S10: E2 The battle between waterfall and agile methodologies
Jan 29, 2024
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Exploring the battle between waterfall and agile methodologies in project management, discussing the need for a hybrid approach. Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez's insights on combining OKRs with project management for success. The challenges of managing modern projects and the importance of collaboration between different methodologies. Antonio's research on hybrid project management and ways to contribute to the study.
Combining waterfall and agile methodologies can lead to a more effective project management approach that considers both detailed planning and adaptability.
Both waterfall and agile methodologies have their strengths and limitations, with waterfall being more suitable for projects requiring clarity and agile for projects with uncertain outcomes.
Deep dives
The Need for a New Approach to Project Management
Antonio Nietto discusses the need for a new approach to project management, highlighting the high failure rate of transformation projects. He emphasizes that using the same methods without adaptation is not leading to different results. Nietto suggests a hybrid approach that combines the best of both waterfall and agile methodologies. This approach involves using the most suitable tools for each project and phase, taking into account factors like clarity of requirements, efficiency in execution, estimation of cost and timelines, documentation needs, and stakeholder involvement.
The Benefits and Limitations of Waterfall Methodology
Waterfall methodology is ideal when clarity on requirements and resources is crucial, such as in infrastructure projects or merger and acquisition work. It emphasizes detailed planning and execution, with little room for changes. However, its rigidity and slow response to changes are limitations that can hinder adaptability and lead to delays and budget overruns.
The Benefits and Limitations of Agile Methodology
Agile methodology is well-suited for situations where the exact outcome is uncertain and continuous adaptation is necessary, such as website development or product improvement. Its strengths include quick delivery of value, constant feedback, and the ability to respond to changing needs. However, Agile's limitations lie in estimating cost and timelines accurately, lack of documentation, and the challenge of maintaining stakeholder involvement throughout the project.
We're clearly big fan of OKRs, but we're not so blindly fanatical that we don’t accept they are only part of the picture when it comes to strategy execution.
OKRs signpost and help to chart progress at a high level but don’t do a great job at defining and tracking the details; they need to interface with the next level, and that’s often project management.
At TBG we've had a lot of involvement with project management over the years, both in a “traditional” waterfall sense and also agile, and have seen how either tribe (as that’s how it appears sometimes) seems to hold the other in disdain. Because of this, Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez’s HBR paper on how Waterfall and Agile should learn how to work together better caught our eye.
Join us as we explore the challenges of managing modern projects and how Antonio believes a “hybrid” combination of waterfall and agile is now needed.
Antonio is currently conducting research into hybrid project management so if you are interested in contributing, you can do this via https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NXK2TCF