Project Management Methodologies – Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, and Kanban

You make hundreds of decisions over the course of a software development project. The first decision you make is which project management methodologies you will be following for the project.

There are a variety of different project management frameworks and some popular ones among them are Agile, Waterfall, Scrum, and Kanban. Some of them, like Waterfall, follow a structured and rigid approach while some others, like Agile, are more flexible and adaptive to the changes. Each one of them has its own advantages and disadvantages, so how would you know which one is the best for a particular project?

In this article we’ll cover the four popular project management methodologies. Also we’ll be discussing the differences between them. So, without further ado, let’s get straight into the business.

Agile Project Management Methodologies

Agile project management methodology is based on an iterative and incremental approach to development. Rather than planning the project in-depth at the beginning, Agile project management methodologies are adaptive to the requirements changes and encourage constant feedback from the client and end-users. 

On every iteration, cross-functional teams work together over a certain period of time. The work is prioritised depending on the business priorities and organised into a backlog. The goal of every iteration is to develop a working product. Both the business stakeholders and developers work together to align the product with their company goals and needs.

12 Principles of Agile Project Management Methodologies

Agile refers to the process that aligns to the Agile manifesto. The Manifesto for Agile Software Development was published in February 2001 when 17 software developers met to discuss lightweight development methods. The manifesto has 12 principles to guide development teams on how to execute their project with agility.

1. Customer satisfaction is the foremost priority.
2. Change in requirements is always welcome even if it delays the deployment.
3. Keep the delivery consistent and frequent.
4. The business stakeholders and developers should work together on a daily basis till the end of the project.
5. Team up with motivated individuals. Provide them with the environment and support they need. And most importantly, trust them to get the job done.
6. The most effective way of message conveying within the team is a face-to-face conversation.
7. A working software is the initial measure to identify progress.
8. Agile project management methodologies rely on sustainable development. Thus, the company owners, developers, and users should sync and maintain a constant pace throughout the development process.
9. Development agility requires continuous attention to technical excellence.
10. It is essential to have the ability to maximise the amount of pending work.
11. Only the self-organising teams can produce the best architectures and designs.
12. The team themself adjust their behaviour to increase productivity in regular intervals.

Why should you follow Agile Project Management Methodologies?

Agile methodologies are evolved from several different lightweight approaches from the 90s. It is considered to be a response to some project manager’s disfavor of the Wigid waterfall approach to project management. Here is why agile can be beneficial for your project:

• Changes are welcome: Agile methodology follows shorter planning cycles, making it easier for you to accept and accommodate changes at any time during the project. You can also reprioritise and improve the backlogs which enables your team to work on the changes first, if needed.

• The project goal can be unknown: Agile development methodologies are very suitable for the projects, where the end-goal cannot be clarified at the beginning. As the project progresses, the end-goal will come to light and the Agile development methodologies will easily adapt the change.

• Faster project delivery: With Agile project management methodologies you break down the project into several sprints or iterations. Hence, it becomes easy for the development team to identify and solve bugs more quickly. All of it results in delivery of a high-quality product development within the quickest time possible.
• Effective communication among team members: Agile promotes face-to-face interactions among team members which makes communication effective. This way, team members feel responsible for their own part of work.
• Customers are involved: As the Agile project management methodologies focus on executing the project in several iterations, the customers can see and evaluate every iteration on its completion. This way, they can see the progress and feedback frequently, which improves their satisfaction.
• Consistent improvement: Agile project management encourages customers to feedback on every sprint or iteration. Due to its adaptability to the changes, Agile helps project managers to not only improve the completed iteration but also the future iterations.