When conducting a project, there are several significant decisions that you will have to make. One of the main choices you will make is the project management methodology that you will use. Project management methodologies vary from Waterfall, Scrum and Kandam and their frameworks differ depending on which you decide to use.

Differences

In this piece, we will take a look at the differences between Agile vs. Waterfall vs. Kanban vs. Scrum. Each of these methodologies has its advantage and disadvantages. We also provide a guide on how you can choose which one to use for your project.

Agile

In Agile methodology, you can make changes to requirements over periods, and it encourages end users for feedback. It is a methodology that uses an iterative and incremental approach. It focuses on the iterations of a product where the work is organized on a backlog.

The organization is done in order of priority that is based on customer or product value. The primary goal of performing the iterations is to make sure the products are working. The advantage of the agile methodology is that it encourages teamwork, face to face communication and accountability.

The stakeholders and developers in a team have to work together to make sure the products meet the needs of the customers and the goals of the company. The main distinction between this methodology and others is that this one accepts changes at any stage of development.

The advantage is that it focuses on the satisfaction of the customer and delivering software that is valuable throughout. This methodology provides high quality and fast delivery because of the use of iterations.

Scrum

Scrum methodology is an arm of Agile, and it is used to implement it. It also utilizes an iterative software that is used in the management of complicated software and product development. This methodology makes use of sprints that are planned after each week or two.

Once each sprint is completed, the stakeholders meet to plan the next steps in line. The advantage of scrum is that it follows strict guidelines of roles, meetings, and responsibilities that do not change. This methodology has structure because of the four sprints that are used.

These sprints include sprint planning, sprint demo, sprint retrospective, and daily stand-up. Each sprint is an opportunity for the team members to use burndown charts and task boards to show and receive progress on the project.

Compared to the others, this methodology is more transparent, and changes can be made after each sprint if progress is not evident. However, it needs a carefully executed and planned task, or it may fail.

Waterfall

This type of methodology follows a linear and sequential process, and it is commonly used in IT and software engineering projects. It often uses a bar chart or Gantt chart to showcase the start date and end date of each task in the project.

It uses eight major stages whereby once a stage is completed, the team goes to the next step. The significant difference between this methodology and the others is that changes cannot be made at any stage. If a change needs to be made the team has to begin the whole process again.

This methodology is easy to use because of the linear approach and ensures discipline because of the start and end points of each task. The only disadvantage is that changes cannot be made if and when required.

Kanban

This methodology stands for the visual card, and like Scrum, it is also used to implement Agile. It is used to showcase three things which are: how much of a product to produce, what to produce and when it needs to be produced.

The advantage of this methodology is that it encourages small changes to the system that you have currently. It, however, does not require any procedure for setting up. It, however, can be incorporated into the existing and current workflows.

The main advantage is that it reduces time wastage because it ensures the team members are working on what is needed. It is also easy to use and implement in the current system. However, it is important to note that the team members can overdo the boards and complicate them.