Bridge Methods: Using a Balanced Project Practice Portfolio to Integrate Agile and Formal Process Methodologies

This paper examines the non-linear nature of progress on software projects. It asserts that this uneven accomplishment stems from the continuous need to drive value quickly in response to a project manager or owner perceiving that a project is failing, near failure, or a least that the owning organization is "loosing value" from either poor process or poor organizational choices of tools and development methods.It describes how using a balanced project practice portfolio to integrate agile and formal process methodologies can theoretically reduce the observed variance in project productivity caused by poorly applied or poorly selected "best practices".Finally, it proposes a methodology that uses expected practice performance and combinations of practices to; identify missing practices, off-set poorly applied practices, and assess the quantity and types of practices required to smooth and optimize project performance outcomes.