incremental | Project Success

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Project Life Cycle Deep Dive!

Do you know when to use Agile, and when to use Waterfall? Do you know the difference and benefit of using iterations versus increments, or both? From the Agile Practice Guide from the Project Management Institute (PMI) and Agile Alliance, we look at the four types of Project Lifecycles and the best times to use them.

Check out the video below now!

We’re looking at the characteristics of project life cycles from the Agile Practice Guide from the Project Management Institute and Agile Alliance.

Previously we’ve looked at the different types of life cycles. We’ve got the predictive life cycle which is your traditional waterfall approach – very step-by-step.

We’ve got an iterative approach where we’re iterating, and we’re not necessarily releasing something but we’re getting feedback on a regular basis, usually every two to four weeks.

Then we’ve got the incremental life cycle and that is where we’re actually delivering an increment to something usable that a customer can can use see feel and touch and getting that feedback as well using that approach.

Lastly the Agile approach which is both incremental and iterative so we’ve combined those two things or we’re iterating towards success building that feedback back into the product but also releasing that product on a regular basis to refine that work and to deliver frequently.

So let’s delve into the characteristics of these life cycles a little more deeply.

Continue reading When to Use Agile, Waterfall, Iterative or Incremental Project Life Cycles →

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Project Lifecycles: The Agile Practice Guide

Do you know the different types of project lifecycles you can use to manage your project, develop a product, or bring a change about in a company?

The Agile Practice Guide goes into four main project lifecycles: Waterfall, Incremental, Iterative, and Agile. There is also “Hybrid” – a combination, which many companies end up using.

Check out the video for details on them now!

There are Many Different Project Environments

In the video, we’re looking at the different types of project life cycles and when we might need to use them. The reason we’re doing this is because there are many different types of projects, different environments they operate in, and projects are often very different.

We might have different organizational structures – for example it might be PMO controlled or it might be functional manager controlled, it might be just within one team or within many departments. There are different life cycles involved in how to manage those projects, there are different management styles, different sizes, different customer needs and requirements, different products or outputs, and the list really does go on.

You might also have co-located teams or dispersed teams you might be governed by a supportive, controlling or directive project management office, or the functional manager of a team. Your sponsor or customer might want daily reports, weekly reports, or they may just have a completely hands-off approach and want you to do the work and report in once it’s done. You may have more than one customer group receiving the benefit of the project which can really complicate things, and of course the project may be technically simple simple or technically complex.

Now all of these things combine into what we look at as the project having easily definable work or high uncertainty work and that’s the difference where the different life cycles and the ways of managing a project comes into it.

Continue reading Different Project Lifecycles and When to Use Them – Agile and Waterfall →