Leading successful projects: A comparison between Traditional and Agile Management

Abstract:

For projects involving a significant software component, traditional project management can be
ineffective since the requirements are elusive, volatile and subject to change. As an alternative approach, Agile Project Management is used to overcome the step-backs generated by its predecessor. While Agile methods often appear to collide with Traditional views on project management, the existing literature reveals the fact that these two methodologies shouldn’t be mutually exclusive, but rather live together and in fact complement each other. The research study described in this paper consists in exposing a vision approach over the combination of the critical success factors which link Agile techniques to Traditional project management. The result is a comparison which can help organizations decided to boost projects success using the strengths of both approaches. Limitations of the study are discussed together with interpretations for practitioners. To ensure success of their projects, managers are encouraged to accept the usage of Traditional and Agile engineering techniques.