Scrum vs. Traditional Waterfall

Scrum Vs Traditional PM

Have you read about Why Scrum might be for you? This page is about how Scrum compares to the more traditional project management approach.

Traditional project management emphasizes on conducting detailed upfront planning for the project with emphasis on fixing the scope, cost and schedule – and managing those parameters. Whereas, Scrum encourages data-based, iterative decision making in which the primary focus is on delivering products that satisfy customer requirements.

To deliver the greatest amount of value in the shortest amount of time, Scrum promotes prioritization and Time-boxing over fixing the scope, cost and schedule of a project. An important feature of Scrum is self-organization, which allows the individuals who are actually doing the work to estimate and take ownership of tasks.

Following table summarizes many of the differences between Scrum and traditional project management:

Parameters

Scrum

Traditional PM

Emphasis is on People Processes, …then People
Documentation Minimal – only as required Comprehensive
Process style Iterative Linear (or rather…less iterative…)
Upfront planning Low High
Prioritization of Requirements Based on business value and regularly updated Fixed in the Project Plan, painful when changed.
Quality assurance Customer centric Process centric
Organization Self-organized Managed
Management style Decentralized Centralized
Change Updates to Productized Product Backlog Formal Change Management System
Leadership Collaborative, Servant Leadership Command and control
Performance measurement Business value Plan conformity
Return on Investment Early/throughout project life End of project life
Customer involvement High throughout the project Varies depending on the project lifecycle