The world has changed. Why is this happening? Smartsheet transforms your work.
Life isn’t linear. However, your career path as project manager might have looked like this.
Here are some examples of what your career as a project manager could look like. It seems like a good life. You are involved in interesting projects with great people. You are able to manage projects within a structure that follows a series of sequential processes (or somewhat waterfall-like).
Your organization suddenly decides to “go agile”. You are left wondering, “now what?” Are you capable of managing projects in an agile environment?
Yes, it is! This article will discuss how to transition from delivering projects in a traditional waterfall framework to agile processes.
I’ll cover:
What is Agile?
What does an Agile Project Manager do?
Roles of Agile Project Management
Making the Transition to Agile
Agile Skills Project Managers Need
What is Agile?
Agile is a common buzzword that describes how people work (I’m working agility), how things are planned (we’ve designed this to be agile), as well as everything else. Before we get into how to transform ourselves, let’s first understand agile as it relates project management and project management methods.
Scrum Alliance states that “Agile” is a broad term that describes a group of approaches that share common values. Scrum frameworks, such as Scrum, “break down complex projects into smaller pieces so that teams can continually deliver value to customers.”
Agile project management is an iterative method of managing projects. It focuses on continuous release (in increments), and incorporating customer feedback in every iteration.
The Agile Manifesto, also known as The Manifesto for Agile Software Development, outlines the principles and values of agile software development.
Agile project management frameworks such as Kanban or Scrum can increase productivity, collaboration, communication, and the ability to respond to market trends.
Agile project management places a high priority on continuous improvement and incorporation feedback. This means that there is a high level of collaboration and communication among project stakeholders (which can include people like project team, Product Owner, product manager, and of course the customer).
Waterfall is a linear process, whereas agile frameworks are more focused on frequent delivery of value at regular intervals to customers. What does an Agile Project Manager do?
No matter whether a project manager delivers an agile or a waterfall project, there will be common tasks that they need to complete.
Facilitating project planning
Planning project resources (which could be people, equipment, or materials)
Supervise the project budget and timeline
Communicating with project stakeholders (which could include customers, clients, senior management, and the project team)
As a waterfall project manager, an agile project manager will spend most of their time communicating with and interacting in the project team. The main difference between agile and waterfall is how each task is accomplished.
A whole phase of a project can be dedicated to planning, for example, in waterfall project management. The project manager and his team will need to plan all the work required during the project.