Project management is an area that many companies struggle with even today. You may have a good product or service to offer, but if it is not managed well at every step, it can lead to disastrous and often disappointing results for the company. Poor management leads to wastage of time, resources and decreases the value of your offering for the customer. Your ability to make timely decisions can also hugely impact various projects being worked on by your company.

What is LEAN project management?

LEAN is a management system that focuses on improving the overall quality of how an organization works. It takes into consideration every process in the organization and helps improve efficiency and effectiveness of each employee and each process. It helps reduce wastage of time and resources, while improving the quality of the product or service and giving better value for money to the end customer.

What is Agile project management?

The management system is a process in which every project is managed and executed in small parts. Each such section is completed, reviewed, critiqued and the project is continued taking into account the fresh insights gained from the last bit of work. The aim of the system is to help make better decisions and solve issues more effectively with less wastage of time and resources.

Are these management systems very different?

Many people consider these two project management systems to be similar. They are, however, quite different in the way they work and are applied to various aspects of an organization.

  • LEAN methodology comes from the manufacturing sector, while Agile methodology comes from software development.
  • LEAN management is a long term process improvement system for a company, while Agile management is used for quick decision making in individual projects.
  • LEAN methodology manages the overall work of an organization, and applies to all areas of management to get a more efficient and effective overall process. Agile methodology concentrates on making good quick decisions and solving issues the best possible way in the least possible time.

As you can see, LEAN is a larger long-term mechanism to change the way a business works over a period of time. Agile, on the other hand, helps with individual projects and processes in the short term. LEAN is a continuing process while Agile is about concentrating on specific tasks in relation to a larger project. Choose the right methodology and processes for your business based on requirements to ensure that the methodology works well for you and your organization.