Why Traditional Project Management Methods and Tools are Replaced by Adaptive Project Management and Reporting Solutions

In recent times, the traditional project management methods and tools are being replaced by the adaptive project management and reporting solution.

Before the widespread acceptance of the use of the adaptive project management method, several project management methodologies have been created for various purposes. They are created to make project management easier and faster.

If the right plan is not in place and the right tools are not used for your project, achieving your goal may not be possible!

To get the best result and ensure that your project is on the right track, you need to understand the scope of your project, team dynamics, your budget and choose the right methodology.

When you have a good team and an efficient process definition but fail to use the right tools and methodology, meeting your process goals will be impossible.

A report by Clearcode shows that 49 percent of project managers who used the adaptive methodology to develop their projects faced challenges at the middle of the project, while 57 percent faced challenges mid-project by using the traditional method.

As a result, the adaptive methodologies have been adopted continuously by more project managers.

However, it’s important to understand that a single methodology is not usually right for every project as some projects may require the use of two methodologies for the best results.

Understanding both methods will help us determine the reasons why the adaptive methodologies are replacing the traditional method of project management.

Traditional Project Management

The traditional project management deals with thorough planning and analyzing of the projected future for expected risks. It depends on the starting phase analysis and an explanatory breakup of tasks and features for the whole development process.
In this model, you create a standard timeline for task completion and dependencies between these tasks. This helps to determine the expected completion date and the critical path.

If something goes wrong, changing the direction of the project becomes difficult.

The traditional project management teams do not encourage change and buffers are often included in timelines to accommodate a few minor changes.

Traditional Methods and Tools

he traditional planning strategy controls the entire project management process with the use of milestones. The model is very rigid as new tasks are activated when the previous ones are completed. The primary objective of this method is for fast project completion.

If everything goes as planned, the project gets delivered quite quickly. The major drawback of this method is the failure encountered when a significant modification is needed.
It is the best method for projects that don’t require modification ad it doesn’t give room for flexibility in development.

The traditional method is ideal for:

A project that has been worked upon before and the members of the team are familiar with it
Projects that doesn’t need modifications
Remotely distributed and large project team
Document project development process that will be shared with stakeholders
A project carried out by a project manager who has no experience in other project methodologies.

In this method, a great sense of responsibility and thorough understanding of a project and technology is needed. For instance, project representatives should have the right information since they’ll have to share it with the project team.

If they share the wrong information that doesn’t meet the client’s requirements, there will be a need for further changes which will cost more time and money.

Adaptive Project Management

The adaptive project management deals with quick adaptation to project reality and changing scope.

Like the traditional model, you will also schedule, plan and identity vital dependencies and milestones with this method. Although, this model offers more flexibility and provide opportunity for modifications or changing requirements before project completion.

Adaptive Methodologies

With the adaptive methodology, the team works in a shorter timeframe and the development cycle is iterative and quite rapid.

Here, the team understands the entire project and they’re usually well-informed on the tasks ahead but not the entire tasks until the end of the project.

In this model, the team works rapidly backward from the expected completion date. Then, tasks are defined according to the worst possible date of completion and merged with tasks that share similar deadlines into sprints.

Dependencies between each task will not be mapped out to give room for flexibility and chance to adjust resources and give room for iterations due to change in innovation or scope.

The focus here is more on flexibility and quality. For instance, tasks may be ready before the deadline but the completion date will remain unchanged for possible modifications.

The adaptive method is common in projects whereby clients change their requirements and demands frequently.
It may appear challenging but it is the faster approach compared to the traditional method due to the flexibility of the deadline.
In adaptive methodology, the outcome of the project may be different from the earlier concept, making the process more innovative and exploratory.

Steps in Adaptive Methodology

The adaptive methodology involves some steps which include:

Brainstorming and project conceptualization sessions
Making thorough planning and producing the components of the project
Delivering the components for feedback and comments from the stakeholders
Feedback acceptance and implementing changes in the project designs and updating the goals
Using the changed product parameters to produce the project component

The adaptive method is used in:

Projects with flexible deadlines
Ever-changing projects with undetermined deadline
Projects with flexible and adaptable
organizational teams
A company in a rapidly evolving industry
A team where the project manager has a vast knowledge of the adaptive methodology and can lead them effectively
Small teams or larger teams that can be broken into subgroups

Why Project Managers are Choosing the Adaptive Project Management and Reporting Solutions

Every project management methodologies have their strengths and weaknesses. Having a good understanding of a project requirement makes a specific methodology more suitable than the other.

Sometimes, a combination of the traditional and adaptive methodologies may be required for a successful project completion. In such cases, the adaptive approach is used in the validation and ideation phases and the traditional approach is used during the execution and launch process. This is commonly used in many product development
companies.

The adaptive project management method is being used in place of the traditional methods because of the flexibility that comes with the adaptive method. You need flexibility to incorporate the various methodologies used in project execution. The adaptive approach provides that, leading to more successful project completion.

The Uppwise project automation platform helps you create apps to help improve your project execution, while offering you the suitable project management methodology.

Uppwise makes your work more exciting and meaningful by empowering your team.