Agile Method in Project Management
Agile development methods surfaced between the late 1990s and the early 2000s to provide faster and more lightweight means of development. In essence, Agile development allows requirements and solutions to evolve, while self-organizing and cross-functional teams and end users work cooperatively (Nagel, 2015; Nikabadi & Hakaki, 2018; Omamo, Rodrigues, & Muliaro, 2020; Papke-Shields & Boyer-Wright, 2017; Parast, 2011). Furthermore, Agile features Sprints, which are small, iterative work sequences that contain a scheduled goal for the team to reach, which would then be reviewed. The main roles of the Agile framework are the product manager, the project manager, and the team.
Also, continuous and effective communication is essential for tasks to succeed. One of the essential aspects of Agile development methods is the emphasis on the informal communication that is conducted (Todorović, Petrović, Mihić, Obradović, & Bushuyev, 2015; Usman Tariq, 2013; Von Thiele Schwarz, 2017; Winter, Andersen, Elvin, & Levene, 2006a). Informal communication has been defined as personal, peer-oriented, and interactive communication that allows correcting mistakes and filling in any essential details quickly (Hoon Kwak, & Dixon, 2008; J. W., 2018; Labedz & Gray, 2013; Lee, Lapira, Bagheri, & Kao, 2013). Additionally, physical proximity is essential to informal communication, which is highly emphasized in Agile literature (Galli & Battiloro, 2019; Haddad & Otayek, 2019; Aslani, Akbari, & Tabasi, 2018; Azar, 2012). An Agile development team should share their workspace, and the customer should be on-site to provide any additional feedback (Galli, 2018b; Galli, 2018c; Gholizad, Ahmadi, Hassannayebi, Memarpour, & Shakibayifar, 2017). So, communication management plays a major role in the Agile methodology.
Currently, Agile approaches are used in globally-distributed environments, but this creates new challenges for informal face-to-face communications. It is difficult to achieve physical and temporal (the proximity between the participants) approaches (Easton & Rosenzweig, 2012; Mohamed & Hassan, 2019; Parker, Parsons, & Isharyanto, 2015; Schwedes, Riedel, & Dziekan, 2017; Shanbhag & Pardede, 2019). The development approach is irrelevant for effective communication, but it is essential in globally distributed development (Al-Kadeem, Backar, Eldardiry, & Haddad, 2017a). A study by Aikhuele & Turan (2018) showed that 74% of distributed development problems were connected to communication. Furthermore, poor communication or a complete lack of it often led to other problems (Marcelino-Sádaba, Pérez-Ezcurdia, Lazcano, & Villanueva, 2014; Galli, 2018d; Galli, 2019a; Shenhar & Levy, 2007; Sutherland, 2004).
This paper assumes that communication is more critical in an Agile project environment than in a traditional project environment. Some literature will be reviewed to show:
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The character of communication in the project.
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The importance of communication in project management.
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Traditional project versus Agile project.
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The character of Agile project management.
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Why communication is more crucial under these characters of an Agile project.
This paper first makes a precise comparison between the traditional and Agile methods. The following sections describe the characteristics of traditional project environments, as well as the role of communication in the project management environment. It then provides differences in the role/importance of communication in Agile project environments. Furthermore, some advice will be given to project management about how to deal with communication in an Agile project environment, which will also include the implication and application. Finally, a conclusion and limitations will close this paper.