CLASSICAL AND FLEXIBLE PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACHES

CLASSICAL AND FLEXIBLE PROJECT MANAGEMENT APPROACHES

Dana Zhumagulova

Master’s student, Almaty Management University,

Kazakhstan, Almaty

Timur Ligay

Master’s student, Almaty Management University,

Kazakhstan, Almaty

Saltanat Masakova

candidate of economic sciences, assosiate Professor, Program leader of the EP "Project Management" Almaty Management University,

Kazakhstan, Almaty

КЛАССИЧЕСКИЕ И ГИБКИЕ ПОДХОДЫ В УПРАВЛЕНИИ ПРОЕКТАМИ

Жумагулова Дана

магистрант, Алматы Менеджмент Университет,

Республика Казахстан, г. Алматы

Лигай Тимур

магистрант, Алматы Менеджмент Университет,

Республика Казахстан, г. Алматы

Масакова Салтанат

канд. экон. наук, ассоциированный проф., Ведущий программы ОП "Управление проектами" Алматинский Университет Менеджмента,

Республика Казахстан, г. Алматы

ABSTRACT

This scientific article describes classical and flexible management methods in the field of project management, also explains the need for a combination of flexible and traditional approaches, which is a hybrid project management method.

АННОТАЦИЯ

В данной научной статье дается описание и сравнение основных характеристик классического и гибкого подходов в сфере управления проектами, а также объясняется необходимость сочетания гибкого и традиционного подходов, что представляет собой гибридный метод управления проектами.

Keywords: classical project management; flexible methodology; Agile methodology; Waterfall; Scrum; hybrid approach to the project management.

Ключевые слова: классический проектный менеджмент; гибкая методология; Методология Agile Waterfall; Scrum; гибридный подход к управлению проектами.

Nowadays, technology is growing very fast and this is prompting a change in approaches to project management. As a result, organizations are adjusting and looking for more efficient ways to implement their projects. In today’s world, flexible management methodology is widely demanded and popular, and this can be seen in the reflection of scientific articles, in developed companies, as well as at international levels of management. A type of flexible approach to project management is Agile. A flexible approach allows project participants to quickly identify the need for changes and adapt to the changed conditions. After analyzing scientific articles on the topic of the Agile methodology, it was noticed that the authors focus on four areas of Agile application: Agile software development, Agile project management, Agile procurement and Agile evaluation.

Also, when implementing projects, the Waterfall cascade model is used. In this approach, preparatory activities and analysis are carried out first, then design, testing and implementation are carried out. When using this model in project management, shortcomings are detected only at the final stages of project implementation, which is not very efficient. Problems cannot be identified at the initial stages of implementation, which does not give a chance for their elimination.

The Project Management Institute (PMI) offers a hybrid version of the project management methodology as a standard that combines both the advantages of Waterfall and iterative methods. The hybrid method combines the planning methods of the classic PMBOK approach with the flexibility of Agile. The PMI study The Drivers of Agility found that companies that operate with a high degree of agility bring significantly more projects to successful completion than those that do not.

Authors of the paper dive a little deeper and find out the essential differences between traditional and agile project management methods, as each of the approaches has a unique workflow.

Classical methods of project management

Waterfall is a method based on a cascading cycle, in which the task is transferred sequentially through stages, resembling a stream. Waterfall has a linear approach to project management and consists of these steps:

1) Planning/Initiation;

2) Analysis;

3) Design;

4) Implementation/Execution;

5) Testing / quality assurance;

6) Deployment.

Tasks must be completed step by step, and can not be moved on to the next stage until the previous one is completed. Unfortunately, this does not make the project effective.

Tools such as:

• Gantt charts for displaying time intervals (developed in 1910);
• PERT and CPM for displaying dependencies (developed in 1958).

As well as organizations such as:

• PMI and IPMA (founded in the 1960s);
• Axelos/Prince2 (founded in 1996) were created in an era of large-scale projects of longer duration. The goals of the project were clearly and precisely defined before its completion, and any change was costly. This meant that changes were considered violations. Everyone is 100% focused on the goal. Thus, traditional project management methods offered numerous methods of control and management. Today, these methods are sufficient for industries such as construction, engineering, pharmaceuticals and others [1].

Flexible project management approach

Due to the shortcomings of the traditional waterfall method, a flexible approach has been developed. The Agile methodology is an iterative and incremental approach to project management. An agile approach includes the same steps as traditional project management. In this approach, the project is divided into small phases or sprints. Each sprint ends in a cycle of 2-4 weeks and this makes the agile approach very flexible and adaptable to change. Consider a brief history of occurrence: in 2001, 17 prominent software developers released the Agile Manifest. This development team included Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber, creators of the Scrum framework. Today, the manifesto serves as an important pillar of the Agile movement and states that:

1) People are more important than tools;

2) Product quality is more important than documentation;

3) Interaction with the customer is more important than the contract;

4) Readiness for change is more important than a set plan.

Agile is an iterative, customer-centric approach to project and product management [2]. Agile project management focuses on customer feedback, collaboration that helps improve the outcome of efforts and helps avoid unforeseen risks. Agile has following criteria:

• Suitable for projects that require short-term development;
• The wishes of customers are above all;
• User can make adjustments;
• Easy to use and less documentation;
• Rely on self-organized teams.

One of the most popular Agile methods is Scrum. Instead of product specifications, Scrum uses the product backlog and user-story. User stories describe the desires of customers from their point of view. In addition, the product backlog is gradually expanded over the course of development, which keeps it up to date. Before the start of each sprint, a meeting with all stakeholders determines the work to be completed in one specific sprint.

Table 1.

What are the roles in traditional and agile methodology?

Each methodology has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Let's first look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of traditional project management:

Table 2.

Benefits of waterfall and agile

Table 3.

Disadvantages of waterfall and agile

Table 4.

Comparison of Waterfall and Agile

Hybrid project management is a combination of the previously described methods. Various combinations are possible.

• Scrum masters are the project manager as in the classical approach;
• The backlog is created for each phase of the project;
• The project plan goes along with the duration of the sprint;
• When planning, the concepts of phases and milestones are used;
• Status reports and milestone analyzes are available for management and stakeholders.

TPG's April 2018 Hybrid Project Management Survey of 256 respondents found that 41% performed high-level planning using traditional methods and used agile methods for detailed planning [3]. It is suitable for large and complex projects, as well as projects with rapidly changing requirements. This approach encourages collaboration among team members. All participants can easily track progress from the first step to the last step. With this approach, risks are identified and eliminated at an early stage. As a result, the project is completed on time and on budget.

CONCLUSION

Thus, based on a comparison of traditional methods and flexible project management methods, an analysis was carried out, and the conclusion was made:

• Waterfall methodology is better suited in situations where business requirements are clear and clearly formulated. The project lends itself to planning. You can make adjustments to the project if the change management process is established in the team. This approach is great when projects are subject to the laws of the country or are strictly regulated by the authorities.
• Agile is better suited when many nuances of the project are not yet completely obvious. In this approach, details are implemented step by step along with user involvement in an iterative process.
• A hybrid approach is best used in situations where the project is easily divided into subprojects that can be reliably planned.

There has been a debate for a long time about which method is better. Both methodologies have their strengths and weaknesses. Today, flexible project management methodology is gaining more and more popularity due to its flexibility and ability to adapt to changes. Also, the participation of users, developers and all stakeholders at each step of the project helps to ensure that the final product will match their expectations.

References:

1. Burdakova, K. O., & Ilysheva, M. A. (2022). Basic approaches to project management: traditional and flexible methods. Spring days of science.—Ekaterinburg, 2022, 731-736.
2. Aleksandrova T. V. Improving the efficiency of project management in an organization based on Agile flexible methodology // Economics and business: theory and practice. – 2019. – no. 9. - S. 11-15.
3. Ivanova T. N., Ivanov D. V. Classical and flexible approaches to project management // Bulletin of Science and Practice. - 2019. - T. 5. - No. 10. - S. 168-175.