Square Pegs Fit: Agile Project Skills

Agile project management has evolved from a specialized technique used in the basement by the IT team to become an optional project management approach increasingly used outside of IT projects. Like traditional project management approaches (e.g., Waterfall), Agile project management has had uneven success. As the obstacles to Agile project management success become understood, researchers and practitioners can focus their efforts to examine why Agile projects struggle and what actions should be taken to improve Agile project success rates.
The authors of this paper conducted a meta-analysis of Agile project management literature to identify key obstacles and challenges to Agile project success. The Agile barriers were related to Agile team members and the broader Agile team. The skills related to addressing these obstacles are discussed.
The authors conclude that while Agile project management is relatively new, the obstacles and associated mediating skills are well understood. That is, the square pegs of project management Waterfall solutions can fit into the round holes of Agile project challenges. Implications for practitioners are presented and discussed.