Agile

Project Management and Sustainability in Project Management

Ashish | aaa16003@student.mdh.se



Task 1: Summary of the article on Agile Project Management Agilism vs Traditional Approaches

The paper by (Fernandez &Fernandez,2008) is a good start to understand the concept of agile project
management. According to the authors agile project management was developed out of a need, it was to handle
projects with unclear goals, uncertainty and high volatility. The traditional approaches such as linear strategy and
incremental strategy find a mention in this paper as well. This is eye catching because the authors explain the
strategies with a flow diagram that is easily understandable. It is self-explanatory from the flow that agile methods
must have some kind of feedback from time to time, whereas the traditional approaches are devoid of feedback.
In the later part of the paper the authors compare the two approaches, it is done at three levels of the project.
As I understood those were the project itself, the project manager and the team. I managed to pick a few
important differences from this section. Firstly, agile projects are of higher risks compared to traditional projects
but they have the innate ability to adapt to changes. When it comes to the agile project manager, delivering a
product is of at most priority rather than focusing on processes. Agile teams are expected to show a higher level
of commitment than the traditional team because they are required to take up greater roles. These were three
striking differences from the paper. Agile project management is suitable for certain types of projects and project
scenarios that requires higher degree of flexibility.

Task 2: Similarities and Differences between Agile Principles and Design thinking Discussed with Elvira

Similarities:

1. When it comes to design thinking and agile development principles its interesting to note that
both of them seek inputs from sources who are not a part of the working team. E.g., Designers
seeking inputs from user research and business needs. Agile developers from product backlogs
and success metrics.
2. Agile principles and Design Thinking involve continuous iteration and refinement over the
project life cycle.

Differences:

1. Every innovation begins with a problem that has to be solved. Design thinking is the process
that can be used to define the shape of a solution that was meant to solve the problem.
Whereas agile development is a method that can refine the solution that was shaped using
design thinking.
2. Design thinking and Agile development involve end users but to a varying extent. In design
thinking the users are seemed to be involved in the beginning whereas in Agile Development
they are a part of the whole process. There is continuous user involvement in agile is what we
noticed.


Task 3: Two ways I would use an approach inspired by the paper, film and develop it further

I would choose the hybrid approach mentioned in the paper if I were to be a project manager. As pointed out by
(Fernandez &Fernandez,2008) the traditional engineering roots of management processes should be
complemented with a more organic and adaptive view. This is simply the essences of Hybrid approach. Project
management is not a static industry and adapting to modern approaches will be the way to go. Hybrid combines
the best of agile and the traditional approaches to create one method that fits for all projects. I would use this
approach on a project that has uncertain goals but the process to that is lucid. For example, the project we are
working on now, we know that we are working to use the public space in a constructive way but we do not know
what it is yet. The process we want to follow is lucid though. The participatory design approach I meant. I am not
aware if hybrid approach includes a hybrid team, if it doesnt, then this will be my development. I will include a
hybrid team to work on the project. A hybrid team is a mix of members from the traditional team and the agile
team.

Task 4: Sustainable Development Goals

4a) What way our project could be linked to an SDG and which is the SDG?

Considering our project to be serving the broader purpose of building an activity park in the
future, I have listed a few SDGs that could be linked to our project.
I. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
II. Reduce Inequality within and among countries.
III. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Firstly, our project is about building an activity park that is meant for people of all age groups.
With activity park comes the concept of being physically active and fit. In the future, this will
ensure that the people utilizing the park will lead a healthy life. Since, this is a park it can also
act as a promoter for people to get outdoors and lead an active and healthy lifestyle rather than
being glued to the digital screens of all kinds. This justifies my reason for linking the first SDG.
Secondly, in the initial phase of the project we consider involving specially-abled people and
people from non-Nordic countries to speak their mind out while designing the park. In an
implicit manner, this means we are working towards equality for all the people in a society, i.e.
every souls voice is being heard and opinions taken into account.
Thirdly, designing an activity park with a human centered design approach is meant to involve
people, this is nothing but making human settlements inclusive. Considering this project to be
a part of the city healing program, it also involves creating safer neighborhoods. The SDG as
mentioned by UNO enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacities for
participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all
countries, almost close to what we are working on.

4b) How would I like to contribute to one of the SDGs?

If I were to be a project manager and work on one SDG in particular, then it would be;
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
My research focus has been Healthcare for a few years now. And I consider healthcare to be a
major area which needs a lot of innovation in it. Even though innovation seems plausible in
healthcare it faces innumerable hurdles because of the conflicting goals of various stakeholders
involve in it. I would want to lucidly focus on one goal that is towards empowering patients with
all the resources that they need, to be aware of how they are being treated. In the near future,
it is about being proactive in healthcare rather than reactive. I would particularly want to bring
in innovation into helping people on palliative care, that is when real participatory design comes
into play. Empathy is the most important tool to do so.