The iterative model isn’t right for every team—or every project. Here are the main pros and cons of the iterative process for your team. Pros: Increased efficiency. Because the iterative process embraces trial and error, it can often help you achieve your desired result faster than a non-iterative process.  Increased collaboration. Instead of working from predetermined plans and specs (which also takes a lot of time to create), your team is actively working together. Increased adaptability. As you learn new things during the implementation and testing phases, you can tweak your iteration to best hit your goals—even if that means doing something you didn’t expect to be doing at the start of the iterative process.  More cost effective. If you need to change the scope of the project, you’ll only have invested the minimum time and effort into the process.  Ability to work in parallel. Unlike other, non-iterative methodologies like the waterfall method, iterations aren’t necessarily dependent on the work that comes before them. Team members can work on several elements of the project in parallel, which can shorten your overall timeline.  Reduced project-level risk. In the iterative process, risks are identified and addressed during each iteration. Instead of solving for large risks at the beginning and end of the project, you’re consistently working to resolve low-level risks. More reliable user feedback. When you have an iteration that users can interact with or see, they’re able to give you incremental feedback about what works or doesn’t work for them. Cons: Increased risk of scope creep. Because of the trial-and-error nature of the iterative process, your project could develop in ways you didn’t expect and exceed your original project scope.  Inflexible planning and requirements. The first step of the iterative process is to define your project requirements. Changing these requirements during the iterative process can break the flow of your work, and cause you to create iterations that don’t serve your project’s purpose. Vague timelines. Because team members will create, test, and revise iterations until they get to a satisfying solution, the iterative timeline isn’t clearly defined. Additionally, testing for different increments can vary in length, which also impacts the overall iterative process timeline.