Selection of appropriate project management structure is guided by the procedural frameworks that direct successful execution (Thesing, Feldmann, & Burhardt, 2021). The differences between agile and waterfall project management, thus, make the methods suitable for dissimilar projects. Agile project management is progressive and repetitive while waterfall is sequential. Again, agile method applies sprints to separate projects while waterfall approach makes use of phases (Muhammad et al., 2021).
Based on these differences, agile is best for completing several small projects but waterfall will only focus on a single project. In cases where the demands of customers are a priority, agile approach is best because waterfall simply focuses of successful delivery. The ability to accommodate customer needs is possible in agile project management method because it involves daily preparations of project requirements and incorporates changes. The same is impossible with waterfall approach as it only has one opportunity for requirements’ preparation.
However, unlike waterfall, agile methods lack a comprehensive planning or the exact plan for execution (Thesing et al., 2021). In other words, agile approaches often lack clear illustration of the steps needed to attain the indicated objectives. Agile project management also increases the chances of delivering most satisfactory projects as testing and project development happen simultaneously. This is unlike, waterfall method that waits for completion of build phase to conduct testing (Muhammad et al., 2021). Agile management style’s flexibility also makes it appropriate for projects with no fixed funding. I have worked in agile structure.
My task involved the writing of a research project. Although I planned the list of sequential activities and presented them in a Gantt chart, the transition from a proposal to the project involved some changes that a waterfall structure could not accommodate. Moreover, the instructor was consistently involved in the process and he checked chapter after chapter to ensure the work was satisfactory. At some point, I had to incorporate the recommended changes. A second example is when I cooked rice for the first time. I used a recipe to gather the ingredients, followed the indicated steps, and looked forward to achieving the prescribed results.
