Agile project management started as a way to fix what was broken in software development. In the early 2000s, teams were overwhelmed by deadlines and documents and struggled to deliver. So, 17 developers sat down in a ski lodge and wrote the Agile Manifesto.
All these years later, despite the AI hype, Agile is still kicking (hard).
In fact, Agile projects are twice as likely to succeed as Waterfall projects. That’s because more can be accomplished, and teams can respond to changing requirements and unexpected events easily.
If you’re tired of long, chaotic projects, Agile might be what your team needs. But if you’re unsure, I’ll give you a breakdown of this project management framework, show it in action, and compare it to other methodologies.
Key Takeaways
- Agile is a Mindset, Not a Tool: Agile is a set of ideas and beliefs, not tools.
- Agile Teams Are Collaborative: Daily check-ins and open communication are highly encouraged.
- Short Sprints = Faster Feedback: You don’t wait months to know if your idea works in this environment.
- Continuous Improvement is Built In: Each sprint ends with a review, so your team is constantly getting better.
- Different Agile Methods Fit Different Projects: Scrum, Waterfall, XP—each supports the agile software development process in its own way.
What is Agile Project Management?
Agile is a common project management approach that you can learn in two minutes. It does require significant investment (time, budget, and commitment), but it’s worth it if you do it in a way that meshes with your team.
On the other hand, you won’t find many Agile project managers sticking perfectly to the textbook version of this methodology. However, true agile frameworks share a few core principles: prioritizing people over rigid processes, embedding customer feedback, breaking work into small, focused sprints, dedicating teams to single projects, encouraging continuous learning, and promoting transparency throughout.
With over 40 interpretations out there, these fundamentals are universally embraced. Here’s what you’ll see typical Agile team members doing:
- Work is Broken Up into Sprints: Usually 2-week blocks of work where people commit to what will be accomplished and work to get those tasks done by the end of the sprint
- Standup Meetings: Regular meetings where the participants of a sprint discuss their status updates, blockers, progress, etc. (The goal being to get a good summary of what everyone else is working on)
- Sprint Planning: Time when work is pulled in for the next sprint and estimated
- Retrospectives: Meetings to review successes and areas for improvement from the previous sprint
The structure helps teams stay focused, talk often, and adapt when things change. Most Agile teams follow some version of this rhythm, even if they tweak the details to fit their needs.
The Agile Methodology in Action
As mentioned above, Agile is different for everyone. But here’s a great example of it in real life:
This popular music platform uses a unique Agile framework known as the “Spotify Model,” which organizes teams into autonomous “squads, tribes, chapters, and guilds.” This structure promotes an environment rich in autonomy and alignment, allowing each squad to focus on specific aspects of the product and release new features independently.
Remarkably, as a result, Spotify is more transparent, more flexible, and faster in its product development process, which means faster product releases and overall happier teams.
The result?
An impressive, ultra-competitive leader in the music streaming industry. Its innovative business model, focusing on both free ad-supported and premium subscription tiers, has allowed it to capture significant market share. It’s one of the best examples of Agile teams that I could think of!
Popular Agile Methods
Many think of Agile as a tool, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. It isn’t just one “thing”.
Agile is a philosophy focused on solving problems. “How do you get a bunch of people who are at different places in their careers, with different skill sets, to work together towards a common goal?”
The old style is called ‘waterfall’. It is suitable for projects where you could plan out the work for the next year (or three). You could look at the work and realize it needs order. You need to do X first, and then you can do Y. This is known as the “waterfall”.
But it’s rare that you can plan projects successfully so far into the future. So, we need to have ‘agile methodologies’ which basically allow the team to decide and develop the most important work.
Agile works much better when you don’t have a clear plan or end product. Waterfall works better when you have a clear end product.
Here are a few popular Agile methods:
☑️ Scrum: Fixed-length sprints, daily meetings, and a defined Scrum Master role.
☑️ Kanban: Visual task board, great for tracking project progress.
☑️ Extreme Programming (XP): Focused on technical practices like pair programming and test-driven development.
☑️ Feature Driven Development (FDD): Designs around individual features and user stories.
☑️ Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM): Emphasizes frequent delivery and active user involvement.
Each fits different team styles and project requirements, but all aim to make software development teams more responsive. Here are the differences between Agile and Waterfall:
Why Agile Teams Work for Software Development Projects
Unlike traditional (waterfall) project management, Agile focuses on the real outcome of a project.
These are the benefits of Agile project management for adaptive software development:
- Code changes fast. Agile changes with it.
- Stakeholders don’t always know what they want until they see it.
- Bugs and features can be found and fixed during the project lifecycle.
- Agile teams move faster by staying small and self-organizing.
- You can launch a working MVP, test it, and improve from there.
Agile project management focuses on making work easier. It’s also far more transparent, and even if that means more work (or putting you out of your comfort zone), transparency and shared knowledge are 100% better than the alternative, in my opinion.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve ever felt stuck in a process that can’t change, you’re not alone. Agile project management was designed to flip that feeling on its head, letting you build better software faster.
As competition is continually increasing and time to market is also shrinking, Agile offers several benefits that Waterfall just can’t compete with. And while some say Agile project management frameworks are dying, I challenge that notion by saying that they’re just common sense in use.
FAQs
Scrum is a type of agile framework. All Scrum is Agile, but not all Agile is Scrum.
Most sprints last around 2 weeks. It depends on your project team and goals.
Agile works in marketing, HR, education, and more. It’s certainly not just for software development teams.
The project manager’s role usually shifts to support and coordination, not command and control. Sometimes, this role becomes the Scrum Master.
It’s easier than you think. You just need a team willing to adapt and a little patience in those first few sprints.
