What is a Hybrid Project?
Hybrid projects are a combination of Predictive (Waterfall) and Adaptive (Agile) projects. They have become popular recently. Taking the best elements of both project types, a Hybrid project gets planned like a Predictive Project, but then executed as an Adaptive Project. This enables up-front planning, dependency mapping, and reporting using a traditional Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Gantt Chart, and then excellent team work dynamics using Sprints, stand-up meetings, and customer involved demo-meetings.
The most applicable projects for these approaches are projects where (1) management is more comfortable given status updates with a WBS and Gantt Chart, or projects with mostly repeating steps performed by an Agile team, such as a project an implementation team would perform over and over again, but for different clients.
How are Hybrid projects different from traditional types of project management?
• Flexibility: Hybrid projects are designed to be flexible and adaptable, allowing for changes in requirements or scope.
• Collaboration: Hybrid projects rely heavily on collaboration among team members, stakeholders, and other parties involved..
• Integration: Hybrid projects integrate different disciplines, such as technical, business, design, marketing, or social sciences..
• Value Delivery: Hybrid projects focus on delivering value to customers or end-users.
What are the benefits of working Hybrid projects?
Hybrid project combine the best of Predictive and Adaptive projects--that is why they are becoming popular. They support traidtional reporting mechanisms, they provide tools to mapdependencies, and they enable project teems to me somewhat flexible with priorities, and work in a healthy high-trust, higl-visible format.
Here are some examples of Hybrid projects:
• A company wants to develop a complex software system that requires both iterative development and a phased delivery approach.
• A company wants to manage the development of multiple products with different release cycles, requiring a flexible yet structured approach.
• A company wants to manage the implementation of a new IT system that requires both iterative development and a phased delivery approach.
• A company wants to build a complex commercial building that requires both a phased delivery approach and iterative feedback from stakeholders.
• A company wants to manage the implementation of a new business process that requires both iterative development and a phased delivery approach.