Bridging the Gap: Traditional to Agile Project Management 1
Susan C. Parente · 2015
In today’s world of fast-paced technology and continually changing requirements and project scope, the need for Agile Project Management has greatly increased. Responding to this demand, the PMI® (Project Management Institute) launched a new certification, the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) SM . The result of this fast growing certification is the creation of a new space where Project Management and Agile Practices for Software Development meet. This calls us to ask how do we transition from traditional project management to agile project management? This paper translates traditional project management and its processes, as detailed in the PMBOK Guide, to agile practices. It discusses methodologies which can be used to assist in bridging the gap between traditional project management and agile project management. What is Agile Project Management and when does it make sense to use agile practices? How do the PMBOK Guide knowledge areas we are familiar with relate to agile project management and how are they incorporated into agile practices will be evaluated. Recommendations for implementing agile practices will be provided. When requirements and environmental conditions are in flux, our ability to respond to changing needs is critical to managing projects with agility. When should you implement agile practices and how do you implement agile project management in a traditional project management environment? This paper will respond to these questions based on research in this field. OVERVIEW The objectives of this paper on Bridging the Gap: Traditional to Agile Project Management are to assist traditional project managers with understanding what Agile project management is and what Agile practices are. Traditional project management will be compared to Agile project management. This paper will engage in the topic of when Agile practices are valuable to use and why they should be used. Finally, a number of agile methodologies will be reviewed and advantages and disadvantages of each will be detailed.