Differences between Agile and Waterfall Methodologies

Agile and Waterfall project planning can be viewed as objects through which you can understand a more fundamental organization design principle. This is so true if you are operating in a more rapidly changing and unpredictable environment. With the information contained in this article, you will be able to understand clearly, differences between agile and waterfall methodologies. Let’s dive in:

Differences Between Agile and Waterfall Methodologies

1. Adaptive Learning
In the current environment, it is very rapid and chaotic, and this is self-evident to whoever wants to involve in organization leadership. The truth is, the most relevant models of change in an unpredictable environment such as ours are based on learning.
Agile being a learning methodology and team structure is used to develop products and services rapidly. This is based on the values of continuous improvement, adaptive planning, coupled with the ability to change quickly and easily. These are core principles that need to be followed as the highest priority, frequent and frictionless collaboration, and self-organization.

2. Managerial Logic
Managerial logic is nothing but a set of assumptions and mental models craft up by managers to maintain organization control and coordination. One logic from several other logic is called the bureaucratic logic. The core principle of this logic is that responsibility for control is located one level above where work is actually performed.

This seeks predictability and also creates decision-making bottlenecks, which means you have got to plan the work and work the plan. With this logic, there is inflated administrative overhead and costs, promotion of an inward orientation geared toward pleasing the manager.
There is an alternative logic called the democratic model. Its core principle is that responsibility for control and coordination is found at the level where work is actually done. It encourages collaboration and thereby accelerating the learning process. This consequently helps in reducing the administrative overhead.
Another thing about this logic is that it does not lead to a relaxation of controls and standards. Rather there is always from goals imposed from outside the workgroup to targets set by workgroups during consultations with the managers.

3. Self-Managing Teams
Teams that are working as a whole toward an identifiable outcome. Staff with all needed skills are known to have meaningful benefits. There are as listed below:

• More responsive to local conditions
• More accountable for total outcome performance
• More resilient in the face of stress
• More reliable.
Some of the differences between Agile and Waterfall methodologies are as highlighted below:
• Waterfall methodology is vulnerable to cascading delays while Agile has a decreased risk of missed objectives.
• Waterfall methodology works on stable environments, while Agile methodology has a dynamic working environment.
• With waterfall methodology, there are simple or complicated tasks, while in Agile, the tasks are complex.
• There is heavy documentation in waterfall methodology, while in Agile, there is the lighter-weight framework.

What’s next?
To learn the Kanban 101 at team-level, enroll in the IBQMI® Approved Kanban Professional.
If you want to apply Kanban to any environment at an advanced coach level, you should enroll in the Certified Kanban Coach®.

To master even big projects, enroll in the Certified Lean Project Manager®