Agile Project Management

A comparison of agile and traditional project management in the swiss public sector.

Project management in the public sector faces the challenge of implementing efficient and successful projects that meet the needs of citizens and administration simultaneously. In recent years, agile project management has established itself as an alternative approach to traditional, waterfall-based methods. This professional article examines the advantages of agile project management methods compared to classical approaches and specifically considers their application in the public sector in Switzerland.

Differences

Traditional and agile project management differ from each other at different stages of project planning and execution. The following section highlights the differences between the methods, organized by topics.

1

Financial Planning

In traditional project management, costs are estimated and planned but they may deviate during the course of the project and can be adjusted. The financial resources are therefore oriented towards the overall goal of the project, which is established and defined at the beginning. In contrast, in the agile IT environment, costs are determined at the start of the project. Unlike the traditional approach, the financial planning does not change; rather, it is the overall project outcome that can change throughout the project as customer needs and requirements need to be identified and may evolve during the project. While this makes an agile project less flexible in terms of finances, it allows for a lot of freedom regarding the outcome.

2

Overall result of the project

As already mentioned in 1, there are differences in the planning of overall project results. While traditional projects work with a clearly defined project goal, an agile project is an optimal solution when this goal can change again during the project duration, for example due to agile and rapidly changing conditions. However, this possibility of goal adjustment requires an agile project organization in several respects.

3

Project organisation

While traditional projects can be carried out in large teams, agile projects rely on smaller team sizes that, depending on the method, operate in a self-organized manner and collaborate flexibly. This also changes the allocation of tasks. While in traditionally organized projects tasks are often assigned top-down, in agile teams tasks must be taken on independently. In addition to task allocation, the methods also differ in terms of communication. Agile-managed projects feature a lot of informal communication, for example in the form of stand-up meetings. In classical project management, work is carried out with clearly structured and led meetings and communication through formal documents. Well-known agile project management methods include, for example, Scrum or Kanban.

4

Outcomes and Results

The differences between the two methods can also be shown in the intermediate results during the various project phases. In traditional methods (such as HERMES 5.2), intermediate results take the form of milestones to be achieved, where certain activities must be completed. The milestones in agile projects represent concrete partial solutions that can already be used in practice after feedback and completion. The milestones of traditional methods do not define a requirement for functional and usable partial solutions. Regular feedback loops promote early error detection before the milestones are completed.

Use in swiss public sector

The application of agile methods in the public sector organizational environment requires special consideration of the legal and regulatory frameworks of Switzerland as well as the specific needs of citizens and the administration. The flexibility and adaptability of agile methods make it possible to address these challenges while simultaneously leveraging the benefits of agility. It should be noted that not all projects in the Swiss public sector are equally suitable for agile implementation. Projects with clear requirements, limited changes, and fixed budgets may still be better managed using traditional project management methods. A careful assessment of the projects and a weighing of the pros and cons are crucial for project success. The rather traditionally shaped values in the project environment of public organizations still need to be further broken down to make the beneficial application of agility possible. In particular, firmly established silo constructs within the organization need to be made more permeable, and overcoming hierarchies and formal chains of command is also necessary.

Conclusion

Ultimately, before any project, the feasibility and appropriateness of using the respective methods must be clarified. It is important to mention that choosing a project management method is not a binary decision. A project does not have to be managed exclusively in a traditional or agile way. It is also possible to introduce a certain degree of agility into traditional projects to improve and complement them, for example, by incorporating Kanban boards or other tools to enhance collaboration within project teams.

References

Grillitsch, W., Sagmeister, M. (2021). Besonderheiten des agilen Projektmanagements. In: Projektmanagement in Organisationen der Sozialwirtschaft. Basiswissen Sozialwirtschaft und Sozialmanagement. Springer VS, Wiesbaden.
Hillberg, K. (2020). Agiles Projektmanagement. In: Projektmanagement im Einkauf. Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.

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Marlene Hinteregger

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