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Introduction

The Agile project management (APM) framework is a vital project management tool.
It allows management of the entire project lifecycle.
Integrates the traditional aspects of project management with modern requirements.
Traditional project management (TPM) is a wide enterprise approach for developing effective project management.
Presentation explores the differences between APM and TPM.

The Agile project management (APM) framework is a vital project management tool. Most businesses rely on APM to boost the quality of their products, making APM a vital product improvement tool for organizations (Bergmann & Karwowski, 2018).

Practically, APM involves the use of “short development cycles, multiple iterations, and continuous improvement, with the flexibility for changes to occur as the project progresses” (Bergmann & Karwowski, 2018). The organization relies on the user-feedback to understand the specific areas that require improvement, then make the necessary adjustments.

APM allows full management of the entire project lifecycle from the planning process to the delivery of outcome (Bergmann & Karwowski, 2018). It monitors all the processes involved until the project is accomplished.

APM also integrates the traditional aspects of project management with modern requirements. The integration promotes flexibility and effectiveness of the project’s activities.

Traditional project management (TPM) is a wide enterprise approach for developing effective project management (Cobb, 2015; Wysocki, 2011). Just like APM, TPM also works effectively in managing the project towards achieving its objectives

This exploratory presentation seeks to describe the differences between APM and TPM in terms of characteristics.

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Characteristics of APM Methodology

Higher productivity
Changes promote APM success
Discovery facilitates learning
Customer satisfaction
Business value is the primary focus
Active collaboration

Adaptive Project Management promotes productivity by improving the organization’s performance (Bergmann & Karwowski, 2018). The increased performance improves the output, which boosts the firm’s productivity.

APM methodology requires continuous implementation of changes to boost the project’s success. Change promotes success, therefore, changes are usually implemented.

The methodology allows learning from discovery, allowing the firm to fit in the market as new changes occur (Bergmann & Karwowski, 2018). For instance, implementation of new changes help the organization to improve performance and attain its goals.

Customer satisfaction is always the first priority, therefore all stakeholders focus on meeting all the rising needs of the customers to boost their experience and satisfy them (Cobb, 2015).

Business value is the primary focus, therefore, all strategies directly focus on improving the business value.

The approach promotes active collaboration by allowing different stakeholders to work together to achieve the organization’s goals (Bergmann & Karwowski, 2018).

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TPM in Use

TPM improves the productivity, efficiency, and safety by motivating the operators, team leaders and managers to remain active in their duties by following eight main steps (Wysocki, 2011).

Autonomous maintenance – the operators usually monitor the condition of their equipment and work area.

Process and machine improvement – the team leaders collect information from operators and work areas to use in prioritizing preventive maintenance and making improvements (Wysocki, 2011).

Preventive maintenance – team leaders and operators share the preventive maintenance tasks and schedules to achieve the desired goal.

Early management of new equipment – the team leaders use prior reports to predict and plan for equipment lifecycles then report to managers.

Process quality management – Responsibility of operation and maintenance shared all workers to encourage quality improvement.

Administrative work – project managers prioritize data and share outcome with team leaders and work areas.

Education training of all workers to improve the skills, morale and efficiency for improved product quality.

Safety and sustained success – the success of the TPM program assessed by checking if the goals have been accomplished (Wysocki, 2011).

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APM Versus TPM

APM

Value maximization is the primary focus
Product owner is the key decision maker
Product owner and team are the leaders
Documentation is limited
Intended to manage project flow

TPM

Project control is the main focus
Key decision maker is the project manager
Project manager is the leader
Documentation available and key
Used to manage the structure

Value maximization is the primary focus in APM while TPM’s main focus is the project control. The APM approach seeks to optimize the value, and all efforts are directed towards improving the firm’s value (Bergmann & Karwowski, 2018). However, TPM approach aims to have full control over the project to influence the outcome of the project.

The Product owner is the key decision maker, and their decisions are final. However, the project manager is the key decision maker in TPM.

The product owner and the team are the leaders, and exercise their authority collectively unlike in TPM where the project manager is the leader and final decision maker.

Documentation is limited in APM, with most operations not requiring paperwork (Bergmann & Karwowski, 2018). Conversely, TPM requires documentation for formality and record-keeping, making documentation a key element in TPM.

The key aim of APM is to manage the project flow while TPM aims to manage the structure.

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APM Versus TPM

APM facilitates quick delivery of goals while TPM takes longer periods to deliver.
APM allows continuous adaptation while TPM is relatively rigid.
Greater transparency in APM while transparency is limited in TPM.
APM allows one step at a time while TPM allows multiple steps at a time.

APM facilitates quick delivery of goals while TPM takes longer periods to deliver. APM reduces the time for project planning, start-up and completion, thereby, promoting fast delivery times (Bergmann & Karwowski, 2018). On the other hand, TPM involves delayed planning, start-up and achievement of project goals, hence delaying delivery times.

APM allows continuous adaptation while TPM is relatively rigid. APM is flexible and welcomes changes as they occur whereas TPM is rigid and resistant to most changes implemented by the firm (Wysocki, 2011).

The end-users (product owners) are always directly involved in APM, resulting to greater transparency (Bergmann & Karwowski, 2018). However, TPM sidelines the end-users, and transparency is a major issue throughout the project.

APM allows one step at a time while TPM allows multiple steps at a time. APM allows sequential structure in which one step of the project is accomplished before moving to the next. The sequential structure is vital for projects because it helps to keep track on all the project’s steps. However, TPM allows multiple steps simultaneously

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References