Agile management or agile project management is an iterative method of determining requirements for engineering development projects in a highly flexible and interactive manner, for example agile software development. It requires empowered individuals from the relevant business, with supplier and customer input. There are also links to lean techniques and Six Sigma. Agile techniques are best used in small-scale projects or on elements of a wider programme of work, or on projects that are too complex for the customer to understand and specify before testing prototypes.
Agile techniques may also be called extreme project management. It is a variant of iterative life cycle[1] where deliverables are submitted in stages. One difference between agile and iterative development is that the delivery time in agile is in weeks rather than months. Since agile management derives from agile software development, it follows the same standards defined in the agile manifesto when it comes to collaboration and documentation. Several software methods derive from agile, including scrum and extreme programming.
The Agile Project Leadership Network[2] provides a community of practice for those using Agile methods, with international conferences and online forums. Their Declaration of Interdependence[3] extends the Agile Manifesto[4] further into the value stream and emphasises the collaborative, whole-business nature of this work.
Waterfall, as a project management methodology, has been criticized for not being able to cope with constant changes in software projects, and with the inability of customers to specify adequate requirements before they have tried prototypes. Also, the huge overhead of specifying requirements before starting the actual development may cause long delays of a project. The iterative nature of agile makes it an excellent alternative when it comes to managing development projects, especially software projects.
Agile, however, has its disadvantages. Many believe that it doesn't scale well, hence large software projects are still being conducted in Waterfall. Additionally, since the strength and usefulness of agile are both exhibited in projects with frequent changes, it does not offer any advantage over waterfall when it comes to classical projects where requirements are nearly always constant and unknowns are rare, such as construction projects.