How Is Agile Different From Conventional Approaches?

The process of arranging, coordinating, modifying, and managing resources is known as project management. It entails determining and adjusting the project's resources, time, money, quality, and scope. There are two distinct methods of project management: agile and conventional. 

In Agile and Conventional management, the project manager controls and monitors the project. They make choices to guarantee the project stays on course and achieves its objectives. Risk, quality, and change management are also necessary for both strategies. Let's examine the variations and parallels between Agile and Conventional project management and how they stack against one another. 

An Overview Of Conventional And Agile Project Management Approach 

Project management entails organizing, motivating, regulating, and planning processes and resources to accomplish particular objectives. The two primary schools of thought are classic and agile project management methodologies. 

1. Conventional Project Management 

Conventional project management is a sequential and linear technique of managing projects. It is sometimes referred to as the Waterfall method. It adheres to a rigorous approach in which the project's planning, designing, developing, and testing phases must all be finished before going on to the next. Projects with precise specifications and expected results are best suited for this approach.

Planning and design play a significant role in conventional project management, one of its primary traits. It involves defining the project's scope, creating a thorough plan, and determining the resources needed to finish the project. Subsequently, the project plan guides the whole undertaking and provides a reference point for all involved parties.

2. Agile Project Management

Agile software development is a broad methodology that prioritizes flexibility to adapt rapidly to change, timeboxing, cooperation, and collaboration. Agile management qualifications strongly emphasize adaptability, customer collaboration, and teamwork. This method focuses on continual updates and incorporating user feedback with every software development iteration.

Agile software development prioritizes flexibility and teamwork above a set procedure to produce desired outcomes. Adaptive planning is arguably the best element of agile, which is why project managers worldwide love it.

Agile frameworks are widespread and include Scrum and Kanban. They not only promote decision-making but also avoid wasting time on variables that are subject to change. The company prioritizes customer satisfaction throughout software development and leverages available resources to expedite work.

Difference Between Agile And Conventional Methods

The difference between a conventional and Agile method or Agile vs. Waterfall is clear and concise; we have covered the significant difference between them for your better understanding in the table below:

Also, check:Why Agile methodology is better than Waterfall?

Benefits Of Conventional And Agile Approaches

Examine the distinct advantages of both Agile and Conventional project management approaches. Discover the unique advantages that each offers, including crucial information for making wise decisions in ever-changing project environments with conventional and  Agile benefits and challenges.

Conventional Project Management Benefits

1. Definable Standards

In conventional project management, the planning or analysis stage is essential. Estimating expenses, timelines, and necessary resources is now more straightforward. Setting clear expectations helps to guarantee that stakeholders and team members are aware of the timetable and expected results.

2. Defined Roles

Every person plays a part in a successful project, much like the project definition states. The project manager assigns tasks so that each team member has a specific responsibility and ensures everyone is operating as productively as possible.

For instance, one person might collect information from consumer surveys, another might look into sales statistics, and another might look into the competition. As instructed by the project manager, each individual completes their allocated duty.

3. Records

Clear documentation is necessary for every stage, beginning with planning. All parties involved may use project materials as a guide. These can also serve as a reference for project managers and future initiatives. Providing updates to management or other stakeholders can also benefit from this material.

4. Accountability 

A project manager's primary goal is to ensure the team members meet their goals and finish the work on schedule and within budget. This model assists the organization by letting stakeholders and other team members know that they can contact the project manager with any questions or requests for updates. Ultimately, a project's success is the project manager's responsibility.

5. Regulation 

Each phase has stringent requirements before the project proceeds to the next step. It guarantees that the initial plan will remain the same. The project manager approves any modification request after the possible effects are examined.

Agile Project Management Benefits 

1. Adaptability

In project management, flexibility refers to the capacity to modify specifications, reorder priorities, and reallocate resources as necessary. The project manager uses Agile principles and 

values to divide work into smaller time frames, known as sprints, that are part of a more significant project. Sprints can promote more frequent updates with less influence on the overall objective.

It can benefit customer-focused organizations that undergo regular changes, such as technology and retail. The ability to prioritize new features or requirements and postpone others based on necessity, whether in system development or business processes, demonstrates that a company is attending to the demands of its clients, customers, or staff.

2. Timely And Reliable Delivery

Establishing trust with customers can be achieved by a firm through regular updates that cater to their demands. Many Agile projects finish iterations or deploy new software in 2-4 weeks. If done regularly, this can verify the assumptions made by a customer.

For instance, if a company's app has a feature request or bug frequently reported, the project manager may push back some less important requirements to later sprints to prioritize fixing the issue with an early sprint. When managers consistently respond to complaints and requests, customers can tell.

3. Transparency 

Agile frameworks may be adopted by numerous businesses to improve transparency. For instance, some frameworks use visual tools that make it possible for most or all stakeholders to see where each activity is located in a timeline.

Transparency is essential for the project because agile focuses on feedback from customers or business stakeholders. For instance, if the customer care team has received numerous customer comments regarding a new shopping cart feature that the project manager has included in a later sprint, someone may want to start working on it sooner.

4. Cooperative

People who do not usually participate in project management can be a part of agile teams. Clients, staff members from various departments, and outside consultants fall under this category. It contributes to ongoing software, system, and process improvement that meets end-user needs.

Which Approach Improves The Results Of The Project?

The decision between agile versus conventional software development techniques is influenced by several variables, including the project's size and complexity, timeframe, and requirement ambiguity. Agile approaches frequently provide more significant benefits for dynamic and changing projects, whereas conventional methods could be appropriate for clearly defined and stable projects.

When there is a significant level of uncertainty in the project, frequent stakeholder participation is required, or requirements are susceptible to change, agile development methodologies have shown to be quite effective. Agile approaches enable the team to respond to changing conditions more quickly and provide incremental value throughout the project lifetime by implementing iterative feedback loops.

But there are still situations where conventional approaches make sense, especially when working on projects with precise specifications, tight deadlines, and little room for modification. Traditional development's sequential framework might offer a systematic and predictable approach.

Ultimately, the decision between agile and conventional software development methodologies should be based on a thorough analysis of the particular needs, limitations, and degree of adaptability required for the project. A hybrid technique that integrates the advantages of both approaches may also be considered to achieve the ideal balance and optimize project results.

How To Select The Appropriate Approach

There isn't a "one-size-fits-all" strategy for every project; it is crucial to remember that. The decision to use a particular approach is influenced by several variables, including the project's size, resources, and goals. The project manager should confer with relevant stakeholders in project management to select an appropriate technique. Examine the project's needs, the technology used, the risks and dangers, the schedule, and the budget.

• The agile methodology is best suited for projects whose requirements are ambiguous or subject to frequent changes. At the same time, it aligns better with the conventional approach when project requirements are well-defined and understood from the start.
• The conventional project management style is better suited to cut costs if no new technology or tools are used; in the meantime, agile software development methods provide developers with more excellent room to experiment with the latest technologies.
• It is recommended to use the standard methodology only if the project is protected from unwelcome risks and dangers. Thanks to the agile strategy, the project team will be able to apply risk management and necessary modifications to optimize project outcomes. 

An agile team requires less labor than a conventional team. However, the traditional technique works best with large and complicated teams and projects, which raises the necessary budget.

Become A Project Manager With The Best Agile Practices

With Agile managers and leaders, agile corporate transitions are complete. This is due to the essential role that agile managers play throughout the entire process. They lead the revolution and inspire team members and the organization to embrace Agility. The essence of the SimpliAxis Agile for Managers Workshop emerges even more due to their dynamic and catalytic involvement. An overview of Agile approaches and practices is provided in the Agile for Managers Workshop, which also recognizes how Agile adoption can align with organizational objectives.

The Bottom Line

There are two different ways to organize and finish projects: agile and conventional project management methods. Consistent and adaptable, agile management highly values software functionality and client happiness. With traditional project management, on the other hand, the emphasis is on meeting project criteria and adhering to a specific plan, which is more rigid and linear. 

Pros and downsides apply to both approaches. A project's requirements and limitations will frequently determine which option is best. While selecting a strategy, it is critical to consider the project's needs, the team's background, and the available resources. In certain circumstances, project teams may choose to combine aspects of conventional project management with Agile project management to strike a balance between predictability and flexibility.