The Agile Approach
The Agile approach is mostly used in the construction of software products, but its five phases can be integrated into and used in projects in fields other than technology. The first phase of the agile approach is the envision phase where a vision of the end product is conceptualized, and the scope of the project is determined. At the second phase, the speculation phase, a feature-based plan to deliver the vision is developed and all the possible iterative activities are outlined (Augustine et al. 2005). At the third stage, the exploration stage, the tested features are delivered, and steps are taken to minify the risks associated with the project. At the fourth phase, the adapt phase, the delivered outcomes and the performance of the development team are analyzed and reviewed. During the fifth stage, the close stage, the project is concluded, and the stakeholders pass on their learnings to the successive development team.
The Project Management Body of Knowledge
According to the PMBOK, a project has five phases. Phase one: initiation – the project is defined on a general level, and stakeholders determine whether it should be undertaken. Phase two: planning – a roadmap and the goals of the project are developed. Phase three: execution – the intended deliverables of the project are constructed to completion. Phase four: performance/monitoring – evaluations are carried out to ensure that the course of the project conforms to the initial project plan. Phase five: closure – the project is completed. The active participants are recognized and acknowledged (Snyder, 2014).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Applicability of Agile and PMBOK Approaches in House Construction and Enterprise Information Management
The agile approach is useful because it allows for the execution of tasks in an iterative and collaborative manner (Thompson et al. 2003). The approach allows project leaders to make predictions about future stages of a project. Agile approach can be applied in the construction of houses, for example, to make probability estimates of the risks that the project will face. For instance, it allows the developers to place the risk of bad weather at 10% and the monetary impact at US$4000, which allows them to reserve at least US$4000 of the contingency fund for weather associated risk. Another example of the agile approach applicability is in the CTG health solutions company case. In this case, the iterative nature of the agile approach is used when going back to the month of august, in which the expected monthly expenses increase by $4,264, from $262,500 to $266,764, to determine whether there is a need to establish a new benchmark amount for monthly expenses.
The PMBOK approach is useful in both projects because it provides a comprehensive guideline to assist with the acquiring, development and management of resources. In the case of construction of the houses, the PMBOK standards provide a roadmap that is followed when drawing up the funding request. The guidebook states that a clear outline of the resources, their costs and uses be provided. In this example, the Guidelines have been followed when outlining that the estimated cost of housing will be $289,415, the reserve estimate is $59,300 and therefore the total projected cost of the project will be $289,415+$59,300 = US$348,715 . Another example of the applicability of the PMBOK approach is in the Enterprise Information Management case, PMBOK guidelines help to identify the expected budgetary change parameters based on the standards it elucidates. The guidelines can be used to draw up the conclusion that based on the scope of this project, if other unexpected increments apart from the already determined US$4,264, then the estimated budget of US$3,201,168 will not be adequate for the project.
The Combined Use of PMBOK and Agile Approaches in both Projects
The phases that development processes of any project carried out using both of these approaches go through are highly similar. The concepts of envisioning and speculation stages of the agile approach are identical to the initiation and planning phases of the PMBOK approach. Calculations of the expected monetary value in the construction of houses must be done at the onset of the project (Thompson et al. 2003). Envision and speculation phases of the agile approach would help to outline the possible risks of the project that would have to be factored for in the calculations. The PMBOK guidelines offer information on risk mitigation to ensure that projects do not use more resources than they should. The PMBOK guidelines would also assist in finding alternative solutions to problems that would arise from the risks associated with the construction project.
In the Enterprise Information Management project (EIM), the PMBOK would assist in determining whether the required design and planning changes would create more problems and what their long-term effects on the project would be. The exploration and adapt phases of the agile approach would assist in the actual construction of the houses. At the performance/ monitoring phase of the PMBOK approach, an evaluation would be carried out to ascertain if the projected risks have been avoided or have materialized, and how much of the reserve fund has been used to mitigate these risks. The PMBOK standards and guidelines would also assist the EIM project in the strict management of financial resources due to budgetary constraints (Thompson et al. 2003). Both approaches elaborate on how a project’s completion and the ending should look like, to make sure that the players feel appreciated and to motivate incoming or successive project teams. It would be professionally prudent to implement these elaborations at the end of both of the above projects.
References
Augustine, S., Payne, B., Sencindiver, F., & Woodcock, S. (2005). Agile project management: steering from the edges. Communications of the ACM, 48 (12), 85-89.
Snyder, C. S. (2014). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge : PMBOK (®) Guide. Project Management Institute.
Thompson, M. R., Burkhart, T. D., Smith, L. D., Niehoff, G. P., Ward, J. A., Horan, J. L., ... & Hergenrather, C. M. (2003). U.S. Patent No. 6,668,253 . Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
