TRADITIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT V. AGILE APPROACH PROJECT MANAGEMENT

In this blog, we will discuss the importance of schedule management and how this varies in different approaches, specifically traditional projects v. agile projects. Firstly, we must discuss what schedule management is and what exactly that entails. Schedule management is the process of defining project task, duration, and the necessary resources in order to complete the project in the intended time frame. Schedule management also includes the monitoring and recording of the schedule in order to ensure effective and efficient allocation of resources. This also ensures the project is delivered on time. Schedule management includes the structuring of project work, dividing and defining tasks and activities throughout the team, understanding the magnitude of the project as well as the project status, the likelihood of achieving the project, gathering data and reporting, and sharing the plan and objectives with the whole team. With all this talk about schedule management, what is the significance of this in project management? Whether it be for traditional projects or for agile based projects, project schedule management is incredibly important. The implications of schedule management in various project management approaches include the following: plan depiction of how projects will unfold overtime, providing a clear summary of what tasks must be completed by what deadline in order to know how long each activity will take, prioritizing the most critical tasks, and lastly ensures that you and the members on your team know what needs to be done and when it needs to be done and when and how long it will take in order for it to be completed. Some of the main components that make a good project schedule is:

• A Project name

• A Start date

• A End date

• A Project manager

• Number of weeks

• Estimated hours

• Designated tasks

• Rank

All of these components are necessary and essential to making a top-quality project. 

Now to discuss the difference between project management in traditional projects v. agile projects, we must first understand what the difference is between traditional and agile project management approaches. Traditional project management is linear in nature. This describes an approach where all of the phases or sprints are followed in a sequence. The entire project is planned out without any scope without anything being subject to change. With this approach, all of the variables and requirements are fixed. Agile projects promote teamwork, client participation, and adaptability. Agile project management approach focuses more on customer feedback, emphasizes adaptability, encourages face-to-face collaboration, cross-functional team, and self-organizing team, and unlike traditional project management approaches, agile methodologies are open to change within the iterative approach. Agile project management methodologies use repetitive and gradual development and allow quick responses to changes in customers wants and needs. Now, given that we have not discussed the differences between agile and traditional project management approaches, we should now discuss the differences and similarities between agile and traditional project management methodologies. 

Traditional Project Management Methodologies

Traditional project management approaches are typically hands off and the outcome is established from the very beginning. The flexibility within these projects are typically very low and there is no room for change. Traditional project management approaches require completing tasks to its full entirety in order to progress to the next phase or step of the project. The benefits of such a traditional approach is that it provides a solid basis of what the project intends to be like from beginning to end. In addition to this, traditional project management approaches require the team to start early in order to save time. Lastly, each phase of the project requires the team members to complete the next phase of the project in order to make the system more structured and efficient. Although the previously stated advantages of using traditional project management approaches can be effective, they do have some disadvantages. Some cons of using traditional project management approaches include the need to complete an assignment before proceeding to the next phase. This may prove to be disadvantageous because it can lengthen the project time. Another disadvantage of traditional project management is the fact that a team member is obligated to start a phase early and in addition to this, you may have to go back to a phase you already completed due to finding out an error had occurred due to the nature of the approach being, you must complete a task before moving on the next phase. This can pose a very time effective process. Lastly, another disadvantage of traditional project management approaches is that it requires an outline from start to finish and doesn’t allow a lot of adaptability or flexibility. This can prove to be taxing because if a client disagrees or wants to change something about the project along the way, they are forced to settle for the first project outline. This can eventually leave the customer  feeling dissatisfied. 

Agile Project Management Methodologies

Agile project management approaches tend to prioritize customer or stakeholder interactions and satisfaction . Agile methodologies tend to have more adaptability and flexibility throughout the project process than traditional project management approaches. Agile project management approaches also require team collaboration and short iterations of deadlines. These short deadlines can prove to be advantageous by encouraging productivity and efficiency, therefore yielding consistent results. Agile methodologies also prove to have much flexibility and adaptability in the project direction, which helps the stakeholders or client feel much more comfortable with the project and everything that it entails. And lastly, Agile project management approaches gain feedback from the client about the project they are funding and it overall improves customer satisfaction and ensures the team is collaborating in a way that is in the best interest of the customer. Although these previously stated advantages can prove to be effective, there are some disadvantages of such things. The first one being, the overlap or unnecessary effort of team members to complete a task or part of the project that the client may no longer want. In addition to this, given that multiple team members are working on different tasks at the same time, this may cause confusions and may increase the chances of having to go back and modify an earlier version of the project.

Citations

Agile vs traditional project management [top differences]. KnowledgeHut. (n.d.). https://www.knowledgehut.com/blog/agile/agile-project-management-vs-traditional-project-management

Hoory, L. (2022, August 10). Agile vs. waterfall: Which project management methodology is best for you?. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/agile-vs-waterfall-methodology/#:~:text=The%20main%20difference%20is%20that,different%20phases%20of%20the%20project.

Project Schedule Management [10 reasons why it’s important]. Zoe Talent Solutions. (2023, January 21). https://zoetalentsolutions.com/project-schedule-management/

Wheeler, E. (2023, May 15). Schedule management. MIGSO. https://www.migso-pcubed.com/blog/schedule-management/#:~:text=Schedule%20Management%20is%20the%20process,project%20is%20delivered%20on%20time.