Shifting PM Work in Organization

I've witnessed a growing emphasis on agility.

This trend was started with our IT dept, but has influenced other projects as well. Project sponsors are recognizing the need to accomplish short-term goals and then re-evaluate project needs in an updated business context. Even projects using predictive plans now favor short duration phases instead of the stereotypical too-long schedules based on numerous assumptions and false milestones that gives "waterfall" a bad name. So that's why I say there's an emphasis on "agility," not necessarily on "Agile."

I'm sure some of this trend is due to popular buzzwords. I've sat in on other projects, for example, where they have (what they call) "sprints," but these are merely sets of To-Do checklists with no time boxes. And I've witnessed many project teams using (what they call) "daily scrums" that are nothing more than project status meetings.