Managing the Hybrid Organization: How Can Agile and Traditional Project Management Coexist?

Agile project management aims to increase the flexibility of product development processes through increased interaction among project stakeholders. Since its introduction in the software industry 20 years ago, Agile project management has progressively spread to other contexts, even though large-scale organizations seem to struggle to switch toward Agile-only practices. In these contexts, we see an integration of the traditional Stage-Gate project management, focused on planning and validation, with Agile, focused on responsiveness and flexibility. Although it’s effective, the Agile–Stage-Gate hybrid model is not easy to adopt, as it requires a clear alignment between the project team, the organizational objectives, and the project implementation. We collected interview data from eight Agile coaches experienced in Agile implementation in non-software industries. We identified practical actions that practitioners can use to manage the challenges connected to the implementation of hybrid models. These corrective actions can be grouped at three levels: integration aspects, cultural change, and perceptions of the Agile methodology.