Agile project management is the industry-standard for completing rapidly changing software projects. The technique was invented solely for software development. Even today, it is closely attributed to the software development industry.
Although conceptualized for the software industry, Agile’s value-driven approach can improve project management in various other domains as well. Agile project management can help you beyond the scope of software development. Built on the principles of flexibility and adaptability can make you a better manager in industries other than software.
In this article, we will explore the applications of Agile Project Management in industries other than software.
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing management is a unique brand of project management where tiny budgets, unbelievable deadlines, and crazy clients are the norm. In conventional project management, clients set reasonable expectations and assign sufficient budgets, so you have room to function.
On the digital front, things aren’t that simple and straightforward. Clients often have no clue how digital spaces to work and they make tall claims that can make you scratch your head. They can ask you to build a clone of a multibillion app like Uber for under $500 or claim that a relative’s nephew created a website in 2 days for free.
Everything from processes, budgets, and deadlines tend to be extremely challenging in digital projects, and not in a good way. A digital project manager has to bring order to this chaos and organize everything.
In today’s digital organizations, digital project managers play an extremely important role in helping businesses stay on top of rapid changes. They help companies power through digital transformation and help deliver digital projects on time.
However, the marketing pipeline can slow down significantly and turn into multi-week processes due to small delays. From project approval, content creation, and design to client approval and project prioritization, everything needs to be executed in a small timeframe.
To make matters worse, clients can request unexpected changes and sometimes, even reject the entire marketing proposal, rendering all of the company’s effort useless. The implementation of agile methodologies can streamline the marketing pipeline.
With the help of Agile, managers can complete in a continuous flow and make room for improvement. Similar to the software industry, marketing agencies can work in sprints and dedicate teams to different aspects of the campaign.
From digital design, content creation, SEO to project approval and initiation, every component of marketing is streamlined for efficiency. Managers can prioritize projects according to their urgency and priority.
At the same time, marketing agencies can also benefit from the collaborative approach of the agile methodology. Marketing agencies highly depend on the relationships with their customers for generating recurring revenue. Agile project management tends to all these needs and helps digital marketing managers address the challenges of their industry.
Construction
In construction, unnecessary delays always pose a significant hurdle. Since it is impossible to predict these delays, managers have a difficult time sticking to preplanned schedules. For instance, small factors such as failed delivery and unexpected rain can hinder construction processes and dismantle the construction plan entirely.
Traditional construction methods are not meant to counter these problems effectively. On the other hand, the Agile Methodology encourages teams to work with shorter planning cycles, which prevents teams from going off track. Since construction already delivers products incrementally, managers can easily implement the Agile structure in construction and improvise project schedule and delivery.
Besides delays, managers in construction also need to resolve issues related to labor costs that arise due to these delays. For instance, if you call the entire construction crew at the sites and it suddenly starts to rain. The manager would still need to pay the labor, even when no work is done.
The Agile methodology gets around these problems through the smart allocation of resources and by setting short-term milestones. Managers can ensure that they only have the resources they need for a particular task, instead of inviting the whole crew. As a result, the overhead cost due to delays is minimized. Due to these benefits, construction companies looking to implement Agile would value PMI-ACP credential holders.
Manufacturing
Just like the software industry, the manufacturing industry goes through drastic and rapid changes from time to time. With the help of cutting-edge technologies such as 3D printing, robotics, and artificial intelligence, manufacturing businesses are able to improve their techniques and make their internal processes efficient.
Due to such rapid developments, manufacturing businesses need to revamp their project management processes. They need to remain up to date with emerging technologies, handle rapid change, meet the requirements of their customers and minimize the time between development and marketing. This is why the Agile Methodology is the perfect technique for keeping up with the speed of the manufacturing industry.
Usually, teams are given conceptual outlines of the manufacturing requirements and they have to make these concepts a reality. The Agile Methodology promotes incremental development and delivery of products, which allows teams to minimize development time and deliver new products to customers in little consumers.
As a result, companies utilizing agile principles can manufacture goods and have an advantage over companies that are still using traditional methods. As manufacturing companies continue to improve their technological capabilities, they must adopt Agile Project Management.
Retail
The retail industry is no longer the same industry as it was before. E-commerce has completely transformed how retail service functions. In contrast to previous retail environments, nowadays, retail trends, supply and demand requirements change at a rapid pace.
Consumers want their product to reach in a matter of days despite thousands of miles away from the manufacturers. As a result, it is extremely difficult for retail owners to fulfill the requirements of their customers sufficiently.
The Agile methodology can help retail managers cope with the changing requirements. By breaking down specific product lines to different teams and maintaining an active line of communication with customers, retail services can be better prepared for rapid changes in demand.
Today’s market is continually evolving and managers are feeling its volatility across different industries. As experts of various industries become familiar with the benefits of Agile, we will see more managers adopting Agile Project Management. Applying the principles, tools, and practices of Agile will help project managers develop value-driven and result-oriented project frameworks in industries other than software.