ABSTRACT
Choosing the most effective and efficient project management methodology for a particular project is very important. There is no perfect project management methodology for any given project because a lot of factors need to be taken into consideration (Andrei et al., 2019).
The purpose of this paper is to identify two project management methodologies that can best meet the needs of a transport company called Prestige Shuttle and Event Transport (PSET). We will take a closer look at both methodologies and choose the best fit project management methodology according to the demands of the owner of the company Ms. Usher.
After going through all the demands that Ms. Usher has made regarding the kind of business information system she wants in place, one could conclude that an agile project management methodology will be a good fit for the project, but a hybrid project management methodology which is a combination of both agile and waterfall project management methodology might just be the best for such a project.
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INTRODUCTION
A project management methodology can be defined as a set of arrangements, means, skills, designs, routines and best practices for the most efficient and effective result of a project (Spundak, 2014). There are many project management methodologies that one can choose from to complete a particular project. The scope, timeline, budget, target, purpose, vision among many other factors are key to determining the best project management method to fit a particular project.
PSET is an emerging transportation business that wants to implement a business information system to improve the quality and efficiency of the various services it offers to its stakeholders especially its customers. Continuous tracking and keeping up with customer need to be coupled with a huge desire to fulfill those needs leaves the company vulnerable to frequent changes in its business methods. Ms. Usher has made it clear that the company is open to trying new things as long as it helps in the progress and efficient running of the company. Ms. Usher also demands a system that will be tested through a training process and complete documentation of the project.
USING AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT METHODOLOGY FOR THE PSET PROJECT
The agile project management method follows a frequent and expanding style of development that automatically responds to changes thereby making it a good risk management methodology (Hoda, Noble & Marshall, 2008). The agile project management method might just be one of the best approaches to the PSET project. One of the biggest advantages of the agile project management method is its ability to respond to changes quickly (Stoddard, Gillis & Cohn, 2019). The owner of the company Ms. Usher made it clear that the company is open to beneficial innovation.
Furthermore, Ms. Usher also mentioned that the system should be able to reach customers through e-mail, telephone, post mails, etc. which are bound to continually change as people tend to move and change contact information when the need arises. According to the agile methodology manifesto, the utmost priority of the agile method is to consistently meet customers changing demands (Kurup & Sidhardhan, 2015). Another great advantage of the agile project management method if used cautiously might save a lot of time and money especially when there is a limited budget (Shankarmani & Mantha, 2012). Given the limited time limit of about 5 months given by Ms. Usher and the $100,000 budget to complete the entire project, the agile project method might be an excellent fit.
One major disadvantage of the agile project management method is its lack of proper documentation as a result of frequent changes to its designs. This makes it difficult to keep track of changes and makes it inconvenient for future development teams to genuinely understand the actual design of the project. The agile method may also involve a huge waste of valuable time and resources if not carefully implemented because of the constant changes and withdrawals it accommodates (Sharma, Sarkar & Gupta, 2012). Because Ms. Usher clearly stated that she wants the system up and running in a given time limit and that she wants a cost-effective project, this might cause some problems.
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USING HYBRID (WATERFALL/AGILE) METHODOLOGY FOR THE PSET PROJECT
The hybrid project management methodology is the blending of both agile and waterfall methodologies to bring up the best results in a particular project (Baird & Riggins, 2014). The waterfall method usually called the traditional project management method follows a linear path to the success of the project. It involves planning, designing, implementing and testing each phase orderly without concurrence (Mahalakshmi & Sundararajan, 2013).
Although Ms. Usher made it clear that the company is open to innovation, doesn’t support a rigid chain of command restrictions and most importantly it is customer-focused; she also stressed the need for a complete documentation of each step in developing of the business information system and a robust training process at the implementation stage both of which are huge parts of the traditional method system. Combining the agile project management method with some necessary parts of the traditional methodology might just be the best approach to this kind of project.
Using this hybrid project management method can also have disadvantages because you might not have all the freedom provided by agile and you might not also have structural organization of your project provided by the waterfall project management method (Spundak, 2014).
CONCLUSION
Although one might argue that the agile project management method alone might do the work, it might also be best to include a bit of the traditional method aspect. This might just suffice the needs of Ms. Usher regarding the business Information system project she wants to put in place. I do think that a hybrid agile and traditional method approach might be the best alternative for such a project.
REFERENCES
- Shankarmani, Radha & Pawar, Renuka & Mantha, S & Babu, Vinaya. (2012). Agile Methodology Adoption: Benefits and Constraints. International Journal of Computer Applications. 58. 10.5120/9361-3698.
- Sidhardhan, S. K. (n.d.). Benefits and Challenges of Agile Project Management. Retrieved https://www.academia.edu/19888935/Benefits_and_Challenges_of_Agile_Project_Management
- Morgan M. Stoddard, Bill Gillis & Peter Cohn (2019) Agile Project Management in Libraries: Creating Collaborative, Resilient, Responsive Organizations, Journal of Library Administration, 59:5, 492-511,DOI: 10.1080/01930826.2019.1616971
- Andrei, B., Casu-Pop, A., Gheorghe, S., & Boiangiu, C. (2019). A STUDY ON USING WATERFALL AND AGILE METHODS IN SOFTWARE PROJECT MANAGEMENT.Journal of Information Systems & Operations Management, , 125-135. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.una.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.una.edu/docview/2237828314?accountid=14668
- Špundak, M. (2014). Mixed Agile/Traditional Project Management Methodology – Reality or Illusion? Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 119, 939–948. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.105
- Mahalakshmi, M., & Sundararajan, M. (2013). Traditional SDLC Vs Scrum Methodology–A Comparative Study. International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering, 3(6), 192-196.
- Sharma, S., Sarkar, D., & Gupta, D. (2012). Agile processes and methodologies: A conceptual study. International journal on computer science and Engineering, 4(5), 892.
- Hoda, R., Noble, J., & Marshall, S. (2008). Agile project management. In New Zealand Computer Science Research Student Conference, NZCSRC 2008.
- Kurup, D., & Sidhardhan, S. K. (2015). Agile Project Management–Benefits and Challenges.
- Baird, A., & Riggins, F.J. (2012). Planning and Sprinting: Use of a Hybrid Project Management Methodology within a CIS Capstone Course.
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