It wasn’t until 2019 that I learned the difference between agile and waterfall methodologies. Up until that point, I had only managed projects in the construction industry and didn’t understand project management beyond that. Long story short, I met a guy who later became a really close friend that taught me all about agile, scrum and kanban. That led me down the rabbit hole of really wanting to understand more about the methodology I was familiar with and grasp what the real difference was in the other methodologies I had been exposed to.

The agile method in project management is an iterative approach that welcomes frequent changes, deliverables and major involvement from the client. One of the reasons it’s becoming more popular in organizations is because its values are based on a collaborative team effort. Different from the waterfall approach which  is more linear. A client sees the deliverable only after the project is basically complete. And management is from the top down, hence “Waterfall”.

I’ve outlined below the agile and waterfall methodologies and the benefits of understanding both in today’s workforce.

Waterfall

Waterfall project management is commonly known as the traditional method. It has clearly defined phases from ideation, design, build, implementation, then review. Each phase has to be completed before a new phase begins. This approach is better for projects with less ambiguity and a more predictive path. It makes total sense that it’s the approach I was most familiar with being that I come from the construction industry. It’s like, you build one restaurant so you already know the time and cost required to build 1,000 more. There isn’t a lot of room for change when requirements are standard for a specific type of project in most industries.

69% of the construction industry follows the traditional approach to project management. 14% follow the agile approach and the rest is a combination of the two.

See Project Management Approaches at PMI’s Pulse of the Profession

Agile

Agile project management is a methodology with several frameworks including the above mentioned scrum and kanban. Of these frameworks, scrum is the most common approach. Simply put, scrum starts with gathering requirements that make up the backlog. The backlog is then prioritized and then broken down into sprints. The sprints are usually a couple of weeks long and there is always a deliverable at the end of each sprint.

During my PMP studies and career transition into a more technical role, I realized how common Agile, specifically scrum, was used in software implementation projects. I had a chance to be on a software implementation project where we utilized the scrum framework. I can say that the requirements gathering process at the beginning is the most critical piece to make the implementation successful.

According to PMI, 36% of organizations in the IT industry follow an Agile approach compared to 39% who use waterfall and the rest a combination of the two.

Benefits of knowing both.

The Switch.

Since the pandemic, many companies have a better understanding of how important it is to keep up with ever-changing technology now that we are moving into a more digitized society. As women in project management, we should be intentional about really comprehending how both waterfall and agile approaches work. A quick job search for Agile Coaches on LinkedIn will bring up over 28,000 results as more companies are making the switch in how they manage projects.

Knowing which method is best for each project type.

Both project management methods have their advantages and disadvantages . Knowing both methodologies can help you determine the best strategy. You may recognize that a project is extremely complex with requirements that are not well defined; using the agile approach would be best. Adapting to change and having the ability to pivot quickly is essential to the success of managing a complex project. On the contrary, projects that are shorter in duration with clearly defined requirements would use the waterfall or predictive model. Knowing how to make that determination for different project types can save a whole lot of time and money.

More options in the workforce.

Bottom line, when you’re searching for project management roles, you increase your options when you understand different styles of project management. And in reality, it’s the biggest flex in having a career in project management. It helps your career development and ultimately opens many doors for new opportunities across industries and functions.

By, Airess Rembert, PMP, Member of Women Of Project Management & Blogger at The Nerd Bae

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