Blending Agile delivery with Project Management

I recently refreshed my project management qualifications through PRINCE2 Agile® Agile Project Management Foundation and Practitioner training.

PRINCE2 Agile provides a robust framework for embedding Agile delivery within a formal project management approach. PRINCE2 can be tailored to support project direction and control while still enabling benefits from agile approaches like scrum and Kanban.

PRINCE2 Agile is only for projects. This project management method has been adapted to blend with Agile approaches and should not be regarded as a traditional waterfall approach. With PRINCE2 Agile it’s a question of how much agile rather than whether agile is used.

The key take-outs for me were:

• managing a stage boundary and controlling the stage can be used to align with releases or program increments
• embedding agile approaches with delivery of work-packages supports agile product delivery

These concepts will not be new to most modern project management professionals. As a young Professional Officer and Research Scientist, I had learnt about iterative and incremental approaches and user-centred design as part of my Masters in IT. After that I completed a Diploma in Project Management, based on Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBok).

Blending PRINCE2 with Agile reminded me of discussions about incorporating PRINCE2 methods with the PMBok framework. So, while a lot has changed, adopting a sound project management framework and adapting this to suit the purpose remains important.

In an organisational context, PRINCE2 Agile can help understand when a hybrid approach will be beneficial and how to apply it practically.