Comments on: Can We Combine Agile and Waterfall Development Strategies? http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:20:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: David Bulkin http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies/comment-page-1#comment-744 David Bulkin Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:04:14 +0000 http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies#comment-744 Gina, I agree that moving from a manufacturing approach of throwing a deliverable over the wall, to collaborating on a deliverable is an important and significant step. Adding to Froggacuda comments, I think it is important to try a full scale Scrum Implementation that also includes Extreme Programming (XP) Engineering Principles (assuming you are doing software development) to get the maximum positive impact, but this is not appropriate in all environments and situations. Gina,

I agree that moving from a manufacturing approach of throwing a deliverable over the wall, to collaborating on a deliverable is an important and significant step.

Adding to Froggacuda comments, I think it is important to try a full scale Scrum Implementation that also includes Extreme Programming (XP) Engineering Principles (assuming you are doing software development) to get the maximum positive impact, but this is not appropriate in all environments and situations.

]]> By: Froggacuda http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies/comment-page-1#comment-743 Froggacuda Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:02:32 +0000 http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies#comment-743 Attempting to merge best practices between waterfall and agile methodologies will be present in business as long as the two PM styles exist; this comes from a wealth of experience from introducing Scrum to businesses that were either struggling along with no PM tech or were heavily invested in a waterfall style because it is the "classic" way to do things. Hybridizing the two is possible, but can be fraught with peril without a deep analysis of what currently works and what the desired end result is. As I started to discuss in my Art of Scrum blog post "<a href="http://froggacuda.wordpress.com/2008/11/13/art-of-scrum-we-do-scrum-but/" title="We Do Scrum But..." rel="nofollow">We Do Scrum But...</a>" without at least trying a medium-sized project with all of the components of Scrum working in synch, it will be very difficult to ascertain how Scrum without buts will be of use to the existing culture of the organization. Many Agile PMs, like PMPs, perhaps like Ag above, are too caught up in the evangelism of the methodology to actually understand the flexibility that is sometimes needed to evoke change in an organization. Check out Collaboration Explained by Jean Tabaka for a good discussion of facilitating this sort of paradigm shift. Attempting to merge best practices between waterfall and agile methodologies will be present in business as long as the two PM styles exist; this comes from a wealth of experience from introducing Scrum to businesses that were either struggling along with no PM tech or were heavily invested in a waterfall style because it is the “classic” way to do things. Hybridizing the two is possible, but can be fraught with peril without a deep analysis of what currently works and what the desired end result is. As I started to discuss in my Art of Scrum blog post “We Do Scrum But…” without at least trying a medium-sized project with all of the components of Scrum working in synch, it will be very difficult to ascertain how Scrum without buts will be of use to the existing culture of the organization. Many Agile PMs, like PMPs, perhaps like Ag above, are too caught up in the evangelism of the methodology to actually understand the flexibility that is sometimes needed to evoke change in an organization. Check out Collaboration Explained by Jean Tabaka for a good discussion of facilitating this sort of paradigm shift.

]]> By: Ag http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies/comment-page-1#comment-742 Ag Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:17:13 +0000 http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies#comment-742 Gina, sadly you don't seem to have understood the crux of what agile methods are all about. I would recommend that you spend some time reading up on what Agile methods are truly about and revisiting this blog post. Gina, sadly you don’t seem to have understood the crux of what agile methods are all about. I would recommend that you spend some time reading up on what Agile methods are truly about and revisiting this blog post.

]]> By: Alec http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies/comment-page-1#comment-741 Alec Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:44:48 +0000 http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies#comment-741 Great post, Gina. I too believe these processes can either be combined, or otherwise used separately within one organization. I wholeheartedly agree with you with one critical point: "I believe that the quality of an end deliverable will be superior when the expertise of each lead can be amalgamated into a single output." What I struggle with is the poor IA's role. In my experience, EVERYONE thinks they're an expert in interfaces. Heck, they surf the web, right? So how do you keep everyone focused on their bit? Because if the business owner focuses on the strategy, and IA focuses on IA, and the designer focuses on design, and the tech lead focuses on system architecture, <i>and if they can share and collaborate from these specific points of view</i>, you're going to end up with a kickass product. I've seen it in action before, but boy is it hard to initiate! Great post, Gina. I too believe these processes can either be combined, or otherwise used separately within one organization. I wholeheartedly agree with you with one critical point:

“I believe that the quality of an end deliverable will be superior when the expertise of each lead can be amalgamated into a single output.”

What I struggle with is the poor IA’s role. In my experience, EVERYONE thinks they’re an expert in interfaces. Heck, they surf the web, right? So how do you keep everyone focused on their bit? Because if the business owner focuses on the strategy, and IA focuses on IA, and the designer focuses on design, and the tech lead focuses on system architecture, and if they can share and collaborate from these specific points of view, you’re going to end up with a kickass product.

I’ve seen it in action before, but boy is it hard to initiate!

]]> By: Riggs http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies/comment-page-1#comment-738 Riggs Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:16:41 +0000 http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies#comment-738 Hi Gina, I thought you might find the following post of interest as well: http://damonpoole.blogspot.com/2008/06/strategy-vs-tactics-in-agile-projects.html http://damonpoole.blogspot.com/2007/05/agile-development-waterfall.html Riggs Hi Gina,

I thought you might find the following post of interest as well:

http://damonpoole.blogspot.com/2008/06/strategy-vs-tactics-in-agile-projects.html

http://damonpoole.blogspot.com/2007/05/agile-development-waterfall.html

Riggs

]]> By: Gina Lijoi http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies/comment-page-1#comment-739 Gina Lijoi Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:26:14 +0000 http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies#comment-739 Hi Brennan, You have brought up an important point - 'selling' a new or different process to your clients. It's worth noting that such an approach (the hybrid approach) should only be taken if it will support meeting difficult deadlines, complex project requirements, and budgetary restrictions. If it does, however, these benefits must be explained to your client, as we recognize that at least 50% of a Project Manager's role is to educate stakeholders on the importance of what we do. This education process will help elevate your profile with the client, building credibility as well as trust. Ultimately, a project is a collaboration between client and project team, with the Project Manager leading both down a common path. Always ensure you have your client's approval and conviction in the way you work - it will build a stronger relationship long-term. Hi Brennan,
You have brought up an important point - ’selling’ a new or different process to your clients. It’s worth noting that such an approach (the hybrid approach) should only be taken if it will support meeting difficult deadlines, complex project requirements, and budgetary restrictions. If it does, however, these benefits must be explained to your client, as we recognize that at least 50% of a Project Manager’s role is to educate stakeholders on the importance of what we do. This education process will help elevate your profile with the client, building credibility as well as trust.

Ultimately, a project is a collaboration between client and project team, with the Project Manager leading both down a common path. Always ensure you have your client’s approval and conviction in the way you work - it will build a stronger relationship long-term.

]]> By: Brennan Hom http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies/comment-page-1#comment-740 Brennan Hom Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:40:08 +0000 http://www.pmhut.com/can-we-combine-agile-and-waterfall-development-strategies#comment-740 Hi Gina, I've always thought elements of the 2 approaches could coexist as one hybrid plan. It really is a matter of how far to an extreme do you sway in either approach to formulate your process and I think that really depends on who your client is. The client or project stakeholder(s) is the key because they need to be convinced that the approach will be best for the project. For example, when I suggested an agile method to their project they said “that sounds great but what does that mean”. So I gave them the metaphor…it’s just like watching your kids grow up through all the good times and bad (newborn, toddler, adolescence, adult etc). And there response to me was, I’m the type of parent to send my child to boarding school and have them come back to me fully mature with their PHD in hand. Hi Gina,
I’ve always thought elements of the 2 approaches could coexist as one hybrid plan. It really is a matter of how far to an extreme do you sway in either approach to formulate your process and I think that really depends on who your client is. The client or project stakeholder(s) is the key because they need to be convinced that the approach will be best for the project.
For example, when I suggested an agile method to their project they said “that sounds great but what does that mean”. So I gave them the metaphor…it’s just like watching your kids grow up through all the good times and bad (newborn, toddler, adolescence, adult etc). And there response to me was, I’m the type of parent to send my child to boarding school and have them come back to me fully mature with their PHD in hand.

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