Strong project management is critical to making sure that a strategy is successful and the target outcomes are reached.
There are two major schools of thought when it comes to project management style, these are scrum vs. agile. They are often used interchangeably but have distinct differences between the two. Read on to uncover what those differences are, the advantages of each, and which method is best for you and your teams.
What Is the Difference Between Scrum vs. Agile?
The main difference between scrum vs. agile is that agile is an approach to project management and is increasing in popularity. Scrum is one of the many ways that this approach can be brought to life.
What Is Agile?
Agile is a more iterative approach to project management, originally founded in 2001. Essentially, achieve a large goal through small steps. Rather than having a single launch of a finalized product or project, smaller tasks or features are delivered continuously in short periods.
The purpose of agile is to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) and return on investment (ROI) that can be assessed early on, and then the project can be refined to achieve these throughout. Agile project management seeks to define guiding the principles of the project, the success of the project early and that is used to guide the approach and expectations. That way, both the team and the client can iterate.
One of the advantages of the agile method is that it allows you to begin testing and action early, reducing the amount of time spent planning. This can be important for projects that need to be brought to life quickly or a product that has a short timeline to get to market quickly.
On the other hand, there is a disadvantage that the agile approach requires more frequent reviews, meetings, and adjustments to a strategy as you go which requires more facetime with clients and time spent as a team on an ongoing basis. Depending on budget and staffing needs, this may add complexity.
What Is Scrum?
Scum is a method to bring the agile project mentality to life. Scrum involves small teams, usually between three and nine people who work to deliver pieces of a project in short periods. These short cycles of delivery are called ‘sprints’. Sprints last anywhere between one and four weeks.
Scrums are unique as they are led by a scrum master. They are the leader of the group and are in charge of ensuring deliverables are met and stakeholder communication is effective. They will often be the ones to lead the changes and collect the feedback needed. You can learn more about the different roles in scrum.
Effective Project Management
To ensure that deliverables can be met quickly and keep pace with a fast-moving market, an agile project approach is recommended. The difference between scrum vs. agile is that scrum is one of the ways to bring the agile mindset to life, and organize your teams to achieve goals quickly and improve as you go.
Next time you are planning a product launch, consider using an agile approach to build features in quick succession and get to market faster. If our article helped you out, please feel free to keep browsing this section for our latest.