Choosing the right method of the management of projects is essential for the success of any product that is to be developed. Of all the methodologies that have been developed, the most widely known are Agile and Waterfall, which differ in principles, practices, and benefits. Comparing the pros and cons of Agile and Waterfall approaches will indeed guide those managing product development procedures to make the right choice that is best suited for the company’s product and team culture.

Understanding Waterfall Methodology

The Waterfall methodology is a particular, linear approach to indicate how a task will be completed. Consider a waterfall as an example; it is a flow of water that has separate steps it goes through. Likewise, a waterfall project moves from one phase to another sequentially and with little backtracking to prior phases.

Here's a breakdown of the typical Waterfall phases:Here's a breakdown of the typical Waterfall phases:

• Requirement Gathering: It entails a very careful and detailed process of identifying the requirements of a project and its functions as well as the expected outcomes.

• System Design: According to the obtained requirements, technical architecture and system design are determined.

• Development: Scheduling and developing the product following the plan that was produced in the design phase.

• Testing: The built software product is tested to check for defects and this process is called bug testing.

• Deployment: The final product is disseminated to the users of the product.

Pros of Waterfall

• Structure and predictability: Unlike in other methodologies such as agile, where the project can be in progress throughout a fiscal year, the waterfall model presents the project in phases, thus facilitating in indicating the right time for budget and time estimations. This is best suited for projects that the requirements are clearly stated right from the start.

• Clear accountability: The responsibility for each phase is clearly assigned and hence the owners’ of each phase are properly assigned with the responsibility for the deliverables of each phase.

• Detailed documentation: In each work phase, a lot of documentation is created, which proves useful during project work and any subsequent alterations.

• Suited for regulations: Waterfall excels in complex projects that have a lot of legal and regulatory frameworks since every phase has to adhere to a regulation before proceeding to the next phase.

Cons of Waterfall

• Limited flexibility: Frequently, client stakeholders may introduce changes mid-project, and when it happens, it interrupts the flow in Waterfall, given that it becomes costly. The hypothesis states that there are problems with the sequenced flow, and thus cannot incorporate new information or changes of course.

• Slow time-to-market: The above mentioned upfront planning and phase-based methodology can result in a longer time it takes for the development of the given product before it is delivered to users.

• Limited customer involvement: Customers contribute at the initial phase of development while their feedback is limited in the subsequent phases. This can eventually result in a final product that does not fully satisfy the needs of the consumers.

Understanding Agile Methodology

Agile is a fluid and cyclic method used in project management. While Waterfall offers a sequential process, Agile is more about its iteration and flexibility. Organizations divide projects into special phases known as a ‘sprint’ that range between one and four weeks in duration. Each sprint is framed by a set of delivered features and functionalities that have been set by the cross-functional teams.

Here's a glimpse into the core principles of Agile:Here's a glimpse into the core principles of Agile:

• Iterative development: Pieces of work are given in bite-sized forms and work can be revised as much as possible at this stage.

• Customer collaboration: Customers participate in the development process and are an active part of the process and are involved in giving feedback and determining the path that a product will take.

• Embrace change: Traditional software-engineering development processes are rigid while agile processes of software development are flexible due to their flexibility of changing its course to match the changing requirements and goals of a project.

• Focus on teams: Self organizing teams allow the teams to make their own decisions and allocate work among themselves.

Pros of Agile

• Faster time-to-market: The manner in which Agile offers to provide features in phases also lays emphasis on the fact that it is possible to bring out early product releases and also, get user feedback at the earliest.

• Increased flexibility: Due to the ability of being flexible and highly susceptible to change which is useful when the situation requires frequent changes of direction.

• Improved customer satisfaction: Ongoing engagement with the customers allows the product to meet their expectation as it is developed to provide utility.

• Enhanced team morale: Agile encourages employee involvement, delegation, and engagement which a drastic improvement to the morale of the workers.

Cons of Agile

• Uncertain project scope: The nature of Agile is cyclical which makes it difficult to determine a scope and a budget when project initiation.

• Heavy reliance on good communication: One of the major success factors of Agile methods is that they should be well communicated within the teams and toward the stakeholders.

• Potential for rework: As mentioned earlier the communication frequency, and course/steering changes if not well coordinated could cause rework.

• Less suitable for complex projects: More complex and interdependent tasks may prove problematic when using Agile because it is relatively flexible.

Selecting the Proper Methodology for the Product

The optimal methodology for your product depends on several factors:The optimal methodology for your product depends on several factors:

• Project scope & requirements: Waterfall is better suited in conditions that there are clearly defined requirements for a project or when there is a possibility of not many changes to the requirements in the future. When dealing with the changing requirements of a project, Agile as a methodology has more versatility than others.

• Project complexity: Very large projects with many subprojects with massive interconnections can be better managed using Waterfall. Agile is best used in plain vanilla development or activities where functions can be partitioned into small packages.

• Time-to-market: If a swift release is important, then due to the nature of the iterative methodology that Agile utilizes, the initial versions will contain the main requirements. Waterfall generally takes a longer time to develop as compared to the other models.

• Customer involvement: When the need to collect feedback from the customers and make multiple updates is essential Agile is used. Waterfall also entails little involvement of the customer in the development process.

Conclusion

Agile and Waterfall both are effective project management frameworks that contain their advantages and limitations. Thus, the methodology can be chosen according to the characteristics of the given project and be effectively implemented only when all the characteristics of the project have been considered carefully. To know how to fully take advantage of both methodologies, enroll now in the Project Management MasterClass from Sprints!