In recent years, the term “agile project management” has become popular in business circles. But what does it mean? In a nutshell, agile project management is a methodology that focuses on delivering small, incremental pieces of functionality early and often. This approach allows for more flexibility and responsiveness to change than traditional project management methodologies.
The Origins of Agile Project Management
Agile project management traces its roots back to the software development world. In 2001, a group of software developers came together to develop a set of principles for how they thought software development should be done. These principles were formalized in the “Agile Manifesto,” which has since become the foundation for all agile approaches to project management.
How Agile Project Management Works
In traditional project management approaches, such as waterfall, all the requirements for a project are gathered up front and then the project is executed according to that plan. That can work well for some types of projects, but it can be problematic for others. Why? Because it assumes that everything you need to know about the project can be known up front, which is often not the case.
With agile project management, on the other hand, requirements are gathered and plans are made on a much smaller scale. Rather than trying to plan out an entire project in advance, agile teams focus on planning just one or two weeks ahead. This allows them to be more responsive to changes that come up during the course of the project. It also makes it easier to make course corrections if necessary—something that can be very difficult (if not impossible) to do with a traditional waterfall approach.
Benefits of Agile Project Management
There are many potential benefits of using an agile approach to project management. One of the most significant is that it can help reduce risk. By delivering small increments of functionality early and often, you can get feedback from stakeholders on what is working and what is not. This feedback can then be used to make adjustments to the remaining scope of work, which can help reduce or eliminate problems down the road.
While there are many different project management approaches out there, agile has become increasingly popular in recent years due to its flexibility and ability to adapt to change. If you’re thinking about implementing agile project management for your next project, keep in mind its origins in software development and focus on delivering small pieces of functionality early and often. And finally, remember that one of the biggest benefits of agile is its ability to reduce risk by gathering feedback throughout the course of the project.
