With the increasing uncertainties around the world comes an unquenchable demand for proper project management techniques suitable for adapting to new covid-19 introduced disruptions as well as other arising changes to the project lifecycle in terms of cost and time. Different types of projects require different management techniques; this could be due to the level of intricacy, originality, or the required pace of execution.
Waterfall Project Management
In the waterfall project management technique, the different processes involved are more structured and streamlined. The project scope and timeline are well defined, as such, changes of any magnitude can lead to major disruptions in the project because this project management strategy is not designed to account for abrupt changes.
However, waterfall project management has its perks; for one, due to the high-level detailing involved in this management technique, the project completion time and cost can be known variables. During project execution, the outlined details are followed sequentially, thereby reducing risk and uncertainties. Additionally, the budget and project timeline is followed step by step.
The waterfall management technique can be applied to projects of different scales (complex, novel, or simple projects). It is sometimes called the “plan-driven model”. This stems from the fact that the level of detail involved makes it simple to understand, therefore, making it easy to avoid execution delays and errors. However, this project management technique is plagued with inflexibility.
Agile Project Management
Agile project management technique is sometimes referred to as the iterative project management technique. It is called iterative because alterations can be made throughout the project life cycle. Unlike the waterfall model, agile project management allows changes during the project life cycle, therefore, increasing project adaptability to unforeseen events that have not been accounted for during the project design stages.
Agile project management strategy strives to ensure that the benefits that come from adaptability in terms of cost, material, or time savings are accrued over the entire project lifetime and not just at the end of the project. With this management strategy, the project workload can be divided into smaller chunks that can then be prioritized. Due to the Agile project’s functional change management strategy, team members can collaborate, learn about the needed modifications, and implement them at different intervals. However, the actual project cost and completion time are not known. The agile project management technique lacks the level of documentation and detailing that is achievable with the waterfall project management technique because of the changes accommodated at different stages of the project.
The Interception
In a Hybrid methodology, waterfall management strategy and agile management strategy are incorporated into a single methodology. The hybrid project management technique is capable of increasing the project efficiency and productivity more than what is obtainable with either the Agile or waterfall management technique. When the two techniques are combined, both the challenge of change management associated with the waterfall model and the time and cost uncertainty of the agile management technique is handled. Thus, the structure, plan, and detail from the waterfall, when combined with the change management ability of the agile management technique, increase the success of projects that use hybrid management techniques.
Hybrid management technique involves managing encountered changes and uncertainties in the project in a planned and orderly manner with a clearly defined scope and timeline. Also, different steps or iterations involved in the project are executed sequentially. When waterfall and agile management techniques are intercepted, flexibility is introduced without compromising the clarity of the scope, budget, and final output.
Conclusion
The importance of a great project management technique cannot be overemphasized. This is because the success or failure of any project is hinged on the effectiveness of the chosen management strategy. With new covid introduced uncertainties and other changes that may be encountered at different stages of project execution, intercepting agile management and waterfall management techniques can deliver different projects with these uncertainties successfully and in a timely fashion.
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Originally published at Upstack.co on Feb 20, 2022, by Derek Johnson.
