it is solely accountable for their activities of producing new sprint backlogs based on the outcome of prior backlogs (Larman, 2004).

COMPARISON OF THE TWO APPROACHES

Having in mind that change is constant, the main difference between the traditional and agile methods is the "response" "ability" to change which is a determining factor in the success or failure of a project. Agile processes (adaptive in nature) are successful in today’s market because of their flexibility to change. On the other hand, it is very difficult to implement traditional processes (predictive in nature) in a constantly changing environment (Alleman,2002; Sommerville, 2007).

Heavy weight methodologies support large sizes of projects which entails an increase in budget and team members. Therefore plans are defined with documentation and processes for efficiency and effectiveness across larger groups. But lightweight deals with only fewer team members and communication is done effectively and efficiently (Wysocki, 2007; Munassar and Govardhan,2010). This means the fewer the people involved, the less expensive the budget for the stakeholders. Despite the number of people involved in heavyweight process, a lot of time is wasted on outputs such as documentation, writing analysis etc which implies that when there is problem of time constraints, agile is the best option (Sommerville,2007). The agile manifesto stresses the importance of human factors which involves individuals and interactions, and customer collaboration being foremost in agile methodology. For effectiveness and efficiency in a team, the team members have to be skilled and experienced encouraging customer adaptability in checking the progress of the product in process during each phase of iteration (Rasmusson, 2010). This level of commitment makes agile methodology more attractive than traditional methodology which defines requirements from the beginning and delivers a complete solution only at the end of the life cycle (linear approach).

While agile methods respond rapidly to change in every iteration through customer feedback, traditional methods are more critical in defining requirements before the development of the product because failure to do so will result to damage from undetected defects (Dawson, 2009; Rasmusson,2010;).

TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Project planning is the period in which objectives are completed knowing how to advance in the work that needs to be done. This is done through an iterative process of six steps which involve work break down, estimating time, sequencing of activities, scheduling and re-planning (Dawson, 2009). These steps involve the use of tools in the project planning process which are Gantt charts, PERT, Critical Path Method, Work break down structure, Sticky notes, Activity Network Diagrams and Pareto diagrams. The techniques used are brainstorming, network analysis, time boxing, Delphi technique (Marchewka, 2003; Wysocki, 2009). The models are waterfall model, scrum, spiral model, v-process model, DSDM, and the project life cycle models are iterative, adaptive, linear and incremental life cycle models with variation to linear model known as rapid linear life cycle model (Wysocki, 2009).

The work breakdown structure (WBS) is a planning tool used to sub-divide the main activities which are to be carried out in order of hierarchy and priority to accomplish your project. This break down unveils the main objectives of the project definition. A work breakdown structure is used to structure the schedules and budgets for successful project work (Dalcher and Brodie, 2007; Dawson, 2009). A detailed work break down structure should assist the project manager to identify and allocate resources in quantity needed, types of resources, available resources needed for each task, estimates time and effort for the work to be carried out from inception to get the approval of the customer in estimating planning a completion date. The work packages in a WBS are aimed at activities expected to produce deliverables (Marchewka, 2003). However, when a system is broken down into smaller tasks, it gives proof of a completed phase by producing a milestone which reviews the progress of a system because it occurs after the successful completion of a task. (Dalcher and Brodie, 2007).

The Activity Network Diagrams are used for planning various tasks concurrently and calculating factors affecting the project. The network consists of links and nodes describing the tasks that relate to each . (Dalcher and Brodie, 2007; Hughes and Cotterel, 2009). Tasks that depend on multiple activities are linked with arrows to each other. In AoA diagrams, activities flow from left to right and from top to bottom, when parallel to each other, a dummy node is used for identification (Dalcher and Brodie, 2007).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, considering the characteristic differences and similarities of the two approaches and their methodologies, both approaches fit in different types of project specification depending on the needs of the client. Though the traditional approach is considered old and bureaucratic which slows its ability to respond to change, it is still a method with very precise practices that are carefully carried out to produce the desired deliverables (Wysocki, 2009). The agile approach on the other hand also has its own processes which when adhered to duly, would produce the desired outcome however, careful attention must be paid to the project duration and scope as constant iteration in design could adversely extend the project delivery date. Therefore, because of uncertainty and uniqueness of each project requirements defined by all stakeholders of any project from inception, whatever the method or approach to be used, it is the decision of the project manager and his team to decide which best applies to the current project handled (Wysocki, 2009).