Project Management: A Worthy Investment

A project manager can do much more for your organization than complete projects on time and on budget, they are the front line of defense to identify behaviors that may create additional costs for your business.  Project management strategies are becoming a large priority of major work industries, and companies are adapting more strategies every year.

It's never too late to adopt more project management strategies because...

• For every $1 billion invested in the United States, $122 million was wasted due to poor project performance. 
• 71% of organizations surveyed report using Agile as sometimes, often or always 
• 60% of organizations surveyed offer training on project management tools & techniques 
• 32% of survey respondents consider technical and leadership skills a high priority, a 3% increase from the previous year 

There are many project management techniques, and each has its own distinct advantages and weaknesses, two popular categories are Agile and Waterfall. All methodologies have the same goal, and that is to facilitate the completion of projects as efficiently as possible. It is important to learn each technique thoroughly to make an informed decision on when to utilize each method. 

AGILE vs. WATERFALL
Agile project management is a popular choice for the industry because it favors an adaptive flow of work and increased collaboration to respond to changes or updates to a project.  

• Focuses on flexibility
  
• Frequent collaboration
  
• Identifies bottlenecks in resources
  
• Incremental work
  

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Waterfall project management is an older technique and favors a linear path of development and collaboration to create distinct phases to a project. 

• Follows a set plan 
• Focus on upfront project requirements 
• Thorough documentation 
• Distinct phases 

This does not mean that Waterfall methods do not have a place in a high pace environment or that Agile techniques do not belong to a long-term project; both approaches offer team members and clients a variety of methods to complete a wide range of projects.  
There may be opportunities to utilize elements of both strategies, and your project manager is the best individual to determine the specific approach. A project manager acts as a bridge from client to project team to communicate and enforce goals, milestones and tasks to complete requirements.  
Pivotal Consulting has a proven track record of bridging the gap between business and technology. Contact us to learn how our project leaders utilize the ideal methodology for your unique scenario to drive exceptional results.

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