Traditional vs.
Agile Project Management
Harnessing the Synergy of the Blend
Harjit Singh, MBA, PMP, CSM
OUTLINE
¢ What is like spinning the wheels in mud?
¢ Traditional Project Management (TPM) Model
¢ Agile Project Management (APM) Model
¢ Waterfall versus Agile
¢ Hybrid Model
¢ Case Study
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SPINNING THE WHEELS
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TRADITIONAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT (TPM)
MODEL
“Plan the work and work the plan”
• Ensure project
work is completed
• Define Objectives or officially
• Identify terminated
Stakeholders • Ensure accounts
• Define Deliverables • Perform planned are paid off
• Define work activities • Archive documents
Assumptions & • Collect/log work • Collect lessons
Constraints performance data learned
Monitor &
Initiation Planning Execution Closing
Control
• Define work • Monitor the
activities progress of work
• Estimate task performed
durations • Monitor the
• Estimate resources progress of work
• Establish baseline performers
using above info • Initiate change
requests if needed
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AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT (APM) MODEL
Sprints or Iterations 1, 2, ….., N
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AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT (APM) MODEL
Iteration 1, 2, ….., N
Execution
Monitor Final
Initiation Planning
& Control Closing
Closing
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SYSTEM/SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIFE
CYCLE (SDLC) OR WATERFALL VS. AGILE
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SYSTEM/SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT LIFE
CYCLE (SDLC) OR WATERFALL VS. AGILE
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WATERFALL OR AGILE?
¢ The two approaches
are not always
mutually-exclusive as ?
thought by most
people.
¢ A blended approach
can bring synergy
utilizing best of both
worlds.
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WHY AGILE?
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WHY AGILE? (CONTD.)
¢ Adaptability
¢ Time-to-market
¢ Reducedcosts
¢ Customer satisfaction
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ACTIVITY (10 MINUTES DOING + 10 MINUTES
DISCUSSING
¢ Samjust got hired by KB Homes
to manage a large project
involving construction of 120 new
homes. Help him decide whether
he should use pure traditional,
pure agile, or a hybrid PM
approach. Why and how?
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TPM MODEL APPLICATIONS
¢ TPM Model is typically used
when
a project is relatively familiar.
it is easy to define project goals
and solution.
it is easy to define clear scope and
deliverables.
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APM MODEL APPLICATIONS
¢ APM Model is typically used when
a project is relatively unfamiliar.
the solution is unknown.
there are more than one outcomes.
there is direct alignment between
business and development strategies
(e.g., in a business environment
where software development
dominates).
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ACTIVITY
¢ 10 Minutes Quiz
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TPM-APM HYBRID MODEL
¢ The hybrid approach can help
during transition from the
traditional model to the Agile
model.
¢ In a business environment
where the alignment between
business and development
strategies is less direct, a
hybrid or blended approach
may be more appropriate.
¢ Traditional
(plan-driven)
approach at the higher levels
followed by the Agile
approach.
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HOW TO ACHIEVE THE HYBRID SYNERGY?
¢ Maximize business value by bringing minimal viable
product to the market more quickly.
¢ For
large infrastructure projects including both
hardware and software development, produce tangible
usable work products frequently.
¢ Let customers experience the incremental products
and provide feedback; be adaptive to changes.
¢ Empower teams to self-manage as much as possible.
¢ Keep customers engaged throughout the project if
and as much as possible.
¢ Reduce waste by eliminating unnecessary
documentation and reducing time to document
review and approval cycle.
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HYBRID APPROACH – REAL-LIFE APPLICATION:
CALTECH
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CASE STUDY: HYBRID WATERFALL-AGILE
METHODOLOGY
¢ Client: United States Federal
Agency
¢ Project: Design, Development, and
Implementation of Workflow
Applications to Increase Efficiency of
Agency’s Business Processes
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BACKGROUND
¢ Historically, the U.S. federal government large software
development projects must meet a predetermined list of
requirements.
¢ Development of these applications followed a traditional
Waterfall approach with requirements and system design
being delivered upfront.
¢ Throughout the development lifecycle, standard Waterfall
documentation was required for monitoring progress.
¢ Development occurred with little if any input from end-
users.
¢ A final release would then be deployed with plans for
application maintenance, but few plans for application
upgrades or modifications.
¢ This system led to a number of application failures and
dissatisfied end-users.
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HYBRID APPROACH
¢ Two development process levels
Waterfall: Designed to meet all government
requirements
Agile: Applications development by private contractor
¢ Work in the Agile environment is bubbled up every
quarter into a new release that is deployed into the
client's production environment
¢ Challenges using Agile in government environment
but benefits outweigh the challenges
¢ Benefits: Quick deployment of new functionalities
and enthusiastic end-user involvement
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TEAM STRUCTURE
¢ Two three distinct, but overlapping teams:
Program management team
Development team
Socialization team
¢ Each team is empowered to self-organize
and make decisions regarding their
activities.
¢ End-user representation is present in all
teams and is integrated into daily activities
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PROGRAM MANAGEMENT TEAM
¢ Responsible
for traditional program
management activities. These include:
Management of all team activities
Coordinating interaction between the
teams and the client
Development and maintenance of all
program documentation
Creation of Waterfall deliverables
Verification that contractual
requirements are met
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DEVELOPMENT TEAM
¢ Responsible for actual coding of the
application and unit testing
¢ Most development activities are Agile
in nature including daily scrum
meetings. However, the development
team is also responsible for the
completion of the System Design
Document required by Waterfall and
supports the creation of documents
required by the federal Infrastructure
Change Control Board.
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SOCIALIZATION TEAM
¢ Responsiblefor interacting with end-
users. Interactions include:
Presenting application briefings to
agency leadership
Responding to user questions
Troubleshooting user issues
Creating user materials such as the
application user guide
Training users
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METHODOLOGY
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METHODOLOGY (CONTD.)
¢ The first level (waterfall) used to
meet all requirements (for each
release, not for each sprint)
¢ The second level (Agile) used for
design and development of
applications
¢ The final stage (maintain) is ongoing
and used for requirements gathering
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OVERALL PROCESS FLOW
¢ Four quarterly releases
¢ Each release is composed of six two-week sprints
¢ Prior to beginning sprint 1, requirements are translated into user stories and
entered into our backlog
¢ The backlog is then prioritized by the Product Owner
¢ The Agile development team then evaluates the prioritized backlog and slates
user stories for each sprint within the release
¢ Agile methods are then utilized for the completion of six sprints, with each
sprint resulting in a functional build of the application
¢ Each build is deployed in the test environment and tested by the Product
Owner, team members, and select end-users. Test results are then compiled
and user feedback is incorporated into the next sprint
¢ At the end of sprint 6, a final build is subjected to extensive system testing
¢ When complete, required documentation is updated by the program
management team
¢ Once accepted, the build is then deployed into the federal staging environment
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ACTIVITY (20 MINUTES)
¢ Youare program manager for a
large and complicated global
infrastructure refresh effort for
Hewlett-Packard’s product
manufacturing units. You have to
use the hybrid Waterfall-Agile
methodology. How can you
implement this methodology? Define
end-to-end hybrid process flow.
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REFERENCE: FULL CASE STUDY
¢ [Link]
waterfall-agile-development-federal-space-6089
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