Differences Between Waterfall, Agile, and Hybrid Project Management

Jul 7, 2024

Differences Between Waterfall, Agile, and Hybrid Project Management

Introduction

  • Presenter: Candice Porter
  • Focus: Differences between Waterfall, Agile, and Hybrid project management
  • Purpose: Highlight differences and recommend scenarios for each methodology

Waterfall Project Management

  • Synonyms: Traditional, Predictive Project Management
  • Key Characteristics:
    • Emphasis on developing and strictly following a plan
    • Often used for creating robust project schedules (e.g., in MS Project)
    • Focus on well-known requirements
  • Typical Use Cases:
    • Building a house or bridge
  • Process Flow:
    1. Gather requirements
    2. Create design
    3. Develop/build the solution
    4. Test and validate
    5. Deploy (Big outcome at the end)
  • Visual: Single big deployment (e.g., handing over house keys)

Agile Project Management

  • Key Characteristics:
    • Highly collaborative with the customer
    • Best for projects with less well-known requirements
    • Originated for software development
  • Typical Use Cases:
    • Innovative projects, software development
  • Process Flow:
    • Sprints: Time-boxed intervals for completing specific tasks
    • Incremental delivery
    • Continuous interaction with customer for feedback and tweaks
  • Visual: Multiple smaller increments delivered in succession

Hybrid Project Management

  • Definition: Combined approach tailored to organizational needs
  • Key Characteristics:
    • Mix of Waterfall and Agile
    • Adapted to organizational structure, culture, team, and project requirements
    • May involve switching between methodologies or running parallel tracks
  • Typical Example: Product development with hardware (Waterfall) and software (Agile) components

Key Tools and Concepts

  • Waterfall:
    • Traditional Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
    • Dependencies and Critical Path analysis
  • Agile:
    • Backlog: Prioritized list of requirements (Must-haves, Should-haves, Could-haves, Won't-haves)
    • Sprint Backlog: Tasks for a defined sprint duration (1-4 weeks)
    • Dedicated resources and specific roles (e.g., Scrum)

Summary

  • Waterfall: Best for projects with well-known requirements, full planning at the start
  • Agile: Best for projects with less defined requirements, continuous customer interaction, and incremental delivery
  • Hybrid: Flexible, combined approach, tailored to specific project and organizational needs

Additional Resources

  • Candice mentions additional content, such as a video titled “What is Agile Project Management?” for deeper understanding.

Conclusion

  • Candice encourages questions and engagement in the comments section.
  • Invitation to subscribe to the channel for more project management content.