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What are the benefits of agile project management?
This project management method is increasingly used by companies for software development, and sometimes for other types of projects.
If the words Scrum, Lean, sprint, Kanban method, or product owner are as vague as Chinese characters, don't worry: by the end of this article, you will know what an agile method is and how it works.
In this article, we will discuss what are the benefits of agile project management and we will dive deeper into the most popular one which is the Scrum methodology.
Ready to explore the jungle of project management and become agile?
Agile project management is an approach that divides a project into different independent sub-projects, called iterations, which will be repeated until the desired result is reached.
The best way to understand the needs of the users and the customer is to allow them to test the product along the development process, in real-life situations.
This avoids the tunnel effect and reduces the time between the formulation of a need and its realization. The product is enriched throughout the project lifecycle and its conformity is checked regularly.
Changes should be seen as opportunities rather than obstacles. Indeed, new ideas can emerge and bring unplanned functionality to the product, thus creating value.
Clear and regular communication remains the key element. There is a real need to create cohesion by bringing all stakeholders together, without intermediaries. Interaction is crucial on a daily basis to reach a clear product-oriented goal.
The idea is not to develop a perfectly detailed project plan before it is even launched but to test efficient practices and techniques for a single project. Through iterations, the team regularly questions its way of working and relies on an empirical approach to optimize its efficiency.
It is thus possible to keep the "winning" methods or to reject the less efficient ones, always with a view to improving the overall realization process. Experience comes with practice, and the project can be launched earlier as less time is spent planning it.
Changing requirements are sometimes necessary for a manager or team members to work more efficiently.
Agile is opposed to traditional waterfall project management methodologies such as the V-cycle. Linear and predictive, they leave little room for unexpected events and changes.
At one time, they caused a particularly high failure rate in IT projects, due to the tunnel effect. With the product delivered at the end, it was sometimes realized too late that the product did not (or no longer) fully met expectations due to the lack of visibility and flexibility, which could lead to late delivery or budget overruns.
Agile project management addresses this problem, as it allows not only to take into account the needs expressed initially, but also the changes or new needs arising during the development process. This ensures that the product always meets expectations.
In 2001, 17 software development professionals met to share and formalize their best practices. They wrote the Agile Manifesto.
The objective of this bible of agility? To encourage the improvement of software development based on four values:
We favour... ✅ |
rather than… ❌ |
individuals and their interactions | processes and tools |
operational software | complete documentation |
collaboration with clients | contractual negotiation |
adaptation to change | rigidly following a plan |
It shows 12 principles that agile teams should adopt in their work methods, which are:
Let's take the example of a project that must meet a specific need: to move.
Using a classic project management method, we build each element of a car one after the other: the wheels, then the body, the engine, the headlights, the steering wheel, etc. Alone, these elements do not fulfil the initial need to move, and it will be necessary to wait until they are all built and assembled.
With agile project management, the idea is to quickly propose a very minimalist first version (minimum viable product or MVP) that meets the main need and to improve it over the course of the iterations. As shown in the diagram below, the first version does not look like a car, but rather a skateboard.
The idea then is to take advantage of quick customer feedback on this first version and improve the product with each iteration to arrive at the final result of the car.
There are several benefits of agile project management. Agile management:
Scrum is the most widely used agile method. It proposes a framework that still allows great adaptability, even for complex projects.
In particular, it defines:
Here are the other agile methods among the most used:
The main challenge, at the heart of agility, is to deliver value as soon as possible to satisfy the customer in an environment that tends to become more complex (stronger competition, increased uncertainty and frequency of market changes, etc.).
Finally, agile allows to create and deliver a quality product with high added value, while adapting to the changes of its environment.
To do this, principles and values must guide any agile project management. Project management software that facilitates collaborative work can be a major asset.
You already know this, but you will have to make sure that the employees concerned are well-trained (or recruit the people with relevant skills), and carry out changes in management so that agility becomes an integral part of the company or business culture. Innovation should help your company to grow better!
And you, have you adopted the agile culture in your organization and, if so, what are your feedbacks? If not, what are your obstacles?