Project Management-Extra Musing

Project Management-Extra Musing

http://www.cio.com/article/3052651/project-management/which-is-best-waterfall-or-agile.html

Waterfall or Agile?

There was a question about a client that asked.. "Which is best – Waterfall or Agile?" What this article is discussing is that it is not about which one is best but it is about which one fits better a specific part of as specific project...

To make it clearer, you probably have many many dresses.. midi dresses, formal dresses, casual dresses, cocktail dresses etc, but when we pick a specific dress we have to chose it based on that special occasion. Lets say we have a job interview; we will not pick a gown because we'll probably look ridiculous. Well, that is exactly the same when choosing which methodology use for a project.

Choosing what is "perfect" for us is subjective, and when selecting a project management method even more. The article mentioned that “A project manager using Waterfall because it's what they know rather than what's best for their project probably knows that there's a better way, but it's a brave paradigm shift to step out of your comfort zone and try a different methodology”. Tons of plans fail because project managers want to stick with what they think is best based on what they know rather than adopting the appropriate methodology for the project at that time. We may prefer to wear our classy formal gown or our sporty skirt but they're no good for a job interview.

So, we should apply that dress selection methodology when holding on an IT project!  What if, as we planned each piece of the project we selected the best methodology for that specific part? Rather than contemplate a project as a whole we should consider each stage of the project independently breaking the overall into manageable pieces and considered what methodology would fit best for each.

Relevance to MIS 441

This article and discussion is very relevant to what we have been learning along this semester about Agile and waterfall methodologies. As we learned earlier in the semester most organization use a combination of Agile tools and methodologies. Agile does not describe a specific approach but offers a collection of tools and best practices, and there are many of them such as Extreme programming, Scrum, Kanban, Crystal family, and many more. We learned over the second part of the semester that the difference between Agile and waterfall is huge. Waterfall is prescriptive, extensive documentation, formal, sequential, process focus and of gradual change. In contrast, Agile is abstract, minimal documentation, informal, continuous, communication focus and of rapid change, and as Bob discussed in an interview Agile methodologies are best in every way because Agile methods are human methods and we are taught about it since very young age.

Importance as an MIS student

As an MIS student we should be able to identified which methodologies are better for each type and part of a specific project. We should be able to organize and direct other people achieve a planned result within a predetermined schedule and budget. We need to be able to execute these processes to plan the project and then to monitor and control it.

As a project manager in the future we are required to have a diverse set of skills including technical, management, conflict management and customer relations. We would have many different responsibilities, internally we should be able to develop project schedules, assessing project risks, monitoring and controlling project deliverables and milestones. Externally, we need to be able to report the project status and progress, work directly with clients and other stakeholders, identifying resource needs and obtain resources. So, it is of high importance for us as MIS students to well understand how and when to execute these methodologies.