Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid — Side-by-Side Summary

The points below align by row. Each column answers the same consideration in the following order: 1) Requirements, 2) Customer involvement, 3) Quality vs speed, 4) Governance & metrics, 5) Dependencies, 6) Team skills/roles.

Agile

  1. Requirements evolve; value is refined through a living backlog and rapid feedback.
  2. Customer collaborates continuously (Product Owner, frequent reviews) to shape outcomes.
  3. Working software and fast learning cycles; quality is built-in via tests and CI/CD.
  4. Lightweight, just-enough documentation; metrics focus on flow/throughput/lead time.
  5. Dependencies surfaced early; small, decoupled increments reduce cross-team coupling.
  6. T-shaped skills and collaboration across roles; collective ownership of outcomes.

Waterfall

  1. Requirements are clear and settled up front; baseline controls changes.
  2. Customer prefers to set requirements early and review at stage gates.
  3. Quality over speed; completeness and compliance take priority.
  4. Management demands detailed metrics and documents (plans, reports, approvals).
  5. Many dependencies managed via upfront planning and formal coordination.
  6. Team members focus on a single role; hand-offs between specialist functions.

Hybrid

  1. Core scope fixed; details and non-critical features iterated within timeboxes.
  2. Customer signs off baseline, then engages in iterative demos for selected areas.
  3. Quality and speed balanced: gated releases with iterative build & test between gates.
  4. Governance artifacts kept, with agile metrics (velocity/lead time) for transparency.
  5. Critical dependencies planned; delivery sliced to reduce coupling where feasible.
  6. Blend of specialists and T-shaped contributors; clear ownership with cross-support.

What Each Methodology Is Best Suited To

Methodology Best Suited To
Agile Evolving products, high uncertainty, digital services, discovery-heavy work, teams needing fast feedback.
Waterfall Well-defined scope, compliance/regulatory, infrastructure, fixed contracts, heavy interdependencies.
Hybrid Large programs, mixed certainty, staged funding/governance with iterative delivery between gates.