Are you still using traditional project management methods and would like to learn more about agile project management? If so, then this article provides the answer to your queries, such as ‘What is agile project management?’ How it is different from traditional project management and many more. 

Many people ‌still do not know about the major differences between agile and traditional project management. If you are also then don’t worry. After reading this article you will be able to choose the method according to your needs. In this guide, we will help you ‌understand both styles. 

As we all know about traditional project management. It is a step-by-step plan. You have to make a plan before starting to work on a project, and follow different steps until the project is done. This method is suitable to choose when the project is clear and does not change much with time. 

Agile project management is more flexible. It allows your team to break big steps into small parts and make changes whenever needed. It is good to choose this way when the project needs to adapt to new ideas or changes quickly. 

Below we have discussed the all details of agile project management and explained how this method is different from traditional one. Let’s start!

What is agile project management?

Agile methodology is the way to handle projects by breaking them into small effective parts. Instead of deciding everything at once, team members decide to work in short cycles. In agile project management, teams can change plans quickly and improve their work step by step. 

Agile is working on the 4 important ideas, mentioned below:

• People over process: Team members speak freely and collaborate to resolve issues rather than merely adhering to strict protocols.
• Things that work are more important than papers: Teams prioritize creating things that work, rather than writing lots of documents.
• Consult customers frequently: Teams stay in contact with customers to know what they need and modify the work if necessary.
• Be flexible to modify: Plans can be altered at any time, so teams remain fluid and adapt to new ideas or requirements.

In this way, teams adopting the agile method can work in a better way and keep everyone involved.

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What are the 12 agile principles?

The 12 Agile principles are:

• First and foremost, it is essential to give customers effective software early that makes them happy. They want products that work, not long waits.
• It is good to accept changes, even late in the project. Customers can change their needs with time and that’s ok!
• Deliver your work progress often, every few weeks or months. Customers don’t like to wait too long to know the project’s progress.
• There should be a few minutes of meetings happening every day between developers and clients. Good and regular communication prevents many big complexities.
• Having a firm belief in your team and providing them with all the support that they need. Let them ‌ work according to their abilities and give their best.
• Try to talk face-to-face as much as you can instead of messaging and emails. In this way, you can deliver your message.
• Measure progress through working software, not just by plans or reports.
• Maintain a consistent work pace. Don’t always work too hard or everyone will tire and get it wrong.
• Always be mindful of good design and quality. Don’t rush and write poor or difficult-to-fix code.
• Keep things simple. Don’t make the work or process too complicated.
• Allow teams to self-organize. They know best how to break up the work and how to solve it.
• Check-in regularly to see how the team is doing and to find improvements and ways to work better.

What are the 5 different types of agile project management?

Agile is a broad term that includes various methods. These include:

• Scrum
• Kanban
• Lean
• Extreme Programming (XP)
• The Adaptive Project Framework (APF)

1. Scrum

This is the best method to adopt when there are a lot of changes required in a project. Work is done in small steps known as sprints, mostly 2 to 4 weeks. Every sprint has a clear objective. Teams have to check progress daily and make changes if needed. After completing sprints now members look at what was done and what the next plan should be. The Scrum Master assists in fixing issues, teaching the team members, and keeping focus on goals. 

2. Kanban

Kanban makes work visible and limits the number of work items in progress. It uses a Kanban board, with columns for ‘To Do’, ‘Doing’, and ‘Done’ to track work and a series of cards that represent work items, for a team to follow tasks. Kanban helps teams maintain a steady flow of work, identify problems quickly, and improve in small increments.

3. Lean

Lean takes the concepts of car manufacturing (Toyota) to make software and business teams work smarter.

Key concepts are:

• Eliminate waste
• Get feedback promptly
• Let the team make decisions
• Find improved ways of working

Lean makes new businesses do more with less and do things better.

4. Extreme programming (XP)

This is another agile way to help teams ‌work better and faster. Team can work quickly by:

• Two people write code together which leads to fewer mistakes. 
• Before writing the code, the team can write tests
• Code can be tested many times to recognize problems in the early stages. 

XP helps team members make good software having fewer errors

5. The Adaptive Project Framework (APF)

Most of the time, not all projects know their priority that why they want it first. This agile method helps with this by following changes as the project moves ahead. Instead of making plans at once for the project, the team prefers to divide the work into small parts and then make changes in their plans according to the next steps. In this way, projects can be better completed on time. 

Key differences between Agile and traditional project management

• Traditional projects use the waterfall model where you follow everything step by step from start to finish. Agile projects have small repeated steps called iterations or sprints. 
• Traditional projects want to make sure they have planned and designed everything before actually doing any work. Agile projects want to be adaptable to reorganize their plans at any point. 
• Traditional projects focus on work and the completion of deliverables on time. Agile projects focus mainly on whether the customer is satisfied with the product. 
• Traditional projects complete work in large sections, in order. Agile projects complete work in small increments – iterations, sprints which are usually 1 to 4 weeks.
• Traditional projects use a prescriptive set of rules to enact changes making it difficult to modify plans. Agile projects welcome opportunities for change and changes throughout the project. 
• Traditional project teams have designated roles and responsibilities that do not change. Agile teams have flexible roles that change based on the work.
• Traditional projects are less engaged with the customer throughout the project. Agile projects heavily engage their customers and provide constant feedback from them.
• Traditional projects want to plan, control, and anticipate possible risks ahead of time before doing any work. Agile projects want to react and respond to risks when they arise. 
• Traditional works best when the customer has solid requirements and becomes firm.

Benefits of agile project management

• Agile project management is an advanced method and is better to use as compared to the old method.
• Its flexibility allows people to change their plans on time.
• Team members can divide the whole work into small parts known as sprints.
• Through the agile method team can find problems faster and stay updated.
• Projects finish on time and consume less costs.
• This method provides more value to the business.
• The quality of the final results is higher as compared to normal methods.

Drawbacks of agile project management

• It does not work for a large, difficult project.
• Agile uses many small teams and many small updates.
• Writing documents during the course of the project can be tedious and slow.
• Agile does not plan much at the start.
• This means cost, work size, and time, are not all well-planned.
• So it may not be a good fit for all projects.