In recent years, a surprising amount of business theory and management innovation has emerged from the software industry. Anyone who's ever been involved in software production knows that there are few business crucibles where the product development process moves faster, and the pressure to produce is higher. Perhaps it's no surprise, then, that the concept of Agile Project Management (APM) emerged from this field.

In the go-go-go approach to modern business, APM is imminently applicable to most fields. It's antithetical to the classic "waterfall" model of sequential project management, where a particular stage can't proceed without results from the preceding stage. If just one stage of a workflow cascade dams up, all those down the line stall out until someone clears the blockage. Needless to say, this can be expensive and wasteful. 

As the name suggests, Agile Project Management is much more flexible, because it breaks a project into manageable pieces, each with independent milestones, due dates, and testing phases. In software development, the entire process may take no more than a few weeks total, with reintegration of the pieces taking just a few more weeks. Generally, the process proves much more efficient and less expensive than the classic waterfall mode, because when a delay occurs, it doesn't stop the entire project dead in its tracks.

Implementing APM

That's all well and good for software creation, but how can APM work for your business? Good question. Frankly, it may not- at least not readily. But there are very few projects APM can't improve. Try this the next time the boss hands your team a new project: