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Chapter 2: Project Management A Differen... > Traditional vs. Agile Project Manage...
Traditional vs. Agile Project Management
In hierarchical environments, many project managers act mainly as coordinators rather than managers in a true sense. Today's project managers more often need to collaborate with teams to work on challenges posed by projects. The software development paradigm is clearly shifting towards more flexible development styles offered by agile methodologies.
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2 PMI, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Fourth Edition. (PA: Project Management Institute, 2010).
Methodologies used in the manufacture of electronic hardware during the 1970s formed the basis for what are called “waterfall” models. Power and progress flow downhill to a well-defined end. Hardware manufacturing, for example, is normally done as a series of operations. Typical steps include conceptualization, feasibility study, high-level design, detailed design and drawings, manufacturing, and testing. These activities don't normally interfere with one another. An activity down the line starts only after the previous activity is finished. The waterfall model is very structured and rigid in approach. In using this model, software development was also approached in a very traditional, segmented, and bureaucratic way.
