Comparison of Agile Project Management Methodology with PMBoK Processes

This paper compares the agile project management methodology with the processes described in the project management body of knowledge (PMBoK). It identifies the main differences and similarities between the two methodologies and their characteristics. The comparison helps in choosing the right methodology for managing a project.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student:
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Author Note:

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Summary
The project management is a process which provides clear guidance for the proper compilation
of the project. A proper project management plan consists of the project life cycle. Life cycle of
project is generally described as various stages which are to be implemented in order to develop
the project. There are different project management methodologies present in the project
management process (de Carvalho, Patah& de Souza Bido, 2015). However, it is necessary to
make sure that the appropriate project management methodology is being selected and this is
generally based on characteristics of the project.The selection of the project management
methodology is important as the right selection of the project management methodology for the
project is one of the important factors for the delivering of the right outcome (Snyder &
Dionisio, 2017). The discussion of this paper regarding the discussion of the agile project
management methodology and its comparison with processes described in the project
management body of knowledge (PMBoK). The comparison will help to identify the main
differences and the similarities along with the characteristics of the PMBoK and agile project
management methodology. This evaluation will help to identify the parameters those can be
considered while choosing the right methodology for the managing of the project. The
comparison will be done on the basis of the working process of the PMBoK and the agile
methodology for the management of the project.

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Table of Contents
Summery..........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK)..................................................................3
Agile project management methods:...........................................................................................5
Analysis:......................................................................................................................................6
Similarities between agile methodology and project methodologies following PMBoK:..........7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The proper management of the project is important for the compilation of a project.
Project management is a process for development of the project maintaining all the requirements
of the clients and delivering the right outcome (Svejvig & Andersen,2015). The PMBoK is the
project management body of knowledge which provides proper guideline regarding the
management of the project. However, PMBoK is not a methodology, it is the general guideline
which are followed by different project management methodologies (Dybå, Dingsøyr &
Moe,2014). The main aim of this paper is to evaluate different attributes of the project
management methodologies mentioned in the project management body of knowledge. Those
attributes are again compared with the agile project management methodology. This comparison
will help to identify validity and the relevance of agile project management methodology.
Discussion
The major objective the paper is having is to represent comparison between the project
management process which are provided in project management body of knowledge with agile
project management techniques. In case, the proper introduction of the project management body
of knowledge along with its processes are needed to be discussed.
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK)
In order to develop a project in a proper way, the project management body of knowledge
has defined the life cycle of project. Initially there exists five steps in project management life
cycle. Following these five stages ensures that the delivery of outcome of a project will be done
properly (Ramazani & Jergeas,2015). The outcome will meet all the requirements of the project.
These five stages are-initialization, planning and designing, execution, monitoring and control

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and closing of project. Initialization phase starts by gathering the basic requirements of the
project. Requirement gathering is to be done appropriately so as to make sure that while
documenting the requirements a proper knowledge about the project is being delivered. Proper
understanding of the requirement can help to mitigate the creep existing in the scope of the
project.Creeps existing in the Scope of the project is generally defined as the sudden changes
occurring in the requirement of the project. The presence of the scope creep can affect the quality
of the project in a negative way. Apart from that the cost and the time of the project may be
changed due to the presence of the scope creep in the project.
Planning and designing phase is concerned about the planning of the execution based on
the documented requirement. The design of the system and the selection of the methodology is
done in this stage. The selection of the methodology is important as the success of the project is
dependent on the right selection of the methodology. There are different methodologies present
in the project management practice. However, different project management methodologies have
different approaches which is applicable for different projects. In this context some of the
examples can be given. In case of the software development the use of the agile project
management methodology is preferable as this methodology provides flexibility andreviewing
during the development process. On the other hand in case of the development of the project
where requirement is less and clear, the waterfall model can be used as this methodology is easy
to handle and takes less time in compilation.
Execution is the phase which is concerned about the execution of the plans. The
execution is needed to be done in a proper way (Serrador & Pinto, 2015). This operation is
observed and controlled by the project manager in the company or the organization. The modules

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of the work is needed to be distributed in a proper way among the team members so that the
implementations of the functionalities are done properly.
Monitoring along with control phase is generally associated with monitoring of the
performance of the outcomes that project delivers. Evaluating performance of project after
delivering the outcomes is very important and so this evaluation of the performance is to be done
in a proper way. The evaluation of the performance of the project indicates the areas for the
improvement in the project. The controlling of the project includes the controlling the working
condition of the project and the analysis the outcome of the project on the clients.
The closure of the project depicts the fact that the project has reached its end. The project can be
decided to be closed in case if the outcome is served in a proper way meeting all the
requirements of the clients.
Agile methods:
Agile method is a project management methodology which is applicable during the
process of developing a new software product or a project. Main attribute of this methodology is
that the methodology is flexible enough to adopt any sudden change happened in the changing
environment of the project (Layton & Ostermiller,2017). The major difference that exists in
between traditional project planning and agile project management is that in traditional process
of project management, the project manager is solely responsible for the proper development of
the work whereas it is not the same in case of agile project management methodology. In the
agile projectethodology entire team is responsible for the proper development of the project
(Seymour & Hussein, 2014).Existence of a Good communication line in between the members of
the team is a crucial factor helping in the management of projects by making use of the

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methodswhich are agile in nature (Rodriguez et al.,2017). The requirement of the development of
the software is dynamic. In this case, the delivery of the partial product is given in iterative way.
The further development or the improvisation is done on the basis of the feedback given by the
clients on the basis of the partial products. It may be seemed that the agile project management is
not following the basic project life cycle mentioned in the project management body of
knowledge. however, the process follows the conventional project life cycle. The gathering of
the requirements is done at the initial stage of the project. However, the flexible planning and the
execution process is capable the adopt the changes in the requirement. Partial delivery of the
product is given for several consecutive iterations. After the delivery of the partial product meets
all the requirements of the clients, the final product is delivered (Pajares et al.,2017). The
monitoring and the control process arefollowed like the approach taken in the traditional project
management methodology. There are various project management methodologies which are
based on the agile project management (Martens & Carvalho,2016). Some of the project
management methodology which are dependent upon the agile project management is also
known as the scrum project management methodology, adaptive project framework and
extremeprogramming. The four main value of agile project management are- interactions and
communications between the team members are preferred over the tools and the processes
(Saxena, 2016). This indicates the application of the good decision-making ability and the
common sense instead of following rules and regulations during the development of the project
(Saltz et al.,2018). Another value of the agile methodology is working and experimenting with
the software rather than giving emphasis on the documentation process. Contract negotiation is
secondary thing in the agile project management, instead, the collaboration with the consumers
are more focused area in this type of methodologies (Sánchez, 2015). The most important

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characteristics that the agile project management methodology is having is the capability of
responding to the dynamic nature of the changed requirements over following the fixed planning
for the development. This makes the agile project management methodology more flexible. The
flexibility of this methodology has made this project management methodology desirable over
other project management methodologies.
Analysis:
In this portion the a comparison analysis have been conducted in between the agile
project management with the other project management processes those follow the tradition
approach for the development of the project has been discussed. The name of the some of the
conventional project management methodologies are Waterfall model, PRINCE2.
Contrast between Agile project management methodology and other conventional project
management methodologies:
The contrast between agile project management methodology and other conventional
project management methodology can be done on the basis of various factors. The structure of
the conventional project management methodologies like waterfall model, PRINCE2 method is
that they are linear in structure. On the other hand the agile project management has iterative
structure (Ahimbisibwe, Cavana & Daellenbach, 2015). However, the projects managed through
the application of the agile method are small scale projects. On the other hand, the projects
managed through tradition approaches described in the PMBoK are generallylarge-scale projects
like management of the construction projects. The term used in the in the agile project
management instead of the project life cycle is evolutionary delivery model (Joslin &
Müller,2015). The higher degree of the involvement of the client in the agile project management
makes the changes in the requirements frequently. In order to adopt the change easily the

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development model in the agile methodology is easily changeable, whereas the development
model in case of the processes in the traditional approaches are fixed.However, it has been seen
that sometimes managing the projects using the traditional methodologies are easier than
managing the project management in agile method. However, it is observed that the usage of the
agile methodology so as to develop a new software productis most appropriate as it provides the
flexibility for change.
Similarities between agile methodology and project methodologies following PMBoK:
There are some similarities between the agile methodology and the other methodologies
which follow PMBoK. Both agile project management methodology and other traditional project
management approaches follow the basic steps for the compilation of the projects. In both cases
the sharing of knowledge between the members of the team is important for proper
implementation of functionalities of the projects. It is very important that proper means are being
adopted so as to analyze the requirements of the project. Besides this, the same thing is also to be
done during the process of gathering the requirements. All this needs to be done so as to make
sure that the creeps in the scope of the project are being eliminated. In both cases project
manager and the leader of the team plays an important role for managing the project.
Conclusion
The paper has been discussed about the agile project management methodology and other
methodologies which follow the traditional project management approach described in the
project management body of knowledge. The working principals of both the approaches has
helped to identify the similarities and differences between these two types of project
management methodologies. It can be said from the discussion that both the methodologies
follow the basic steps for management of the projects. The project management life cycle is

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present in both the cases. However, the execution phase for both process are different. The
selection between these two project management methodologies can be done depending on the
type of the project. The project management methodology that is the Agile project management
methodology is generally applied in order to develop the software projects. Whereas the
traditional approach for managing the project is capable of handling the large and complicated
projects. It is very important that the appropriate project management methodology is selected
which is appropriate for the project and it should also be made sure that the proper stages in the
entire life cycle of the project is being followed so as to deliver a successful outcome.
References
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Dybå, T., Dingsøyr, T., & Moe, N. B. (2014). Agile project management. In Software project
management in a changing world (pp. 277-300). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.

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Joslin, R., & Müller, R. (2015). Relationships between a project management methodology and
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