“The waterfall or predictive mode of development has been there for quite sometime, and it’s here to stay. Some industries can’t follow Agile, e.g., making a movie. Will you release a movie in a theater every two or four weeks in parts? Will customers come to watch such a movie?
Similarly, Agile is also here to stay. Agile is used when there is rapid churn in requirements and high uncertainty in the technology platform being used.”
And I continued:
“As a Certified Hybrid-Agile Master Professional (CHAMP), you will know both waterfall and Agile and you are going to combine them both. This way, you will get the best of both and apply them in real-world projects.”
Since then though the development world has moved fast, the fundamentals have remained the same. Fundamentals, like principles, never change.
What I do I mean by these fundamentals?
All organizations exist to create value for their stakeholders – employees, customers, users, shareholders, and others. Organizations can be profit-based, non-profit-based or run by governments. Irrespective of the nature and type of organization, everyone of the them is focussed on (business) value creation.
The Rigidity of Waterfall
Traditional waterfall models were designed long before – in the mid-last century. These follow techniques such as:
- Up-front planning,
- Critical path method (was in the 1950s!),
- Network diagramming,
- Change control with Change Control Boards (CCBs),
- Strict documentation,
- Command and control management paradigm etc.
This mode of development is effective in various industries – specifically the regulatory-heavy ones. But these are not much applied where requirements – or the market itself – change rapidly. Agile comes in here.
The Pitfalls of Agile
There are many Agile team-based approaches such as Scrum, Kanban as well as Scaled Agile approaches such as the CIPSA framework. All of these are used around the world. Such approaches emphasize collaboration, iterative and/or incremental value delivery and high adaptability.
But then large organizations or industries don’t always want to follow pure Agile. There are various constraints, which prohibits them to take a full-fledged adaptive route.
Below are some scenarios, which I’ve come to know while interacting with Hybrid-Agile practitioners:
- Budget uncertainty: Agile budgeting is mostly just-in-time, though a high-level budget can be there for the releases. See here for Agile Release Planning.
- Portfolio Governance: Portfolios stand at the highest-level of management in organization as it drives the organization’s strategic goals and objectives. See here.
- Industry itself: For example, construction industry, mining industry or film industry still follow the waterfall model, though some elements can be in adaptive mode.
This brings in Hybrid-Agile.
The Rise of Hybrid-Agile Management with CHAMP
Pure predictive models (like traditional Waterfall) struggle to adapt quickly. Pure Agile models such as Scrum and Kanban excel at team-level delivery but often lack enterprise governance structure.
Purely predictive/waterfall models struggle to adapt quickly. Purely Adaptive models such as Scrum or Kanban excel at team-level delivery, but lacks the enterprise-level governance, its framework and enforcement. In addition, many roles in an organization can't be thrown away just because Agile has to come-in.
This, in turn, creates frictions:
- Top executives want forecasting, control and predictability.
- Teams want flexibility, autonomy as well as mastery.
- Regulators want documentation and in fact, many times very particular about it.
- Customers want rapid innovation and quick return on investment (ROI).
Hybrid-Agile Management emerged as the practical answer. However, until recently, there was no clear professional path dedicated to mastering it. All certifications in Hybrid-Agile management are theoretical in nature, which helps the least to understand.
This is where CHAMP steps-in and rises to the occasion.
The Value and Importance of CHAMP
CHAMP (Certified Hybrid-Agile Master Professional) is a credential designed to equip professionals with the capability to design, lead, and manage hybrid-agile environments.
ManagementYogi’s CHAMP focuses on:
- Integrating Agile delivery with Waterfall.
- Designing and working with a large number of hybrid models.
- Learning and applying various hybrid-agile management principles. Check out the principles here - Part 1 and Part 2.
- Learning all possible ones – Hybrid-Scrum, Hybrid-Kanban, and Hybrid-ScrumBan. One example of Hybrid-Scrum is here.
- Generating a large of reports for not only communication, but also compliance.
Rather than positioning Agile and Traditional methods as opposites, ManagementYogi’s CHAMP teaches how to intentionally mix them as per your needs.
CHAMP is especially suited for:
- Large enterprises undergoing digital transformation, but struggling with pure Agile.
- Regulated industries where documentation is equally valued and some-times phase-based approach is mandated.
- Project/Program Management Offices (PMOs) seeking modernization or to shift into Hybrid mode.
- Organizations caught between Waterfall and Agile approaches as they need both.
Conclusion
As I wrote in the beginning – both Waterfall and Agile are here to stay. The CHAMP credential does not discard one and favors another, but integrates them as many industries require it. Below are some examples.
1 # A bank launching a digital platform must move fast, but also meet regulatory requirements.
2 # A healthcare provider must innovate, but document thoroughly.
3 # A government program must adapt, but maintain audit trails.
4 # A fintech startup releasing a new mobile payment feature (I've worked in such project in the early last decade) must iterate rapidly, but also pass stringent audits.
5 # A telecom company rolling out a new service must respond quickly to customer demands, but also follow regulatory rollout plans.
As you’d have noticed in the all the above cases the former is Adaptive/Agile, whereas the latter is usually Predictive/Waterfall. And as noted earlier, there can be various other Hybrid-Agile models – not just Agile followed with Waterfall.
With CHAMP certification, you learn, nurture, and apply various models with real-world projects. Start learning today and have a deep understanding on Hybrid-Agile management.
👉 [Enroll Today] Pay via PayPal/Bank transfer. Email: managementyogi@gmail.com. Enroll in 24hrs.
CHAMP Reviews and Success Stories:
- CHAMP Course: Excellent One for Mastering MS Project in both Traditional and Agile Environments
- CHAMP Success Story: A Niche Certification –Never Seen Anything Like this Before!
- CHAMP Success Story: One of the Best Hybrid-Agile Certification Courses I Ever Attended
ManagementYogi's CHAMP Certification Course:
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