Integrating Delivery Models within the Project Lifecycle

Understanding how delivery models integrate within the project lifecycle guides the selection of the most suitable delivery method. Each model—Waterfall, Agile, and Hybrid—offers distinct processes that align differently with the Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing phases of a project's lifecycle.

Project Phases in the Waterfall Model

The Waterfall model is recognised for its systematic, sequential approach to project delivery, based on detailed planning and step-by-step progression:

• Initiation: Secures formal approval to start the project or a new phase, identifies key stakeholders, defines project objectives, and establishes governance foundations.
• Planning: Involves designing the project's roadmap and outlining how objectives will be achieved. It also includes scheduling, budgeting, resource allocation, risk identification, establishing a quality management plan, and collecting and analysing requirements to define the project's scope.
• Execution: Implements the plans by coordinating people, resources, and processes. This begins with system design—planning the project's structure, components, and interfaces. The designs are transformed into a product through development, followed by testing to ensure the product meets specifications and that defects are identified and fixed.
• Monitoring and Controlling: This function tracks progress concurrently with execution, ensuring adherence to objectives, timelines, and quality benchmarks. Continuous evaluation involves reviewing and adjusting deliverables to address any deviations from the plan.
• Closing: This phase features deployment, preparing the project for launch into the operational setting. It includes user training, final tests, and warranty support for incidents post-implementation. The phase concludes with a post-project review to capture and analyse lessons learned for future improvement.

Project Phases in the Scrum Model

The Scrum framework organises the development process into sprints, typically lasting two to four weeks. Each sprint ends with a review session involving stakeholders and team members to discuss progress and plan the next steps. This iterative approach encourages team collaboration and enhances adaptability across the project lifecycle:

• Initiation: Establishes the product vision, creates the product backlog, sets project goals, understands stakeholder needs, and assembles the Scrum Team.
• Planning: This includes Sprint Planning meetings and Backlog Refinement sessions, where tasks are selected from the product backlog to maintain flexibility and alignment with evolving project objectives and stakeholder feedback.
• Execution: Revolves around sprints and daily stand-ups, focusing on task completion and team cohesion through regular communication. 
• Monitoring and Controlling: This includes Sprint Review meetings and Sprint Retrospectives, which enhance stakeholder engagement and provide opportunities for the team to assess and refine the sprint process.
• Note on the Closing phase: Scrum lacks a distinct Closing phase. It employs a continuous delivery model, where each sprint can produce a deployable product version, thus removing the need for a separate Closing phase. The cycle of planning, execution, evaluation, and adjustment continues indefinitely.

Project Phases in the SAFe Model

The Scaled Agile Framework expands agile principles across an enterprise, synchronising multiple agile projects to align with broader organisational goals. It structures development into Program Increments lasting eight to twelve weeks, including planning and review sessions to align with strategic objectives. SAFe promotes scalable agility, cross-functional collaboration, and strategic adaptability across the project lifecycle:

• Initiation: Defines the Portfolio Vision and establishes Lean Portfolio Management practices, aligning strategic themes with investment funding. It includes forming the Agile Release Train (ART) to deliver value at scale.
• Planning: Features PI Planning events, where ART teams collaborate to set objectives for the upcoming Program Increment.
• Execution: This focus is on iterations within the Program Increment, incorporating the release-on-demand principle for delivering value based on business needs and organisational readiness.
• Monitoring and Controlling: Includes the System Demo and Inspect and Adapt workshops at the end of each PI. These activities review progress, gather stakeholder feedback, and identify areas for process improvement.
• Note on the Closing phase: SAFe has no distinct Closing phase. Instead, it focuses on continuous delivery and constant improvement within a value stream rather than discrete project endpoints.

Project Phases in the Hybrid Model

The Hybrid model is an adaptive approach that blends structured Waterfall processes with Agile flexibility, allowing organisations to customise project execution based on specific needs. It is particularly suited to projects requiring both well-defined initial requirements and the ability to accommodate change. The following example illustrates how Hybrid practices can be integrated into standard project lifecycle phases:

• Initiation: Conducts feasibility studies, aligns with business objectives, and establishes a clear project vision. Teams are assembled with roles drawn from both Agile and Waterfall methodologies, such as Project Managers, Scrum Masters, and Development Teams, ensuring a balance of structured planning and iterative execution.
• Planning: Incorporates detailed upfront planning, as seen in the Waterfall model, by defining scope, timelines, and key deliverables. Simultaneously, a product backlog is created, containing high-level requirements and detailed user stories to guide Agile iterations.
• Execution: Uses a structured approach for major deliverables while adopting Agile’s iterative sprint cycles for incremental development. Daily stand-ups, continuous communication, and adaptive workflows facilitate both planned execution and flexibility for evolving project needs. 
• Monitoring and Controlling: Combines traditional milestone tracking with Agile mechanisms such as sprint reviews and retrospectives. This ensures continuous assessment of progress, allowing for structured adjustments and iterative improvements.
• Closing: Concludes with final product delivery, assessing outcomes against initial objectives. Lessons learned from both Agile and Waterfall components are reviewed to inform future projects. Maintenance and ongoing support may transition into an Agile-based iterative update cycle where needed.

Table 7 summarises how each delivery model manages the project phases, allowing for an easy comparison of their respective approaches.