How to choose between Waterfall vs. Agile

Waterfall vs. Agile. Two heavy hitters in the world of product development, each with their loyal fans and detractors. Which is best? How do you choose? Can you blend both? And perhaps most importantly, which is best for your budget? Let’s dive in.  

What is Agile?

Agile began in Utah, when a group of 17 tech pros met up and created the Agile Manifesto — a set of four values and 12 principles that prioritize collaboration and adaptability over processes and tools. 

Initially focused on software development, the practice has since been adopted across myriad industries where speed, value, flexibility, and continuous improvement are a must.

Agile relies heavily on frameworks like Scrum and Kanban. Work is broken down into ‘sprints’, each lasting one to four weeks. At the end of each sprint, the development team releases a usable product before gathering feedback and making adjustments before the next sprint. 

A Kanban board made in Cacoo

By being Agile, teams can deliver high-quality products faster. They can respond to market changes, and create a final product that’s a better fit for customer needs. 

What is Waterfall?

Waterfall is a traditional project management methodology that takes a linear, sequential approach. 

The team completes each phase of the project before moving on to the next. Just like a waterfall, progress flows in one direction — downwards — through distinct phases. 

Like Agile, it originated in software development. It’s since been adopted by other industries, notably manufacturing and construction.

Source: tutorialspoint.com

The core phases of Waterfall: 

1. Requirements gathering: Managers collect and collate project requirements. This involves meetings with stakeholders to understand their needs.
2. System design: Based on the requirements, the team gets to work. 
3. Implementation (or coding): The development phase. If we’re using software development as an example, developers write code according to the design specs.
4. Integration and testing: Once complete, the product is integrated and thoroughly tested.
5. Deployment: After successful testing, it’s time to deploy the product to the production environment. It becomes available for use by the end-users.
6. Maintenance: Post-deployment, we enter the maintenance phase. The team continually monitors the product for performance issues.  

What are product roadmaps, and where do they come in?

A product roadmap sets out the lifecycle of a product from development to launch. It includes the key steps, as well as the vision and progress in a way that everyone on the team, plus stakeholders, can understand.  

In Agile development, roadmaps help teams achieve both short-term and long-term goals. They are flexible, updated with new insights, and focus on themes and outcomes rather than granular features. This helps teams flex to changes and stakeholder feedback as it comes in.

In Waterfall, roadmaps are fixed and detailed. They offer a clear path with specific timelines and milestones. They also help with detailed planning, which reduces risks and improves timeline and cost forecasting.

Agile and Waterfall: A side-by-side comparison

	Agile	Waterfall
Approach	Iterative and incremental	Linear and sequential
Flexibility	Highly adaptable to changes	Rigid, changes are difficult to implement
Project Phases	Divided into sprints or iterations	Divided into distinct, consecutive phases
Customer Involvement	Continuous involvement and feedback	Limited to initial and final phases
Documentation	Minimal, focuses on working software	Extensive, thorough documentation required
Risk Management	Ongoing assessment and mitigation	Risks identified and mitigated in early stages
Delivery	Frequent, small releases	Single final delivery at the end of the project
Testing	Integrated throughout the development process	Conducted after the implementation phase
Team Collaboration	High, cross-functional teams work closely together	Structured, roles and responsibilities are defined
Scope Definition	Evolving scope based on feedback and iterations	Fixed scope defined at the beginning

Pros and cons of each

Here is a comparison of the pros and cons of Agile and Waterfall methodologies:

Pros of Agile

• Flexibility: Highly adaptable when it comes to project scope and requirements.
• Customer involvement: High level of customer involvement and feedback throughout the project.
• Speed to market: It’s set up for speedy releases and iterations, giving value early on. 
• Risk management: Regular reviews mean continuous identification and mitigation of risks. 
• Team collaboration: Promotes collaboration. 
• Continuous improvement: Focuses on iterative improvement.

Cons of Agile

• Scope creep: Can lead to the dreaded scope creep due to ongoing changes and additions.
• Documentation: Minimal documentation can be tough for some projects.
• Predictability: Less predictable in terms of timeline and costs due to its iterative nature. 
• Complexity management: Big, complex projects without proper scaling frameworks can be a challenge. 
• Initial learning curve: Demands a large cultural shift and training for teams new to the concept. 

Pros of Waterfall

• Clear structure and documentation: Offers extensive documentation and a crystal-clear roadmap.
• Defined phases and milestones: Makes it easy to track progress thanks to defined phases and milestones.
• Predictability: Offers more predictable timelines and costs once the plan is set in stone.
• Simplicity: Easier for teams familiar with traditional project management to implement.
• Risk management: Makes it easier to identify and manage risks early in the project lifecycle.

Cons of Waterfall

• Flexibility: Less flexible, meaning changes can be tricky and expensive once you’ve moved past a phase. 
• Customer involvement: Limited customer involvement after you’ve set those initial requirements. 
• Speed to market: Typically longer development cycles with one final release, which can be both slow and higher risk.
• Team collaboration: More structured roles and responsibilities with clear phase transitions, which may reduce collaboration.
• Continuous improvement: Less focus on iterative improvement, more on upfront planning.

When to use each one

You’ll need to consider the project and stakeholder expectations, for starters. Here are some scenarios where each methodology is most effective, along with examples.

When to use Agile

1. Requirements often change: If things are likely to change, you’ll want the interactive Agile approach. For example, in a software development project where customer needs and market conditions can shift like the weather.
2. You need regular customer feedback: Agile helps you keep stakeholders involved throughout thanks to check-ins after each iteration. E.g. A startup developing a new app might use agile to incorporate user feedback at the end of each Sprint.
3. You want quick delivery: Agile is best for projects that need fast delivery of functional products. For example, a tech company that wants to release a minimum viable product (MVP) could benefit from Agile’s focus on delivering small, usable increments.
4. It’s a complex, uncertain project: Agile’s flexibility helps you navigate risks and changes in your stride. For example, you’re developing a new technology with unknowns and complexities that are easier to navigate thanks to regular feedback and fast releases. 

When to use Waterfall

1. Requirements are fixed Waterfall is the go-to when requirements are clear and unlikely to change. For instance, building a new highway or bridge, which has specific, unchanging requirements.
2. You have documentation needs: Projects that require extensive documentation and thorough planning benefit from Waterfall. A government contract project, where detailed documentation and compliance are critical, would be the perfect candidate for this approach. 
3. The project has sequential processes: Waterfall ensures each phase is completed before you move to the next. Manufacturing processes often follow this model, where items move along a conveyor belt to completion. 
4. Low uncertainty: Waterfall offers a structured approach, which is needed when uncertainty is high. E.g. Updating an existing software system with minor changes and enhancements.

Cost differences

Money is always a consideration, so here’s a table breaking down the cost structure of each to help you understand how these differences can impact the overall budget.

	Agile	Waterfall
Initial training and transition	High upfront investment in training and coaching.	Lower initial training costs, more emphasis on planning.
Ongoing costs	Continuous investment in tools and training.	Minimal ongoing costs after initial planning.
Cost variability	Costs can fluctuate based on scope and requirements.	Costs are more predictable and fixed.
Change management costs	Lower, due to flexibility and iterative adjustments.	Higher, due to rigidity and difficulty in implementing changes.
Long-term cost impact	Potential for cost savings through incremental value delivery and reduced rework.	Potential for higher costs due to risk of large-scale rework and project failures.

Things to consider when moving to Agile

Change of all shapes and sizes is a challenge, and transitioning to Agile is no different. This is especially true for teams used to working with traditional project management methods. 

You can’t do it without a cultural shift

This isn’t a task on your to-do list. It’s an entirely new way of working. Teams need to embrace collaboration, flexibility, and continuous improvement not just as ‘nice things to haves’, but as essentials. Breaking down silos, encouraging open communication, and fostering a culture of trust and transparency are all key too. 

All hail the product owner

The product owner optimizes the team’s output. They prioritize the most important work, keeping everyone focused on high-value tasks. They need to be good at managing the product backlog and making decisions about what to focus on first. 

You need to develop team autonomy

Agile empowers dev teams to manage their own workload. The team only accepts work it has the capacity to handle, pulling tasks from the backlog as they become available. This self-managing aspect of Agile helps teams avoid accepting more than they can handle.

Embrace the iterative work structure

Agile means you need to work in short cycles known as sprints or iterations. Each sprint typically lasts between one to four weeks, during which the team works on a defined set of tasks. At the end of each sprint, you deliver a potentially usable product increment for review.

Embrace change

Agile teams need to be nimble and ready to respond to change. Unlike traditional methods where requirements are fixed upfront, agile embraces evolving requirements. Teams should be prepped to adjust their plans based on stakeholder feedback and changing market conditions.

Continuous feedback is a must 

Regular feedback is a cornerstone of Agile. Teams hold sprint reviews and retrospectives to gather input from stakeholders. This continuous feedback loop helps the team make timely adjustments. 

Create cross-functional teams

Agile is about uniting diverse skills and expertise. Teams work together on all aspects of the project, from planning and development to testing and deployment. This collaborative approach helps to break down barriers and fuel innovation.

Improve your tools and infrastructure

Agile calls for automation and project management tools. Sure, you can do it without them, but it would be like leaving the boots and map at home, and going on a hike in a pair of slippers. Choose software that specifically facilitates Agile workflows and CI/CD pipelines for continuous integration and deployment.

Measure as you go

Metrics including velocity, sprint burndown, and customer satisfaction. These metrics help teams track their progress, identify areas for improvement, and ensure that they are delivering value to customers.

The hybrid approach: Combining Agile and Waterfall

Ready to have your cake and eat it? 

Sometimes, combining aspects of both can give you the best of both worlds. This hybrid approach, often called ‘wagile’ (sorry, we didn’t make that up) or ‘water-scrum-fall,’ leverages the strengths of both methodologies to suit the project’s specific requirements.

The benefits of a hybrid approach

• It gives you balanced flexibility and structure: Blending the two gives you the flexibility of Agile, grounded by Waterfall’s structured planning
• It improves team communication: Blending Agile’s emphasis on collaboration with Waterfall’s detailed documentation, all of your bases are covered. 
• It helps you spot and manage risks: Early planning helps you locate risks, while Agile’s iterative development means continuous risk management is built in. 

How to go hybrid 

1. Define clear phases: Use Waterfall for the initial planning and requirements gathering. This gives you a rock-solid foundation and clear project scope.
2. Develop iteratively: Once you’ve finished planning, switch to Agile for development and testing. This gives you that all-important flexibility, plus rapid iterations and continuous customer feedback.
3. Structure your reviews: Weave in Waterfall’s structured reviews and document checkpoints to uphold clarity and control.
4. Flex a little: Going back to Agile, stay flexible as the project develops, adapting to changes and evolving requirements.

Whether Agile, Waterfall, or both, team up with tools built for the job 

Good news for busy product managers: From task tracking to burndown charts, Backlog makes the product development process simpler. 

Manage sprints, collect metrics, and get real-time backlog updates, boosting transparency and flexibility along the way. Not only that, it makes teams more efficient by automating routine tasks, all from one central hub. Whether you choose Agile, Waterfall, or both, it adds much-needed flexibility and control to the entire product development lifecycle. Try it for free today!