What is the top challenge for Project Managers nowadays? and what is the best way to deal with? (Walid)

Organizations private & governmental are in rush to realize more objectives and deliver more strategic projects in everyone’s nowadays favorite slogan “Agile” but is it only the one that’s fits all?. Is it enough to replace the other project management methodologies? 

Agile meaning according to most common dictionaries definition lead to common understanding “move quickly and easily with lightweight”. 

Selecting the proper project management methodology is the major challenge that face today’s project manager. 

Actually agile is a set of principles for developing software and it is the daddy for scrum, EX, Kanban, Scrumban. 

Agile was famous in software development as it gained credit by moving faster than waterfall for example and fits the environments with high uncertainty of scope and schedule. 

One stop question here: Is Agile used for project management or product management? 

Actually Agile effect put project managers in front of different issues that they need to pay attention to it not to lose the value of project management:- 

1) Product delivery methodology overlooks project management methodology. 2) Practice deviation from project management standards. 3) Eliminating the project management benefit to the organization. 

Project’s management usually is different from products management, and any project product delivery should fall in the execution phase of the project. Then PM selects product delivery methodology within the project management methodology. 

Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Scrumban, lean, XP, waterfall, Prince2, PMI PM Book are considered the famous methodologies project managers use to deliver projects. 

From practical point of view, there is no one single way to deliver the project and each project has its own recipe of successful delivery. 

Practitioners have to choose the proper way to deliver qualified job that professionally add value to the organizations. 

From my perspective, project manager have to base on PMI standards, as it is rich with many standards, practices, guidance and general framework according to the worldwide best practice and feed the execution phase with suitable product execution methodology. 

Waterfall reputation is not scary but PM need to employ it to fit the project, building methodology mix is like providing a solution to the organization to meet its project management expectations in each different environment and rethink about one size fits all methodology. 

The general umbrella of project management should be “waterfall” PM must initiate before plan and must plan before execute “Where flexibility of supportive methodologies takes place” and must monitor and control during the whole project life cycle and project closure comes after execution. 

I would encourage practitioners to pay more attention to balance the relation between the different methodologies with giving the proper weight to both project’s and product’s implementation methodology, and provide a solutions to the organization than just delivering a project.