WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WATERFALL AND AGILE PROJECT APPROACH?
Project Management: Looking at project approach? Waterfall or Agile Project Management? What is the difference between waterfall and agile project approach? When and how should we determine project approach?
OURdiscussion this week focusses on project approach and specifically between waterfall and agile. When should we decide the project approach and what factors to consider? We will start by defining what we mean by waterfall and agile.
A waterfall model project approach involves discrete project development stages; specification, design, implementation, testing and maintenance. Basically, one stage must be complete before progress to the next stage is possible and in practice there is significant iteration between the stages.
An Agile project approach involves delivering project outputs incrementally and using a family of agile behaviours, techniques, concepts and frameworks. Agile ways of working can be used in both projects and business and usual (BAU). When Agile is used in projects, it is usually weaved and blended at the project delivery level to carefully map project governance with the delivery team. Agile project management is NOT only for software development projects but rather can be used on all projects to deliver value incrementally in production.
Here are some of the reasons or factors why project approach has become so important in project management. Projects have become larger; Technologically more challenging and sophisticated (complex); Organised with a higher number of contractors and partners, and politically and globally influenced; Large and complex capital projects often incur significant budget and schedule overruns; Research shows that one of the reasons for project failure is the increasing complexity of projects or an underestimation of the project complexity;
Projects can be classified into simple (Obvious), complicated and complex. Simple projects are projects where the team has done similar work before, the project output can be predicted with certainty and therefore the project risk is low. Therefore the recommended approach here would be waterfall, however if the project team feel and like Agile, they could also as well deliver the simple project using agile.
The simple/obvious domain represents the "known knowns". This means that
there are rules in place and the overall environment is stable. Complicated projects are those involving large number of contracted work which is also subcontracted over and over. The complicated domain consists of the "known unknowns". The relationship between cause and effect requires analysis or expertise; there are a range of right answers but the risk is from medium to high as they may be lots of uncertainties. The recommended approach here is hybrid that is a combination of waterfall and agile but there will be need to carefully map the roles involving project governance and delivery.
Complex projects are those whose outputs cannot be predicted with 100 percent certainty. When a project is viewed as a system, then it possesses char
acteristics of a complex project having large number of interacting elements and emergent properties. For example projects involving rapid advancing technologies and that in the next 6 to 12 months technology, environment may change and hence project outputs may need to be adjusted so that they meet closely the customers’ requirements.
The complex domain represents the "unknown unknowns". Which may mean that “We don’t know that we don’t know what may happen in the project”. Cause and effect can only be deduced in retrospect, and there are no right answers. The risks involved in this type of project is very high for obvious reasons and therefore it is recommended to use agile project management in this type of projects. The reason being agile ap
proach aligns well with lean start-up. The project team will deliver incrementally and get feedback quickly in order to flex and adapt to the changing environments.
Why is project approach so important in project management? It aids in determination of planning, coordination and control requirements, If not properly understood, it hinders the clear identification of goals and objectives of major projects, It is an important criteria in the selection of an appropriate project organizational structure, for example in agile projects management it is a requirement that customer subject matter expert be part of the project delivery team. It influences the selection of project inputs, e.g. the expertise and experience requirements of management personnel.
Final thoughts: It is critical to understand when a project approach is determined in projects. Project approach or strategy should be done as part of the project initiation stage or staring-up project process. Project approach is supposed to be part of the section of the project charter of project brief. Project approach should highlight the strategy the team will use to deliver the project objectives. Other decisions may include the make or buy decision. What project methodology to be used in the projects. Decisions on whether to use waterfall or agile methodologies based on how the project has been classified.
Once an appropriate project approach have been chosen and documented. Project manager must ensure she or he undertakes assessment activities during the project to ascertain whether the chosen approach is working.
For example in PRINCE2 Agile® we use the Agile-o-meter assessment tool to assess the risks associated with using agile so that necessary mitigation responses to ensure that you derive maximum benefits from the choses approach.
______________________ This article was written by Dr Laban Mwansa, MSP®, PMP®, PRINCE2® Practitioner, Agile®, Laban is a consultant and trainer in project management and specifically trainer/coach in PMP®, PRINCE2® Practitioner, and PRINCE2 Agile® in Zambia, South Africa and Europe for many years. He was one of the founding members of the PMI Zambia. He is also the managing partner of Betaways Innovation Systems and can be reached at: Laban.Mwansa@ betaways- innovations. com, +260975280392 or WhatsApp +27817029669. He is also a professional member of PMSA and PMI-USA.