PMGT5887 Chap.2 Life Cycles, Agile Thinking and Choosing PM Software
Life Cycles, Agile Thinking and Choosing PM Software
Week 2 asks how a project should be run before it asks which software to run it in, and this chapter follows that order. It explains the five development life cycles the unit names, predictive, iterative, incremental, adaptive and hybrid, and contrasts waterfall delivery, where feedback arrives at the end, with agile delivery, where it arrives after every preliminary and intermediate outcome.
It shows why the unit teaches agile tools in Weeks 2 to 5 and predictive tools in Weeks 6 and 7, and why the Topic 2 recap insists that context and constraints choose the method. The chapter then maps the eight functions of project software, from task lists and schedules to reporting, onto knowledge areas, and works a tool choice for a project with a fixed regulatory part and a changing interface.
It finishes with the first Jira vocabulary the assignments assume: issue, status, workflow, project, board, dashboard, query and JQL, together with the six families of agile applications the slides group the market into. A short check closes the chapter with two test-style items.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Five development life cycles
- 02
Waterfall delivery against agile delivery
- 03
Why the schedule teaches agile first
- 04
Eight functions of project management software
- 05
Choosing a tool from the life cycle
- 06
Jira terms from issue to JQL
- 07
Six families of agile applications
Worked example · free
Matching three projects to a life cycle
- +1(a) Predictive: scope must be fixed and approved before work starts, and late change is costly.
- +1(b) Adaptive: features are discovered from feedback, so short cycles that each deliver are needed.
- +1(c) Hybrid: plan the fixed legal pages predictively and build the services pages in iterations.
Key terms
- Predictive Life Cycle
- An approach that fixes scope, schedule and cost early and delivers once at the end; often called waterfall.
- Adaptive Life Cycle
- An approach in which scope emerges from short cycles that each deliver and gather customer feedback.
- Hybrid Life Cycle
- A combination that plans stable parts predictively while running uncertain parts in agile iterations.
- Issue
- A single unit of work in Jira, shown as a card with a unique key, such as a story, bug or task.
- Workflow
- The full sequence of statuses an issue moves through in Jira, from creation to completion.
- JQL
- Jira Query Language, used to search issues and to control what appears on boards, dashboards and reports.
Life Cycles, Agile Thinking and Choosing PM Software FAQ
What is the difference between iterative and incremental delivery?
Iterative delivery repeats cycles to improve the same solution until it is right, like redrafting one essay. Incremental delivery adds new usable pieces one after another, each released as soon as it is finished.
Is agile always better than waterfall?
No. The unit stresses that a project's context and constraints decide the method. Fixed, approved scope suits a predictive plan; uncertain scope that depends on feedback suits an adaptive one, and many projects mix both.
What is the difference between a Jira board and a dashboard?
A board is a status view that shows where issues are, column by column. A dashboard is a statistics view that counts and charts issues across one or more projects.
Which Jira deployment does the unit use?
Jira can run as Server, Data Center or Cloud. Students in this unit sign up for the free cloud edition with their university identity, choose the Scrum option and create a first demonstration project.
Why does the unit teach Jira before Microsoft Project?
The schedule follows the life cycles: Weeks 2 to 5 cover agile delivery with Jira and Trello, and Weeks 6 and 7 cover predictive planning in Microsoft Project, so each tool is learned with the method it was built for.
Assessment move
Make a two-column card: life cycle on the left, the fact that selects it on the right. Then make a second card with the eight Jira terms and a one-line definition each, and quiz yourself until you can give every definition without hesitating. When you read a scenario, underline the words that tell you how stable the scope is; those words decide the life cycle and therefore the family of tool.
Before Discussion 2, pick two applications from the slides and compare them on the same three points: the life cycle each assumes, the functions it does well, and who reads its output. That habit turns a vague opinion into an answer a marker can follow, and it prepares you for the Scrum week.
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