Introduction

Project management is a lucrative and growing domain in the management sector. Project managers lead their teams to achieve specific goals and objectives within a defined timeline and budget. The process starts with defining the project scope, setting realistic goals and deadlines, determining the resources needed, and organising and supervising the team. Project managers use PM tools to plan, execute, monitor, and close projects. Effective project management requires strong leadership, communication, and organisational skills, as well as the ability to adapt to change. Experience, knowledge, and education are the pillars of effective project management. From small software companies to government and corporate companies, project management plays a key role in bringing ideas to life. While project managers follow several frameworks to efficiently finish the job, Agile project management is hailed as one of the most popular project management frameworks in the domain. In this blog, we will discuss the evolution, advantages, and disadvantages of the agile project management framework.

What is Agile Project Management?

It is a flexible and iterative approach to project management that prioritises customer collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement. It emphasises delivering small and incremental improvements to a project through regular meetings and collaboration between cross-functional teams. The Agile approach is generally used in software development but can also be applied to other types of projects. Key principles of Agile project management include delivering a minimum viable product, conducting regular retrospectives, and focusing on meeting customer needs.

The History and Evolution of Agile Project Management 

Agile project management was developed in the late 1990s, evolved in the early 2000s, and has now become one of the most widely adopted project management methodologies in the world. Its origins can be traced back to the Agile Manifesto, a set of values and principles for software development that was first outlined in 2001 (Source: Wikipedia). The Agile Manifesto was created by a group of 17 software developers who were frustrated with traditional, rigid project management methodologies. These methodologies were no longer efficient in the fast-paced world of software development.

Hence, the developers believed that a new approach was needed. One that was more flexible, collaborative, and focused on delivering better value to the customers rather than one that was rigid, centralised, or controlled like the traditional methods. Since the creation of the Agile Manifesto, Agile project management has evolved and matured, with several different methodologies and frameworks emerging from it. The list includes Scrum, Kanban, and Lean methodologies, which are also highly popular in the project management sector today. All these methodologies have been adopted by companies across industries like software development, IT, and marketing.

Why is Agile Project Management Popular?

Agile project management is highly popular, especially in the software development sector, with at least 71% of U.S. companies using it every day according to Zippia. There are several reasons why agile project management is popular among project managers. Mainly, the Agile methodology prioritises the needs and satisfaction of the customer, ensuring that the end product meets their requirements. The Agile method allows teams to quickly adapt to changing requirements. It easily incorporates stakeholder feedback throughout the project. It is an incremental method that delivers small, working parts of the project at regular intervals, reducing the risk of delivering a failed end product. Agile also encourages collaboration and teamwork, bringing together different teams to work towards a common goal. This method emphasises continuous improvement and learning among the team members. Finally, the method allows teams to deliver projects faster as they can start delivering value early and continuously improve the product. Agile project management offers a flexible and responsive approach to project management, which has made it a popular choice for organisations and project managers.

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The Major Advantages of Agile Project Management

1. Agile methodology priorities Customer Satisfaction

In this method, the needs and expectations of the customer take the front seat. Meeting the needs of customers within the speculated timeframe puts the traditional approach into practice, ensuring that the end product meets their requirements.

2. Flexibility is a plus in agile project management.

The world of technology is evolving and quick to adapt. Every day, new technological breakthroughs are made, and industries are revolutionised in a matter of months due to the efficiency and benefits of technology. Rapidly Adapting to new technology will boost the technical prowess of project teams and give a boost to their operational efficiency. Agile allows teams to quickly adapt to changes in requirements or project scope.

3. Incremental delivery can boost motivation in small-scale projects.

Agile project management works in multiple small steps in incremental order. It delivers small, working parts of the project at regular intervals. This orderly and result-oriented approach reduced the risk of delivering a failed project. As a result, the project team earns greater confidence from investors or project clients.

4. Regular meetings ensure improved communication between teams.

Agile project management encourages regular communication and collaboration between teams and individuals. Unlike traditional approaches where a central authority like a project manager controls the communication by being the sole bridge between several departments and teams, agile project managers open communication channels between teams and key team members. This reduces time wastage in communicating and ensures faster delivery and operational efficiency.

5. Faster time-to-market increases market competence.

Due to its incremental delivery, effective communication, and efficient operational structure, agile project management helps project teams greatly minimise project time. Hence, the end product can be developed early and released to the market for testing, which increases the organisation's market competence.

6. Increased transparency fosters trust.

Regular meetings, corrections, and transparent progress updates to project managers and stakeholders increase trust and confidence between the team and authorities. Moreover, regular feedback and communication between the two refine the project.

7. Agile project management encourages continuous improvement.

The above-mentioned feedback loop, coupled with incremental delivery, leaves room for constant improvement. Identifying the errors gets easier as the project is delivered in pieces over time, thus maintaining a constant learning curve and increasing the standards. Teams are challenged to perform better, encouraged to take responsibility for their work, and guided to find more efficient ways to improve the situation with individual and team contributions. Team members are empowered to make their own decisions and take ownership of their actions, rather than relying on management. This responsibility will lead to increased motivation and commitment from the team members.

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The Drawbacks of Agile Project Management 

1: Lack of documentation makes agile project management incompetent in certain situations.

The majority of problems happen when a team makes the transition from traditional project management to agile project management. Due to the lack of documentation, project management teams can get confused with the stages of the project. Agile teams are required to condense large volumes of data into smaller stacks. This process does not have a great deal of detail, which leaves stains in the dark. Developers find it difficult to grasp the customers' requirements or the scope of the project. Without a clear, documented plan or process, teens can get lost in the chaos.

2: Scope creep can easily creep in and destroy the project using this methodology.

Scope creep is a major obstacle for any project management team. Scope creep happens when a client asks to add additional features to the project down the line that were never part of the original project's scope. This unnecessarily stretches the project and adds time, effort, and money. Scope creep can be the downfall of a project if the stakeholders and project managers cannot define boundaries and stick to the original plan. The widening of a project's scope multiplies deliverables, adds to the stress and workload of project teams, and reduces job satisfaction due to the constant rearrangement of scope. Teams will lose focus and motivation or rush into decisions, which makes the final product worse. As agile project management delivers the project in incremental pieces, the projects are exposed to scope creep.

3: High demands on time from project teams will have negative effects in the long run on their well-being.

Agile project management teams are required to put large amounts of their time into the project. Due to the regular schedule of meetings across several teams, the workflow of project management teams can be disrupted. The cross-functional teams must meet regularly with testers, clients, and project stakeholders to ensure the delivery of the right project at the right time. This need for constant collaboration and interaction can put significant strain on the team members' relationships and time management abilities. Due to this, the teams can experience burnout and develop heavy stress. This will in turn affect the performance of project management teams in agile project management. For all these reasons, their work-life balance can also be toppled, which can affect the personal lives of employees.

4: Agile is unsuitable for long-term projects.

The agile project management methodology is not suitable for every project. It is not a one-size-fits-all kind of methodology. It was developed for software development by software developers to speed up the process, though it can also be applied to several other industries and domains. The iterative approach of agile project management is not desirable in several industries, like construction, where the final product is fixed and clients do not want to change the outcome or final product. For example, only 27.4% of manufacturing companies rely entirely on Agile but use it along with other methodologies (Source: Zippia). In such industries, a waterfall framework is better suited than agile project management. Even in software development, for which it was exclusively developed in the first place, it is not compatible with long-term projects. The level of fragmentation in the methodology is not compatible with long-term projects.

5. Agile project management is susceptible to poor resource planning.

And agile project management teams do not necessarily know their result or the next cycle of delivery, which puts them in the dark about the progress and result of the project. According to a report, 44% of Agile projects fail due to a lack of experience with Agile methods. Even from day one, it can be challenging to predict the costs of resources and time involved in finishing the project. As the project gets bigger and more complex, this problem will exponentially increase, making it difficult to stay motivated and interested in the project. Even project stakeholders lose their interest and patience, leading to disappointment and bitterness between management and teams. When the result gets postponed due to situations and obstacles like scope creep, it adds to the confusion among project managers about accurately planning their resources. When factors like team members, time, and money invested are miscalculated in the resource planning stage, project management and communication get harder, increasing the chance of miscommunication and putting the project at risk.

6. No finite end can be seen in the initial stages of the project.

Agile project management indeed requires minimal planning in the beginning stages, which can boost the project management team's performance in the initial stages. However, it also means that without a result or goal to achieve in the end, there is no clear vision for the final product among team members. It can lead to project management teams losing motivation and drive to work on the project. Moreover, adding more features will only sidetrack teams from the main scope of the project, which is most likely generally unknown to members.

No matter the potential disadvantages of agile project management, project managers can always do their research beforehand and choose the preferred agile project management framework to implement according to the needs of the project. With the right experience and qualifications, you can always understand the demands of a project and decide whether or not to use agile project management as your preferred methodology. With careful planning, strong leadership, and effective collaboration, this methodology can be used to bring about a dramatic change in the efficiency of your project.

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Conclusion

Agile project management is a flexible and iterative project management style that emphasises client satisfaction, teamwork, and continual improvement. The Agile Manifesto outlines the concepts of Agile project management, emphasising values such as client happiness, adaptability, and cooperation. Adopting an agile project management method can result in benefits such as greater customer satisfaction, shorter time-to-market, improved communication and transparency, continuous improvement, and empowered teams. However, Agile has problems such as a lack of structure, trouble with long-term planning, and a reluctance to change. Before selecting to use an Agile method for project management, it is critical to assess the specific needs of the project and company.

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