Traditional vs Agile Project Management [Which one is better] - PMaspire

In this article we are going to explain traditional vs agile project management and run a fair comparison between them. It will help you to understand which one is better for your career ladder. Let’s read the entire content first.

Project management methodology is simply a set of guidelines and processes for running a project smoothly.

This is an indispensable element for the project managers and the whole businesses for doing their act perfectly.

If you are a project manager of a company, you must choose one method. Your chosen method will ultimately define that how you will work and how you will communicate.

However, several project management methodologies exist, but all of those are not effective and implementable.

Here, traditional (waterfall) project management and agile project management are the best twos.

After that, if we want to pick one, the agile project management method is comparatively more popular among them. 71% of companies are using this method for their project.

Besides, some people say the traditional methodology is the best and use it their company.

This article will help you to find out which one is actually the best between traditional and agile project management. So, read on to explore it.

What is Traditional Project Management?

Traditional project management is the oldest methodology in the world which was outlined in 1970 first by Dr. Winston Royce.

Since then, this method has a great impact on the software industry. As a result, traditional project management is also called the waterfall approach.

In this method, one project is completed in sequential order.

Some fixed stages like planning, designing, building, testing, deployment, etc., are used in almost all the projects in this methodology.

In traditional project management, all the requirements are fixed. The deadline and budgets are also fixed early on in the project.

That is why, when the project is ongoing, you will not be able to do any corrections. However, some advantages you will get if you choose this method.

For example, this method is very easy to understand and use. So, even if you are a new person in this project management sector, you will easily be able to handle it.

Besides, the structure of this method is rigid, which is considered a disadvantage, but it is a kind of strength as well.

Since you don’t have any way to go back, you have to be perfect in every stage of the project, which will help you get the best result.

Now, let’s talk about the negative side of the traditional project management methodology.

First of all, the rigidity of this methodology means that you will not be able to make any corrections even if you need them urgently when the project is underway. So, there has a huge risk of project failure here.

Secondly, we have said before that all the requirements of this project method are fixed, but the time and situation are being changed every day.

So, sometimes it is not possible to be successful in every project with some fixed requirements.

Then again, this traditional project management methodology is applicable for some short and straightforward projects where all the requirements are clear and fixed.

That’s all about the waterfall or traditional project management method. Now let’s get into the agile project management methodology.

What is Agile Project Management?

Nowadays, introducing a new product to the market has become much difficult than before. This is because you have to implement new ideas at every moment.

Marketing policy has been totally changed. If you want to be successful in the market now, you must identify the needs of the people and try to fulfill them profitably.

The agile project management method exactly refers to these things, which was first introduced in 2001. It works totally opposite of the waterfall or traditional project management method.

As a definition, agile project management is a methodology that promotes the continuous repetition of the development of a project.

An example can clear you well. Think you have introduced a new product to the market by following the agile method.

Now, you need to take the customer feedback and try to add more value if the customer wants. Then, after developing the product, you need to retake the customer feedback and try to develop as well.

This cycle will be running in the total lifecycle of the product. After few phases, the product will be rated ten on ten.

That is how you can deliver the best product in the market according to the agile project management method.

Ultimately, agile project management methodology reduces the risk of the projects significantly and allows to deliver the best product in the market.

You can use this method in almost every project as it is the most flexible one.

There also have some disadvantages to this methodology as well. First of all, there have no fixed plans here, which makes the whole process very hard.

You will not be able to manage the resources early on in the project. Besides, the collaboration of all the departments is also needed for every project. It is challenging for this high rigidity structure of this method. That is all about agile project management.

Traditional Vs Agile Project Management: Which One is Better?

Well, now let’s find out all the significant differences between traditional and agile project management. After that, we will try to determine that which one is better.

Flexibility

Flexibility is the most significant difference between traditional and agile project management methods. In the case of the traditional project management method, you will not be able to change anything after starting the project.

But, if you do your project in the agile project management method, you can change almost everything about your project anytime if you need, which makes this method almost risk-free.

Customer Satisfaction

The agile project management method can assure almost 100% customer satisfaction.

Here, authority takes customer feedback and then tries to improve the quality of their product. But  in the case of the traditional project management method, no customer feedback is taken after starting the project.

The complexity of the Project

The agile project management method is appropriate for all kinds of complex methods. On the other side, some simple projects can be handled by the traditional method.

Customer Involvement

Customers are deeply involved in those projects, which are done by the agile project management method. But in the case of the traditional method, there is no customer involvement after starting the project.

Reviews and Approval

Customer reviews are only taken in the agile method. Here, all businesses try to develop their product until the customer satisfies.

But, in the traditional method, all the market researches are done before starting the project.

These are mainly the key differences between traditional and agile project management. So now we are giving you a table that will show you all the difference between.

It will help you to understand the difference between traditional and agile project management at a glance.

Now the main question comes, which one is the best? The answer is if we think contemporarily, then obviously, agile project management methodology is the best.

Here, it will also be determined according to the scale of your project. If your project is simple and small in scale, then you can also choose a traditional methodology.

But, if the project is large and complex, you must choose the agile method to succeed in today’s market.

Conclusion

Traditional and agile project management both are good in some perspectives.

But nowadays, in this highly competitive market, if you want to run a project perfectly, you have only one option, the agile method.

That’s all of our discussion. We have given all the necessary information here regarding this topic. We hope now you understand traditional vs agile project management and which one is better for you. Now the choice is yours.