Comprehensive Report on Agile Methods in Project Management

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the agile method in project management, covering its history, processes, advantages, and disadvantages. It highlights the evolution of the method from traditional software development models and its adaptability to changing business conditions. The report details the four main values of the agile method, emphasizing the importance of individuals and interactions, customer collaboration, and responding to change. It also compares agile methods with other project management techniques, focusing on its ability to adapt to adverse business conditions and effectively manage stakeholders. Furthermore, the report discusses the application of agile methods in both IT and non-IT industries, outlining the steps for implementation and minimizing inflexible processes. The conclusion underscores the suitability of agile project management for various business organizations, emphasizing the need to follow the discussed principles for successful implementation.

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Agile method
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
History........................................................................................................................................2
Process........................................................................................................................................2
Comparison with other methodologies......................................................................................3
Advantages and Disadvantages..................................................................................................4
Application.................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The foremost determination of this unit of the report is to focus on the importance of
agile method in project management. This report will provide in depth knowledge about the
basic principles of this method. The evolution of the method is described in this paper; it also
provides the process by which this method works. This paper also compares this project
management method with the other type of methods and proves its uniqueness with the other
types of methods. The benefits and drawbacks of this method is also mentioned in the paper.
The industrial use of this method is also highlighted in the paper with prime importance.
History
The agile project management methodology was started after 2001by the leading
software developers to cope up with the contemporary challenges. The ever changing
business conditions are one of the prime reasons behind the incorporation of this software
development methodology. The agile method is very much important for optimizing the
complexity of the projects. The evolution of this method however started way back in the late
90’s when the market was subjected to major changes. The traditional software development
models were very much kept in mind during the incorporation of this project management
methodology.
Process
The process of agile method project management is basically followed with the help of the
following values. The four main values of this agile method are:

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 Reduction of comprehensive documentation.
 Importance to individuals and interactions than the processes and tools.
 Collaboration of the customers over contract negotiation.
 Having an effective plan to deal with any kinds of organizational change.
This set of guidelines are used in the agile method methodology are very much
helpful in providing great flexibility in the projects. The long term requirements of a
big project can be hugely maintained by this methodology as it breaks down the larger
projects into smaller fragments. Those fragments are very much easier to manage
rather than the full project as a whole. Agile framework is a mainly useful in the
communication and the replication of the past processes among the team members.
Different types of industries use this project management methodology. The two
different types of agile method are push based and pull based agile coaching.
Different types of business sectors uses this project management methodologies.
Comparison with other methodologies
The agile method is the enhanced version of the other different project management
techniques. This method is very much suitable due to the changing market conditions. Unlike
the other types of project management techniques, this project management technique has the
capability to adapt to adverse business conditions. The management of the different
stakeholders of a project can be effectively handled with the agile method. One of the most
important feature of this project management methodology which is not present in the other
types of project management techniques is the uniform distribution of the complex projects
into smaller units so that the overall desired business objectives are reached.

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Advantages and Disadvantages
The prime benefits of the agile method are as followings:
o The fast turnaround times.
o Quicker deployment of any kinds of new technology or skill in a working
environment.
o Minimum resources are wastage due to the proper project planning.
o Accuracy in the production units of a business organization.
o Enhanced services to the clients as proposed in the project proposals.
o Easier identification of the risks and vulnerabilities involved in a project.
o Enhanced efficiency of the employees is the other type of advantage of this project
management methodology as it do not have any compatibility issues.
o Feedback mechanism of this project management methodology is its most striking
features as it helps the business organization to maintain long term relation with their
clients.
o Less chances of pre mature optimization.
o Lower cost for any kinds of experimentation within a project.
The prime drawbacks of the agile method are as followings:
o Difficult for the new members of a project who is not aware of the guidelines of this
methodology.
o Measurement of the progress of a project is complex.
o More time consuming than other similar processes.
o Difficult in estimating the final overall cost of the project management
methodologies.

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o Long term vision is not at all possible for projects following this methodology.
o No time for design thinking process.
Application
The effectiveness of this methodology is helpful to a great extent and it us extensively
used in both private and public sector industries. Adaptability of this methodology is one of
the other most important aspect of this project management methodology. The application of
the agile method is both in IT and Non IT industries. The non IT applications of this agile
method are marketing and advertising department, construction industries, architectural
industries, product developmental industries, finance and education industries, event planning
module industries, manufacturing industries and several other types of industries. The five
steps of application of agile method are as followings:
o Inflexible processes are minimized in the first place to incorporate this project
management.
o Defining the changes as proposal so that the employees are aware of the changes and
it would help them to get used to those changes.
o Every minute details of the projects should be considered before this project
management is scheduled in a working environment. The risks involved in each of the
aspects of a project should be identified and mitigated.
o Team should be using self-management tactics while mitigating any challenge related
to a project.

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Conclusion
From the above report, it can be concluded that the practice of the agile project
management method is very much suitable for most of the business organization. The report
provided idea about the rise of this project management methodology due to the ever
changing business conditions in every industry. The challenges and issues of this project is
also minimal as compared to the other project management methodologies. The principal
which are discussed in this report should be followed by every business organization who are
planning to implement this project management methodology. The industrial use of this
project management methodology is also focused on the paper.

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Bibliography
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hybrid framework for technology-based companies. Journal of Engineering and
Technology Management, 40, 1-14.
Conforto, E. C., Salum, F., Amaral, D. C., da Silva, S. L., & de Almeida, L. F. M. (2014).
Can agile project management be adopted by industries other than software
development?. Project Management Journal, 45(3), 21-34.
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.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Layton, M. C., & Ostermiller, S. J. (2017). Agile project management for dummies. John
Wiley & Sons.
Moran, A. (2015). Agile project management. In Managing Agile (pp. 71-101). Springer,
Cham.
Nicholas, J. M., & Steyn, H. (2017). Project management for engineering, business and
technology. Routledge.
Serrador, P., & Pinto, J. K. (2015). Does Agile work?—A quantitative analysis of agile
project success. International Journal of Project Management, 33(5), 1040-1051.