This report compares PMBOK and Agile project management methodologies, analyzing their processes, frameworks, and practical applications. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and discusses their suitability for different types of projects.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The objective of this report is to evaluate and compare a generic set of project management methods as defined in PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) with agile project management methods.PMBOK is a guide developed by PMI (Project Management Institute) and it is structured around five processes (initiating, planning, execution, controlling and closure) and ten knowledge areas (scope management, time management, cost management, qualitymanagement,humanresourcemanagement,riskmanagement,communication management, integration management, procurement management, stakeholder management). On the other hand, Agile is a time boxed, iterative approach to project delivery that builds it incrementally from the start of the project, instead of trying to deliver it all at once near the end. It breaks the projects into little bits of user functionality calleduser stories, prioritise and then continuously deliver them in short two week cycles callediterations. Agile methodology is based on four core principles as outlined in theAgile Manifesto. These methodologies are rooted in adaptive planning, early delivery and continuous improvement, all with an eye toward being able to respond to change quickly and easily. The report will explain PMBOK project management processes and agile project management processes, their comparison, applicability and the conclusion. Each project is having different requirements hence project manager may change their opinions about which is the best method from one project to the next. INTRODUCTION The increasing pressure to deliver quality products in a dynamic and rapidly changing global market forced professionals to use different methodologies for project management. There are range of different methodologies which are applied to Project Management. This report compares the project management method described in PMBOK guide (Project Management Body of Knowledge) with Agile Project Management method. 1
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The first part of this report will provide analysis of PMBOK processes (five process group and ten knowledge areas) and agile project management processes with SCRUM framework, second part will compare and contrast both methodologies, third part will explain the applicability of both methods in different types of projects, finally the report will end with the conclusion. Figure1: Project management method (Source: 9Project Management Methodologies Made Simple, 2017) ANALYSIS PMBOK method PMBOK is considered as body of knowledge that always concentrates on applying such process that can help in getting best results (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017). PMBOK includes five major phases in order to accomplish the project successfully. These stages are: initiating, planning, execution, monitoring and closing. This technique mainly focuses on process that is applied by project manager (PM) to complete the proposal within specified period of time and quality. The major benefit of applying PMBOK approach is that it allows 2
business to implement standardise practices and maintain standards. This helps in minimising risk and managing sudden constrains significantly. Figure: PMBOK process group (Source:The 5 PMBOK Process Groups, 2012) In theinitiation phase, manager has to define aim and objective of particular project. Individual has to start new task by obtaining authorization for this task (Rodriguez and et.al., 2017). Inplanning phase,PM has to establish scope and has to refine the actual objectives. Individual has to schedule all activities so that project can be completed on time and with quality. Executing: It is the next stage in which all the planning that has been done of PM is being executed in order to satisfy specification of project. Monitoring and controlling: It is the phase in which manager has to monitor activities and have to control over it.They have to identify necessary areas that require changes or improvement so that issues can be minimised, and project can be accomplished with quality (Landry and McDaniel, 2015). 3
Closingis the last stage in which all the tasks are being finalised and it is formal way to close the project. project management is concerned with fulfilling the demands of scope, time, cost, quality and risk followed by predetermined stakeholder requirements through the application of ten knowledgeareas:ScopeManagement,timemanagement,qualitymanagement,cost management, human resource management, risk management, procurement management, integration management and communication management. These knowledge areas include various processes and functions performed by the project managers and team throughout the various stages of the project to ensure successful delivery of project. Figure2: PMBoK knowledge areas (Source:The 10 PMBOK Knowledge Areas, 2016) 4 Knowledge areas of PMBOK
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AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT Agile approach can be defined as iterative approach to manage project successfully. This concentrates on incorporating continuous feedback and reviewing the existing practices so that issues can be identified timely, and PM can find out proper solution to resolve such kind of errors. In most of the software project this approach is being applied. It is the technique in which PM always emphases on continuous monitoring and reviewing so that positive so that project can meet with the requirements (Perrin, 2018). This approach works on several principles: Meet the requirement of project and continuous delivery. Project needs to be delivered with higher frequency. All the team members and PM need to be motivated so that healthy workplace environment can be created. Agility emphasis on technical excellence and proper designing. Planning needs to be done in simpler manner so that no complication can be taken place. It is essential to take regular intervals for reviewing the progress so that improvement can be done (Nurdiani, Börstler and Fricker, 2016). Figure: Agile iterative approach (Source: Agile approach,2018) 5
Agile process It is generally applying in software or renovation kind of projects. Requirements: PM has to first analysis the requirements of this project. Individual has to gather all necessary information that is needed to make this project successful. Plan:Manager has to make plan and have to schedule activities. Risk, scope, quality plans are being prepared. Design: In this phase PM has to design software or system that need to be changed. In this it is essential to identify previous system and change requirements (Steinfort, 2017). Develop: Once design has been prepared then system needs to be developed. Testing: Agile approach continuously work to test the actual progress, if there is some mistakes then individual make changes in activities and try to resolve issues timely so that project can get completed within specified period and with required quality. Track and monitor: Proper monitoring is being done so that quality can be maintained, and it can meet with requirements. Popular agile methodologies are Scrum, Kanban, Lean, Extreme programming, Rapid application development, Crystal clear method. Agile approach uses framework for project development. One of the popular agile supported framework is “SCRUM”. It uses short development cycle called “sprints” that usually ends in 1-4 weeks. Team members of SCRUM framework are Product Owner, Stakeholders, Scrum master, Development team. Deliverables of Agile project management are: Product vision statement, Product roadmap, Product backlog, Release plan, sprint backlog, increment. Recurring event in SCRUM framework are project planning, Release planning, sprint, sprint planning, Daily scrum, sprint review, sprint retrospective. 6
Figure: Agile project management with SCRUM framework (Source:AGILE - SCRUM Project Management,2018) Comparison of project methods Project management institute (PMI) describes that each project has temporary and PM has to conduct entire task in such manner so that unique product can be created. PMBoK is standard that is developed by PMI. This method always emphases on integration between process and objectives. Project management body of knowledge divides the entire project process into five phases: Initiative, Planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, closing (Ferreira and et.al., 2017). PMBoK works on 10 knowledge areas: PMhastoensurescope, time, cost,quality,risk inorderto meettheoverall requirements. If these things are missing, then PM will not be able to accomplish the project successfully and will get failed to meet the objective. On other hand, Agile approach is far differed from PMBoK technique, It is also known as SCRUM method. It uncovers effective ways to develop the software and find solution to minimise errors. SCRUM is not a methodology it is the framework, it firsts identify the needs 7
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of particular project and requirements of stakeholders and then make planning to meet with these objectives. This involves stages: product backlog refinement, sprit planning, daily scrum, sprit review and sprint retrospective (Measuring Integrated Progress on Agile SoftwareDevelopmentProjects,2018).IntheinitialphasePMhastoestimatethe requirements of resources for accomplishing this proposal (Phase earned value analysis, 2006).Then they have to make plan and have to conduct meeting every day to review the progress of entire task. Furthermore, after reviewing the entire process, individual has to find out improvement areas and strategies through which changes can be implemented in the process significantly. PMBok is internationally accepted method for completing any kind of project. It is considered as process-oriented method because it follows a set process and does not review the progress in between the task. Its process involves input, tools and techniques, output. It is generally applying in big project and cannot be apply in small complex projects. As PMBoK is generally applies in big projects thus it becomes difficult for the PM to maintain effective connection between all team members. Whereas Agile approach PM in getting faster results. It is not process oriented technique because PM can make changes in existing process and can make improvements in entire progress. It is not possible to follow the pre-defined process or control over quality because Agile approach makes continuous changes in existing procedure (Agile and Earned Value, 2013). It is generally used for complex and short project. Team efficiency in this project is comparatively high but if team members leave this project then it might hamper productivity. Agile project method takes support of story point system for unit of measurement. It sets initial baseline and set various parameters in order to estimate cost.This helps PM in measuring the actual budget and finding variance between actual and expected cost. For example, if released budget for any kind of project is 100000 and PM always tries to 8
minimise the budget and plan to complete it within set cost (Ferreira and et.al., 2017) PMemphasesonminimisingcriticalpath,ifindividualfocusonshortenthe noncritical path then it would not give effective results. But in order to do the same PM has to keep quality constant (Nurdiani,Börstler and Fricker, 2016). On other hand crash value is most suitable for the Agile approach because this technique continuously reviews the process and try to minimise time and cost (Rodriguez and et.al., 2017).. Thus, crashing also concentrates on reducing the completion time by adding more resources or making changes in existing practices.SCRUM framework concentrates on increasing value for consumers and make project more adaptable towards changes.Thus, cost overrun issues can be minimised and accurate estimation related to budget can be find out. Agile approach generates scope creep because it focuses on constant changes (Landry and McDaniel, 2015). Projectmanager hasto manage entire processefficiently so thatmistakesget identified and risks can be minimised (Arnaut, Ferrari and e Souza, 2016). Social project management is the traditional way to manage task. It always emphasises on continuous communication and raising team coordination (Measuring Integrated Progress on Agile Software Development Projects, 2018)..It explains that projects can be accomplished by implementingplanningandcontrolling.Largeprojectsrequireclosemonitoringand controlling so that task can be completed within specified period of time and with quality. 9
Practical applicability of project methods For instance, is entity plans to implement new technologies in the business then it PMBoK method would be suitable. PMBoK has four main phases: Initiative: In order to complete, this task successfully first PM has to set objectives and have to identify input requires for this project. Manager has to develop charter and stakeholders communicate their requirements. Planning:In this phase individual will have to make plan for risk management, quality management, scope management. In planning, PM has to ensure to address all knowledge areas such as time, quality, cost etc. Manger has to involve all aspects that are required to complete project successfully. Scope is being described, WBS is prepared, budget is decided alone with necessary plans (Arnaut, Ferrari and e Souza, 2016). . 10
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Execution and controlling: This is the actual phase in which entire planning is being executed and project manager has to timely review the progress in order to control over issues and have to minimise risk. In this stage, PM has to conduct quality assurance and have to manage communication with team members. Furthermore, stakeholders are being engaged in each process so that they can get information about entire working (Harb, Noteboom and Sarnikar, 2015).. Closing:At last PM has to complete formal documentation and have to submit all details to sponsors. Information is given to all stakeholders that project has been completed successfully. CONCLUSION From the above study it can be concluded that project management is beneficial in organising activities in efficient manner and meeting the requirements of stakeholders. It is essential for PM that to follow standardised method so that issues can be avoided, and risk can be minimised. Project manager has to calculate earned value and crash value so that variance can be measured, and potential solution can be implemented in order to obtain positive results. Agile approach always emphasise on team working in order to complete the project successfully with quality. By working in team project manager becomes able to find out improvement areas and find solution to minimise errors. PMBoK is the standardised method that always looks upon the quality and accordingly set activities so that quality remains maintain. 11
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The 10 PMBOK Knowledge Areas. (2016). [Online]. Available through < http://www.projectengineer.net/the-10-pmbok-knowledge-areas/> Agile approach.(2018).[online].Available through <https://www.hiteshi.com/agile-vs- waterfall/> AGILE - SCRUM Project Management. (2018).[online].Available through < http://www.projectlifecycleservicesltd.co.uk/project-management-services/scrum-project- management.php> 13