Agile project management divides large projects into manageable tasks that your team completes in short, iterative bursts.

This flexible, collaborative and customer-focused methodology is the opposite of rigid and traditional project management.

In this article, you’ll learn what agile project management is, why it’s helpful to small businesses and how to implement four different agile frameworks.

What is agile project management?

Agile project management takes an iterative approach to delivery, breaking projects down into smaller pieces. You can complete them continuously or in increments like sprints. Teams deliver value constantly, which means you see the results sooner.

While every project has an overarching goal, there are fewer pre-determined milestones with agile. Instead, projects evolve naturally while adapting to feedback and changing requirements in real time.

Feedback lies at the heart of the agile process. Agile leans on close-knit cross-functional teams collaborating closely while seeking and regularly applying stakeholder feedback. This flexible approach means project teams respond quickly to issues or possible hiccups.

Imagine you want to create a go-to-market strategy. Rather than fully planning the work, break down the project into its constituent parts (defining an ICP, researching competitors, developing messaging) and focus on each in turn.

Using an agile method means a sudden change in requirements – like targeting a new audience – won’t derail the project. You can course-correct and still deliver on time.

Who is agile project management for?

Agile practices are standard in the software development industry. In the 17th State of Agile Report, 70% of respondents of development and delivery teams and almost half of engineering, product development and R&D teams reported using Agile.

However, agile isn’t exclusive to these industries. Small businesses can adopt agile practices to complete projects, whether developing new apps or building a marketing campaign.

Agile isn’t the only project management framework, however. Waterfall is another standard method that uses a different approach.

Agile vs waterfall

Unlike agile, waterfall uses a linear and pre-defined sequence of tasks to manage projects. You need to gather a project’s requirements while mapping workflows and timescales.

With waterfall, projects are split into distinct phases and work can only advance once all tasks in a previous phase are complete. The project flow resembles a waterfall, like in this example from TeamGantt, hence the name.

The waterfall methodology’s timelines are more precise, and scope creep is less likely to occur when you assign every task before any work begins. However, unlike agile, which provides results constantly, waterfall only delivers outcomes at the end of the project lifecycle. Strict timelines can also be problematic since a missed deadline delays the entire project.

Here is a summary of the differences between the two approaches:

Understanding these distinctions will help you decide whether to adopt waterfall or agile. For example, you may adopt agile when a project’s requirements aren’t clear at the outset.

However, waterfall’s more rigid approach may be better for inexperienced teams or simple projects with strict deadlines and clear milestones.

  • Individuals and interactions deliver successful projects, not processes and tools
  • Working software and solutions are more valuable than comprehensive documentation
  • Collaborate with customers rather than negotiate with them
  • Be responsive rather than follow a plan