THE HIDDEN COSTS OF AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT: INVESTIGATING BURNOUT, ROLE AMBIGUITY, AND EMPLOYEE SILENCE IN PROJECT-BASED ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

Agile project management has become one of the most widely adopted managerial approaches due to its emphasis on flexibility, rapid delivery, collaboration, and customer responsiveness. Despite its growing popularity, emerging evidence suggests that agile environments may also produce unintended psychological and organizational consequences for employees. This study investigates the hidden costs of agile project management by examining the effects of agile work practices on employee burnout, role ambiguity, and employee silence within project-based organizations. Drawing upon the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) Theory and Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory, the study proposes that the dynamic and continuously changing nature of agile work environments increases role ambiguity and psychological strain, which subsequently contribute to burnout and silence behaviors among employees. A quantitative research design was adopted, and data were collected from professionals working in software development, IT, consulting, and project-intensive organizations. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed for empirical analysis. The findings revealed that agile project management significantly increases role ambiguity (β = 0.463, p < 0.001) and employee burnout (β = 0.418, p < 0.001). Furthermore, burnout significantly predicts employee silence (β = 0.376, p < 0.001), while role ambiguity also positively influences employee silence (β = 0.291, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis confirmed that burnout partially mediates the relationship between agile project management and employee silence. The model explained 61.9% of the variance in employee silence, indicating substantial predictive capability. The findings suggest that although agile project management enhances operational flexibility, excessive adaptability demands, unclear role boundaries, continuous communication pressure, and accelerated work cycles may negatively affect employee well-being and organizational communication behaviors. The study contributes to the growing literature on agile project management by shifting attention from operational efficiency toward employee-centered psychological outcomes and hidden organizational costs.