Embedding Agile Management Practices in Traditional Project Management

Project management of large-scale organization in the modern world experiences frequent challenges because of numerous aspects. With technological advancements and economic changes, organizations nowadays modernize their project management practices. Traditional project management has been practiced in many organizations. But in this modern competitive business world, traditional practices deal with challenges and are found to be ineffective in many contexts, particularly in adapting to changes with numerous internal and external factors. In this context, organizational agility has become an important factor for modern large-scale organizations. Over the last few decades, agile methods have emerged as a project management solution to many challenges, but embedding agile management practices in traditional project management is a very complex process, particularly for large-scale organizations. This study aims to identify the challenges of embedding agile methods and practices in traditional project management and to find out the strategies to successfully integrate agile management in traditional project management with addressing constraints and enhancing organizational agility. The methodological choice for this study has been qualitative. To find the answer to the research questions and to reflect on the research framework, a thematic analysis has been done with semi-structured interview questions. The findings highlighted challenges of agile integration, including legacy of the waterfall model, cultural resistance, mindset shifts and misunderstanding, role confusion and overlapping, resource constraints and dependencies, misalignment between internal and external workflows, and limited end-customer involvement. The findings also highlighted strategies of agile integration, including strategic planning and management support, strategic tools and structures supporting agile transition, measurement metrics, visibility and collaboration, context-based agile integration, and enablers of organizational agility. This study contributes to the contemporary project management practice, where the integration of agile methods and the hybridization of project management is emphasized, with addressing constraints and achieving organizational agility. This study provides insights into the challenges, strategies, and framework for effective integration of agile management practices into traditional project management.