Agile vs Waterfall Methodology

To understand the difference between the agile methodology and the waterfall methodology, it must be explained what both of these are. Agile methodology is the newest version of project management, being meant to fix the mistakes and issues that come with waterfall methodology. The agile project management style is designed to divvy up work into time-based activity, requiring how much work being done in a period of time to be dictated. This style is meant to deliver customer’s value as fast as possible without delay. This style of management figures out the necessities and requirements as they move along the project’s lifecycle. Waterfall methodology is labeled as the “old school” way of project management. During the project’s lifecycle, set and well-defined stages are made with fluid hand-offs from stage to stage. All requirements from each stage is needed to be completed before progression to the next stage can occur. Stages last till completion regardless of dates and schedules made in the environment. The only way this rule could be altered was if the stages held multiple projects that had to build on one another in order to be completed. This methodology of project management very much is set on its linear process during its lifecycle.

Both management styles are used in work environments today and both have their own respective positives to them. Waterfall is much more useful when it comes to larger and more complex projects that will most likely have non-changing requirements and specifications. This is because the details and requirements of the projects are very detail oriented and the waterfall method makes sure to address all details to their peak performance before completing the project. With agile, this method is much more for smaller projects with higher need for quick feedback and fast tweaking. This is because agile project management focuses on getting quick responses and information to meet the overall goal of the project in a speedy way. Agile can also work well in environments where everyone is fully aligned around the goals of the project and are able to move freely and independently without having to slow down.

Within agile project management, there is an individual labeled as the scum master. This person is meant to keep the team on track and make sure that the project gets the focus it needs. They also can provide non-biased mediation for when the possibility of disagreement does arise. What makes the scrum master so beneficial is that they make the hard decisions for the better of the project and don’t have to report to a board of individuals to make decisions, like those in a waterfall project management style would have to. This allows agile project management to move at a speedy pace and keep the flow of the project in the right direction. Those in the agile project also do methods such as daily meetings and demonstrations of what they have accomplished in their groups after a certain amount of time so that they can keep the speed of the project up. By doing these quick recaps, all those involved in the project will be aware of where it stands and can continue to push further into their completion goals.

Both styles have their pros, but they also have their cons as well. One of the flaws with the waterfall style of management is that there is lack of flexibility and adaptation. If an issue occurs, then the whole flow of the project is paused till that issue had been resolved. This slows down the process and this is not what stakeholders want to see. Stakeholders are looking for innovations and steps forward as soon as possible so that they can make news to the public and if the process is not moving then this becomes discouraging. Another issue is that the processing and planning of this style takes lots of time, with every detail being discussed before making steps forward. This again relates to the need of results as soon as possible and this does not help these results to arrive.

With the flaws of agile project management,  one flaw is that it can be hard to scale the needs and requirements of the project properly. Since the focus of this method is to complete the overall arching goal as fast as possible, the needs and requirements of the project are mapped out as they work, not planned out beforehand. Doing this could lead to having too much of resources then the project is needing and be wasteful or it could lead to having too little of resources and requiring pauses in the project’s flow until the needed resources arrive, thus slowing down the overall speed of the project. Another issue that can come with this type of project management is that it lacks detailed and comprehensive documentation of the project. Since the projects goal is speed over detail orientation, detailed documentation of needs and requirements of the project are not made. This makes it hard for anyone such as new developers or stakeholders to get an idea of what all is being poured into the project resource wise. It also makes it difficult for timelines of the project’s competition to be determined, being viewed more as a “finished when it’s done” style of project.

Both methods of project management have their strengths and weaknesses, but the reason that agile management is used so much more and is being used to replace waterfall management is that it’s momentum during the process is so high. The number of projects are growing exponentially and in order to keep up with the demand and complete these projects, fast paced movement is needed to allow these project goals to be met and then the next one to be started. Agile project management is also a very useful style of management in the technological world, which is something that is continuously growing and being a major part in today’s society. Many groups such as IBM provide learning to understand agile management to it’s best ability. If you want to focus on growing at a fast pace and meeting goals of improvement and completion as soon as possible, go for the agile project management style. You’ll see results in no time and your team will be more improved than ever before.

Work Cited

Agile vs. Waterfall | Pros, Cons, and Key Differences. (n.d.). Www.productplan.com. https://www.productplan.com/learn/agile-vs-waterfall/

Hoory, L., & Bottorff, C. (2021, October 27). Agile vs. Waterfall: Which Project Management Methodology Should I Use? Forbes Advisor. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/agile-vs-waterfall-methodology/

Kavlakoglu, E. (2020, November 4). Agile vs. Waterfall. Www.ibm.com. https://www.ibm.com/cloud/blog/agile-vs-waterfall