Agile project management has been popular for some time. Many project managers are expected to know and use agile methods nowadays. Yet, when are agile methods truly suitable for a project and when would a traditional or hybrid approach be better? This article about project management methodologies – will outline the differences between agile, traditional and hybrid and help you choose the right method for your project.
Note that the article also includes the Comparing Project Management Methodologies PDF for download.
We will address each of the following topics:
Let us start.
A glance at the history of project management shows how and why traditional planning methods evolved as they did. Tools such as:
as well as organizations such as:
were established in an era of large-scale projects of a longer duration. So, the project’s goals until completion were ‒ in theory at least ‒ clearly and carefully defined, and any change was costly. This meant that changes were considered to be disruptions. Everyone focused 100% on the goals.
Traditional project management methodologies, therefore, offered numerous methods for control and management. Even today, these methods are good for industries such as construction, plant engineering, pharmaceuticals, and some others.
Our tip: If you are planning a project in which the requirements are pretty clear right from the start and the work can be thoroughly planned, then the traditional project management methodologies are quite suitable. Likewise in environments with a high degree of statutory provisions or regulatory requirements, the traditional project management methods are likely to prevail.
Agile project management with its methods is newer and originates in software development (greatly inspired by the concept of lean manufacturing). Agile project management methods have the following characteristics:
The latter is also clearly stated in the Agile Manifesto of 2001 with the following principles:
The agile principles listed in the manifesto all focus on the importance of interaction. Their objective is to move away from rigid processes and bureaucracy.
Scrum uses a Product Backlog along with user stories instead of detailed product specifications. These user stories describe describe requirements from the user’s perspective. Also, the product backlog is incrementally enhanced during the development process, making it a “living” artifact.
The work to be done during a sprint is planned together with the stakeholders at the beginning of that particular Sprint. After that, the development team meets in a Daily Scrum to plan the work that needs to be done.
When a sprint ends, there is a review:
In addition to this pure form of Scrum, there are also variations such as Reliable Scrum (with critical chain elements), and other agile tools. These include: Kanban boards in which there are no roles because these only serve to help visualize the work processes.
Our tip: Are the requirements in your project not really clear at the start and the goals somewhat flexible, and are short planning horizons an option? If so, agile project management methodologies could be suitable. Scrum, especially, could be the right choice if you want to achieve the objectives rather quickly and flexibly. Having a Scrum Master can help you with the process of implementing rules and establishing a fixed sprint cadence for you and your stakeholders.
In the traditional project management methodologies, the concept and the specification derived from it, provide the basis for the implementation. In the end, what counts is the acceptance and use of the overall result produced. The goals are largely stable over the course of the project whereas deadlines and costs are flexible.
In traditional project management, there are roles such as:
Each of these has clear responsibilities.
Good communication is imperative when the people in these roles interact. In traditional environments, this communication is often in the form of status reports. The following kinds of meetings may be held:
Agile project management, on the other hand, focuses on the product version. Deadlines and costs are stable, but the goal is flexible (see figure above).
A customer can see and evaluate one of the initial versions of a product and give their feedback. You can then use this feedback to modify the original plan and, through regular contact with the customer, develop the subsequent versions.
This means that: The closer you collaborate with the customer, the better and more usable the result of your efforts will be.
In the end, the risk of unpleasant surprises is significantly lower than for methods involving long-term pre-planning. Each iteration of the product comes one step closer to meeting the customer’s needs, thereby enhancing the benefit to the customer.
Our tip: Begin by talking to your stakeholders and explaining to them that agile project management methods demand closer cooperation with the customer to work well. Ensure that you and your team understand that these methods demand an openness to new ways of working. Explain that it is completely normal that implementing these processes takes a bit of time and that the maturity level of Scrum teams only increases with experience.
When trying to decide between project management methods, ask yourself this question: can I afford to have flexible goals?
Of course, a product must also be able to be divided into individual usable components. This is more difficult in a construction project than in software development because in construction the individual parts are useless without the overall result.
Reading tip: Project Management in the Construction Industry
In Scrum, there are three key roles:
The Product Owner is the person responsible for the product requirements and the one who represents the stakeholder.
Scrum Masters ensure that the Scrum process is implemented. They support the team and remove any obstacles.
Note: Scrum Masters can also obtain certification to help them more fully comprehend the theory and support their work. A Scrum Master certification is viewed as the first building block of Scrum training. It can also be useful for other Scrum team members.
Reading tip: Agile project management certifications – A comparison
As the third role in Scrum, the development team bears much responsibility, as it:
Important feedback in reviews and retrospectives comes not just from the stakeholders but also from the team itself in agile project management environments.
The roles are clearly defined when using Scrum methods. However, Scrum handles project responsibility differently (compared to traditional project management methodologies).
Our tip: Read the Scrum Guide to learn more about the roles before employees take on these roles. Your team members can, of course, retain their existing job titles while acting in a different Scrum role.
Communication: The meetings described in the Scrum Guide revolve around the idea that you should reduce the number of meetings to the absolute minimum necessary. These meetings are intended to cover most of the topics necessary:
If stakeholders insist on receiving formal reports, you can – at least theoretically – alert them to the Scrum Boards and other sources of information or invite them to attend a review meeting. The Sprint Backlog clearly indicates what the team members are currently working on. Reviews can also include product demonstrations to increase transparency.
This article provides more detail on hybrid project management.
Regardless of the methods used, it is essential for the company to have a well-planned concept for resource management for project portfolios. This requires a centralized database which, due to its complexity, can only be coordinated by a Project Management Office (PMO).
Agile methods use fixed product / project teams. This greatly simplifies resource management.
However, this is insufficient at the project management level. Regardless of whether you are using agile or traditional project management methods, you will need to determine the actual availability, absences, and operations.
Further reading: Reducing resource conflicts with agile resource planning
Because resources are assigned to individual tasks in traditional projects, the differing deadlines make it difficult for people to switch from one project to another. In some situations, this can have a negative impact on productivity (see the first graphic below).
It is much easier for an employee to switch from one project to another if the team membership remains constant for at least the duration of one sprint. It is a good idea to align the sprint lengths and cadence among several projects. That way, resources can be shifted at the end of a sprint (see the second graphic below).
Our tip: Try to maintain the same cadence in all your projects so that team members can transfer from one project to another smoothly if need be.
When considering agile project management methods, keep in mind these important points:
Hybrid project management is basically a combination of the project management methodologies described above. Various combinations are possible, and here are just four examples of hybrid models:
How can you map traditional, agile and hybrid project management methodologies with software?
If, in agile projects, the project managers use Microsoft Project and the employees track their tasks using Atlassian Jira, an MS Project + Jira Integration makes sense.
The sharing of data between the two integrated systems turns:
The Microsoft Project Epics are precisely planned as issues in Jira, and the effort is supplemented by, for example, Story Points. The combined story points are transferred, per Epic, back to Microsoft Project. This gives the project manager clarity when planning and later monitoring the completion.
Wondering about the end of POL? Read about Project Online Retirement in 2026.
By the way, it is also possible to synchronize the actual hours reported with the status information for the work packages in this way.
The integration of MS Project with Jira is only one example of how you can use the selected methods to track and manage complex project plans in software.
Our tip: There are ways to integrate trusted, familiar programs. Instead of migrating from one software environment to another, you should find information about the capabilities of integration middleware. An integration would enable everyone to continue using the tool that is most familiar and best suited to their needs – while at the same time producing better data as a basis for corporate management.
This article has explained why agile project management methodologies are so in demand these days. You now know the difference to traditional and hybrid planning methods.
The article has provided insight into which methodology is most suitable for a given situation:
To summarize: There is no “one right methodology” that is suitable for every project. You need to choose the methodology best suited to the particular project.
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