Agile
Agile can be defined as the ability to create and respond to change to profit in a business environment with turbulence and the balancing of flexibility and stability (Highsmith 2012) The publication of the manifesto for agile software development formalised Agile. EXPAND
The principles for Agile approach were; Individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working solution over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation and responding to change over following a plan (Agile practice guide, 2017) However, Agile approaches and methodologies are terms used to cover an array of frameworks and methods this includes DSDM and SCRUM as well as others.
SCRUM
Initiated by Ken Swaber, SCRUM was admitted into the Agile methodology as it shared the same ideas as Agile. IT is a framework allows iterative and incremental projects and maximises the delivered value. In SCRUM, everyone in the team acts together and the framework delivers the project within time and with the minimal costs (Mahalakshmi and Sundararajan, 2008) Within SCRUM, there are different SCRUM roles. This includes the product owner, the SCRUM master, who has leadership over the team and manages the process and the SCRUM team. EXPAND
Strengths
Risk Minimized
“Agile approach from SCRUM perspective means an iterative and incremental approach to optimize predictability and control risk” (Tomanek and Juricek, 2012:385) By using Agile, risk is minimized as there are short iterations and clearly defined deliverables (Azanha et al., 2017) This is seen as the solution to going over budgets, missing deadlines, and low-quality outputs in projects. An example of this comes from a study administered by Augustine et al. (2005) showcased a project failing and behind schedule using traditional PM methodology such as Prince2. Called in to recover the project, Augustine and Payne used Agile to rescue and sustain the project. As a result, the project was completed within 5 months, within the timeframe and budget and with increased customer satisfaction and business value.
Communication with Stakeholders
Unlike traditional methodologies which use extensive documentation, to develop the project Agile offers direct communication with stakeholders (Azanha et al., 2017) Agile decreases waste deeply rooted in redundant project meetings as well as repetitive planning and excessive documentation (Rigby, Sutherland and Takeuchi, 2016)
The underpinned principles of Agile project management gives more authority to project team members as Agile encourages self-managing teams (Mahalakshmi and Sundararajan, 2013; Agile practice guide, 2017) The involvement and commitment from the project team leads to an increase in motivated (Azanha et al., 2017) However, this could also viewed as a weakness. As in Agile approaches such as SCRUM, the dedication from team members is important and team work is deeply essential. Agile Alliance (2001) state that for a flat and autonomous management structure agile project management teams should contain more individuals. Due to this, if there’s a lack of cooperation, the project will face failure (Mahalakshmi and Sundararajan, 2013)
Despite these strengths, Agile mustn’t be used for all projects as it is most suitable for projects that are dynamic with complex problems and unclear solutions (Rigby, Sutherland and Takeuchi, 2016) Understanding the depth of the project before deciding on the project management methodology used is important (Priyanka, 2016) The projects have uncertainty and constant change as traditional methods such as Prince2 don’t have the flexibility to adapt to change within the project (Azanha et al., 2017; Rigby, Sutherland and Noble, 2018)
Weaknesses
Unlike Prince2 which can be altered for both large and medium sized projects, agile is only ideal for medium and small scoped projects (Priyanka,2016) However, studies from Rigby, Sutherland and Noble, (2018) shows that scalability is achievable and in doing so, extraordinary benefits are created. Regardless, within large projects, smaller sub-projects may be created focusing on specific goals and in this regard Agile could be used, causing better results to be obtained. Both Pawar and Mahajan (2017) and Priyanka (2016) suggest integrating aspects of both Prince2 and Agile. The use of both these methodologies in a complex project could increase project success rates (Priyanka,2016)
An example of integrating both Agile and traditional methodologies such as Prince2 can be seen at Bosch, a global supplier of services and technology. Bosch adopted Agile methodology as traditional methodologies weren’t effective in a quick-paced world. However, Bosch integrated Agile with traditional methodologies as Agile wouldn’t have been appropriate for all aspects of the organisation. The company report that most of the business adopted agile values and consequently are adapting at a quicker pace (Rigby, Sutherland and Noble, 2018)
Salesforce.com
Denning (2011) explains how salesforce changed from using traditional PM approaches to Agile for IT projects in just 3 months. The results showed a reversal in company financial trends as well as value increase to customers. This caused annual return to shareholders to rise to 41 percent after 5 years of using Agile project methods for project management.
Prince2
The outcome of a project is determined by achieved benefits versus the amount of money spent and a project that is successful delivers outweighed benefits over costs. (Priyanka, 2016) Prince2 project management helps a project achieve this as it focuses on each phase of a project to achieve the expected benefits within the estimated costs and mitigates the risks (Priyanka, 2016)
Prince is an acronym for projects in controlled environments with the latest version
Prince2 project management methodology is underpinned by seven principles, seven themes and seven processes (Tomanek and Juricel,2012) These seven principles are:
Continued business justification
Learn from experience
Define roles and responsibilities
Manage by stages
Manage by exception
Focus on products
Tailor to suit the environment
The seven themes:
Business case
Organisation
Quality
Planning
Risk
Risk management strategy
Risk responsibilities
Risk management products
Change management
Progress
Seven processes:
Starting up a project
Initiating a project
Directing a project
Controlling a stage
Managing product delivery
Managing stage boundaries
Closing a project.
Strengths
Prince2 is extremely organised, stable and reliable approach to be adapted for the beginning, middle and end of a project. The methodology is consistent as it can be scaled up or down as required for the project (Pawar and Mahajan, 2017) An example how Prince2 can the tailored or scaled comes from Sun Microsystems. In 2007, Sun Microsystems Inc realised there was a need to improve a business division’s project management practices. A project delivery organisation was created. The idea was to create a functioning project management office (PMO) to develop the project management processes, Prince2 was utilised. To clarify the goals, the PMO used Prince2 to create a project initiation document. The organisation reported that Prince2 was a great fit for the business. However, it wasn’t blindly applied, instead it was tailored to fit the organisation and its culture removing certain aspects. (Herman and Siegelaub, 2008)
Weaknesses
As discussed by Andersen (2006) change within projects is inevitable. Therefore, developing a complete plan only at the beginning of the project is flawed and new approaches such as Agile recognise this and focus on project execution unlike traditional methodologies such as prince2 focus on thorough planning. (Špundak, 2014) This is because Prince2’s heavyweight and concentrates on comprehensive planning and a large amount of documentation. This requires more time to be allocated for documentation (Pawar and Mahajan, 2017) It also Unlike Agile approaches which creates great risk management due to its iterative nature, Prince2 doesn’t give any guidance for how to resolve problems, how judgements are made (Pawar and Mahajan, 2017)
Planning
One of the factors that create the success criteria of a project is good planning and scheduling methods (Lester, 2017) “Perhaps the most in any project is planning. If the planning is performed effectively, and the workers participate in the development of the plan, the chances of success are greatly enhanced” (Kerzner, 2013:245) According to Gardiner (2005), a major cause of terrible project management is due to failure at the planning stage which leads to a series of alterations which increase costs and creates delays this could be due to a lack of planning as a lack of planning will probably guarantee a project failure (Dvir, et al, 2003).
A project plan explains how the project will proceed as the project plan defines the work to be done and contains the approved budget. (Lientz and Rea, 2007) It explains to participants the goal and the steps to achieve that goal as well as the order of those steps and by when they should be completed (Gardiner, 2005) The planning process involves the consumption of resources and the role of the project manager during this process is to decide on the balance between the process as well as benefits which will be reaped from it. (Maylor 2010)
Gantt Chart and Critical Path Analysis
Created by Hendry Gantt, the Gantt chart is a tool that displays the progression of the project and is done so in a horizontal bar graph. (Pathak, 1990) Within the chart, activities are arranged in a top to bottom format. The project time is showcased scaling from left to right and activities are represented as bars beginning at the earliest start time (Gardiner, 2005). The main advantage of the Gantt chart is it’s able to showcase the status of each activity within the project at glance. Also, The Gantt chart are easier to interpret and as a communication tool, very adaptable and can be scaled to suit an array or reports (Gardiner,2005) It’s these factors that contribute in the success of a project as communication is necessary for project management to be successful (Clarke, 1999) However, a Gantt chart quickly starts to lose its ease of interpretation and simplicity as more information is added. A Gantt chart also fails to show a coherent understanding of logical relationships in the project (Gardiner, 2005)
The difference between success and failure within complex projects can be due to an effective critical path analysis (Kumar, 2005) “Because of its impact on the entire project, critical path analysis is an important aspect of project planning” (Pathak,1990) In 1957, a project management method developed by DuPont was designed to tackle the challenges faced when shutting down a chemical plant for maintenance and resuming once maintenance is complete. Due to the complexity of this, The Critical analysis was created. (Pathak,1990)
The advantages of a critical path analysis are, it displays a graphical view of the project, it also shows a prediction of the time required to complete the project and provides a view of the activities which are critical to maintain the schedule, and which aren’t. showing where work can be done in parallel then creates the shortest possible schedule (Lewis, 2001) The activities and events of a project are modelled as a network and activities are depicted as nodes on a network and the arcs or lines between the nodes represent events that symbolise the beginning or ending of an activity. (Pathak,1990) The critical path is the longest-duration path through the network. The significance of the critical path is that the activities that lie on it cannot be delayed without delaying the project.
However, a weakness of the CPA is that it is possible other tasks not on the critical path will be important and simple, short tasks end up on the critical path. This could cause questioning of the appropriateness and validity of the schedule and critical path (Lientz and Rea, 2001) To combat this, a new critical path was introduced known as the managerial critical path which doesn’t have to include all tasks on the mathematical critical path. (Lientz and Rea, 2001)
Disadvantages
It is unlikely whether the project planners can forecast all the different activities that will take place during the project whilst at the beginning of a project (Andersen, 2006). As well as their costs and what the duration will be. (Dvir, et al, 2003) This becomes even more challenging when these activities are dependent on the outcomes of earlier tasks. (Dvir, et al, 2003) When creating a project plan, planners must make important decision early in the project, even though not much is known about the future of the project. Many of these decisions are taken unconsciously and over time optimal solutions will arise. However, the planner chooses early solution rather than the optimal solutions (Andersen, 1996) For reasons such as this, Anderson proposed a replacement of the standard planning approach with milestone planning. (Andersen, 2006)
This leads to the second weakness of project planning which is complex plans can become extremely difficult to alter. For a project to be completed successfully, the project plan must be updated regularly (Clarke, 1999) However, for extremely detailed projects, when different aspects of the project change, the whole plan will have to be updated to react to the change. This is even when the outcome and objective isn’t affected. This creates a time-consuming and ineffective process of updating the project plans and causes the plan to be abandoned (Clarke, 1999)
Another issue is although a project plan is a main contributor to the success of a project, if estimates within the plan are inappropriate, a project plan could cause the project to be a failure. According to Kerzner, the failure of a project is largely due to ineffective scheduling, planning and estimating (Kerzner, 2017) A main issue is people within the project creating inappropriate estimates when being asked for rough estimates and how long certain activities will take. However, these rough estimates become the target time put in place in a committed plan. (Maylor,2010) This estimates can also be based off inappropriate data. People either create estimates based on previous experience or don’t check whether the data was a good representation of the reality of carrying out the tasks. Also, the estimates could be used out of context as the estimate of time for a task stays the same despite major changes being made as to where and how the task should be carried out (Maylor, 2010) An example of this can be seen in the motor vehicle industry. Released in 1959, the Ford Edsel had spent 10 years and $250 million on planning. The new car was to focus on the medium-priced market however, before the year of release was over, sales had fallen by a third as the company had spent too long on planning whilst opportunity for mid-priced vehicles had gone. (Rothman, 2014) This shows clear inappropriate time estimated based on inappropriate data and having extremely long milestones as according to Lientz and Rea (2001) a common problem with schedules is that milestones are too late.
Lastly, descriptions of activities within a plan tend to be vague, such as ‘implementation’. This causes the planner to avoid precise decision making on the activities the project must execute. It then becomes a way of not showing real issues that are confronting the project. (Andersen 1996)
Beagle 2 Mars
The Beagle to Mars probe was a joint project between the European Space Agency and the British National Space Centre. The probe was meant to be sent to Mars in December 2003, but connection was lost, and the probe was never contacted again. After reviewing, inadequate planning was the reason for failure. there was also too much pressure placed on the time and cost of the project (Meredith & Mantel, 2012)