Agile Project Management: A Comparison of Best Practices and Methodologies

Project management is an integral part of the software engineering process. It is as essential as business analysis, requirement specification, design, programming, and testing. 

Without project management, even the most promising product ideas can fail. Studies have proven that organizations not using project management practices can waste 28% more money and reduce their chances of success by 2.5 times. Hence, understanding and adapting project management practices is crucial. 

Especially in agile software development, where the requirements are not defined, the lack of project management practices can lead to the loss of time, money, and productivity. This blog talks about such popular practices and methodologies in detail. Let’s begin:

Best Agile Project Management Methodologies

1. Scrum: A Popular Agile Framework for Regularly Shipping Releases

Around 58% of organizations use Scrum exclusively for agile project management, while 18% combine it with other approaches. The approach emphasizes teamwork, collaboration, and iterative development to deliver high-quality products.

In Scrum, a small, self-organizing team works together in short cycles, called sprints, to develop and deliver a working product increment. The team includes the following roles and responsibilities:

• Scrum Team: A cross-functional team of people responsible for implementing the product. There should be at most 7 team members in a scrum team to ensure maximum productivity.
• Scrum Master: A central figure responsible for eliminating obstacles and ensuring that the scrum team efficiently completes the sprint.
• Product Owner: A stakeholder actively involved throughout the project. The product owner conveys the vision and provides timely feedback on completed sprints.  

The scrum approach uses three main factors to manage requirements and track project progress:

• Product Backlog: An ordered list of feature items that the scrum meeting needs to include in the final product. The product backlog serves as a single source of requirements. The product backlog is updated with new requirements, fixes, features, and details being changed or added.
• Sprint Backlog: A list of items the scrum team needs to complete to offer incremental software updates at the end of the product. 
• Sprint Burndown Chart: This chart shows how much work remains in a sprint. This way, the scrum master can see if the scrum team is on the right track and can finish the project on time. 

When to Use Scrum?

The scrum approach works best for long-term, complex projects where the deadlines are unclear and you constantly need stakeholder feedback. 

2. Kanban: An Effective Approach for Handling Work in Progress

Kanban is a simple yet powerful agile project management approach that uses Kanban boards to manage the work in progress. 

In Kanban, teams use visual cues, typically cards or sticky notes, to represent work items and their status as they move through the different stages of a workflow. It helps them easily see what work needs to be done, what is currently being worked on, and what has been completed. Kanban helps teams minimize waste and maximize productivity. 

Over 43% of companies use Kanban Kanban for agile project management.

Kanban Working Principles

• Visualize the workflow: Create a visual representation of the work that needs to be done and the stages it goes through as it moves through the workflow.
• Limit work in progress (WIP): Reduce the amount of work in progress at any given time to prevent overloading team members and complete the project on time. 
• Manage flow: Understand the various stages of the workflow and optimize them to ensure that work moves smoothly and quickly from start to finish.
• Make process policies explicit: Clearly define the rules and procedures that govern the workflow. Also, make them visible to everyone on the team.
• Implement feedback loops: Create mechanisms to gather feedback from team members, customers, and other stakeholders. Then, use that feedback to improve the process continuously.
• Improve collaboratively and evolve experimentally: Encourage team members to work together to identify areas for improvement—also experiment with new approaches to improve the process over time continuously.

When to Use Kanban?

Kanban is beneficial for projects that require a high level of flexibility, where requirements may change frequently, and where there is a need to respond quickly to new information.

3. Lean: An Efficient Agile Project Management Methodology to Eliminate Waste in Software Engineering

Lean is a software development approach based on the principles of lean manufacturing. It focuses on eliminating waste, improving flow, and increasing customer value.

Lean software development aims to optimize the whole process of software development rather than just individual tasks or stages. It focuses on continuous improvement, emphasizing delivering customer value quickly and efficiently.

Lean Working Principles

Here are the principles of Lean software development:

• Eliminate waste: Identify and eliminate any activities or processes that do not add value for the customer and are not necessary for the development process.
• Build quality: Create a culture of quality that emphasizes catching and fixing defects early in the process rather than waiting until later stages.
• Create knowledge: Encourage continuous learning and improvement, and use customer and stakeholder feedback to inform decision-making.
• Defer commitment: Avoid making decisions until they are necessary to maximize flexibility and reduce risk.
• Deliver quickly: Focus on delivering value to customers as swiftly and efficiently as possible to get feedback and make improvements.

When to Use Lean?

The lean software development approach works well for small, short-term projects due to their short life cycles. The process is also efficient if the customers can participate in continuous feedback. 

Agile Project Management Best Practices

Here are some best practices for Agile Project Management:

• Define clear goals and objectives that you can use to guide the project. It will help you ensure that all team members are working towards the same goals and will help keep the project on track.
• Encourage team members to collaborate, share information, and frequently communicate to keep the project moving forward.
• Use techniques such as user stories and product backlogs to prioritize tasks and ensure that you complete the most important work first.
• Deliver value to the customer as quickly as possible. To do this, break the project into small, manageable increments and deliver value at each stage.
• Encourage team members to review their work regularly, learn from their mistakes, and make incremental improvements.
• Be prepared to change the project plan if new information or requirements emerge.
• Use visual aids like Kanban boards and burn-down charts to help team members track progress and identify issues.
• Use regular retrospectives to review progress, discuss any issues or challenges, and identify ways to improve the project moving forward.

By following these best practices, you can ensure effective agile project management to deliver customer value.