Stop Shunning Agile or Traditional PM Approaches: They Both Work!

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

  Agile   New Practitioners  

If you’ve been managing projects for more than 20 years, you have most likely observed—and probably experienced—the rise of the agile approach to managing projects. Like me, you have also probably lived through the ups and downs, the successes and failures of those early adopters of the framework—often wondering why it was needed in the first place.

For those of you that have not lived the journey from traditional project management tools, processes and techniques to those embodied within the agile project management framework (APM), here is a brief recap.

The history of APM dates back to 2001 with the publication of the Agile Manifesto, and it has since evolved significantly. APM is based on the idea of “iterative development,” where teams break down big projects into smaller, more manageable time-boxed units of work known as sprints. Temas then constantly adapt and adjust as the project progresses and new knowledge and requirements emerge. This approach allows teams to quickly identify problems and then rapidly adjust and respond.

Over the years, agile project management has become increasingly popular as more organizations recognize its benefits. When properly implemented, it allows teams to be more responsive to customer feedback, create higher quality products and services, and deliver results faster than traditional methods. …

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