Waterfall methodology is a project management system said to be based on the old adage "measure twice, cut once." Its philosophy is centered on a linear, sequential approach to project management: processes are thoroughly planned to run in a set of stages, with one needing to be completed before another can proceed.
Waterfall has been used for more than 50 years and remains an influential philosophy, notes Forbes. The popular Agile methodology was conceived in the early 2000s as a response to Waterfall. Deciding between Waterfall vs. Agile is important when considering how best to manage your project.
How does Waterfall methodology work?
The Waterfall methodology follows a chronological process and works based on fixed dates, requirements and outcomes. The five common stages of the Waterfall model are:
- Requirements: Outline the big picture requirements of the project.
- Design: Ideate design solutions that can solve the project requirement(s).
- Implementation: Select one of the design ideas and inspect whether it will solve the project requirement(s).
- Verification: Verify if the implementation stage worked, and if not, re-test with different solutions.
- Deployment and maintenance: Once the solution is verified, this stage involves designing systems for updating and upgrading the solution as required (for example, through patches, software testing, etc.).
Agile methodology, and its various subsets such as Kanban or Scrum, emphasizes flexibility and seeks to break larger project tasks into more urgent "sprints." Each sprint is broken down further into four stages: plan, develop, deploy and evaluate. These can occur simultaneously, meaning one sprint isn't dependent on the successful completion of another.
Who uses Waterfall?
Waterfall methodology is often used in industries that lend themselves to a more structured and phased approach for product development, such as manufacturing and construction. It's also used when a high level of accountability, reliability and traceability is required in a product's manufacturing or development process for safety or other reasons. This is why government defense departments and the aerospace industry, where safety is a critical component, traditionally have used this method.
How do you decide between Waterfall vs. Agile?
The consecutive approach of Waterfall means past stages can't be revisited once they're completed. Therefore, each relies on forensic planning and documenting factors such as costs, risks, success metrics and timelines. So, the flexibility of a project and your likelihood of requiring modifications are important considerations when deciding between Waterfall vs. Agile. Additionally, given its chronological and methodical approach, Waterfall requires teams and even individual members to work more in independent silos. Once the project is underway, customers won't have as much input with Waterfall. This is contrary to Agile, which is centered on a collaborative, cross-functional team approach that requires stakeholders and team members to touch base daily while working on much shorter planning and implementation cycles. To help determine whether to use Waterfall vs. Agile, consider the clients' and other stakeholders' expectations and capacity to regularly collaborate.
What technologies are helpful for Waterfall methodology?
Since Waterfall methodology requires granular upfront planning with all variables (cost, design, timeframes, desired outcomes) detailed and agreed upon by stakeholders beforehand, excellent communication during the planning phase is paramount. To facilitate this, team members need access to reliable voice and collaboration capabilities, whether they work onsite, at home or on the road to effectively collaborate internally with coworkers and externally with partners, suppliers, customers and others.
Unified communications solutions combine calling, video meetings, chat and team messaging, with desktop sharing, voicemail and more into an all-in-one, reliable and secure cloud solution that can be used with a range of devices from mobile and desktop phones to PCs and laptops.
For Waterfall to be successful, particularly the project planning and implementation phases, it’s critical that communications be extended outside the enterprise to clients, partners and suppliers.
For safety, security and accountability, each stage of a Waterfall methodology project must be strategically detailed and recorded beforehand and made available to team members. A reliable, cloud-based network, such as a network as a service solution, can give project stakeholders secure and seamless access to shared files that can be updated in real time.
Whatever your decision in the Waterfall vs. Agile debate, Verizon has the communications solutions to allow your team to collaborate using cutting edge technology.
Learn more about how to boost collaboration and productivity wherever you work.
The author of this content is a paid contributor for Verizon.