The Agile PMP: Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks (90 minutes)

The Agile PMPTeaching an Old Dog New Tricks

Introductions

• Product consultant and agile evangelist for VersionOne

• Previously a Senior Project Manager for CheckFree and John Harland Company

• PMP, CSM, DSDM Agile Project Leader

• Board member of APLN and the current Treasurer. Founder APLN Atlanta

Why are we here today?

What is Agile?

• Umbrella term to describe a family of methodologies

• Engineering best practices

• Leadership philosophy • Project management

methodology

What is Project Management?

• When will the project be done?

• How much will it cost? • Do we all agree on what

done looks like?• What are the risks to

delivering time and on schedule?

• How will we mitigate these risks so we can get done

Let’s take a look at Traditional Project Management

Balancing the Triple Constraints

• There is a dynamic relationship between time, cost, and scope

• When one of the three variables change, there is necessarily a change in one or more of the other two

• Understanding and managing the relationship between these variables the primary job of the Project Manager

Managing Project Scope

• Project scope is the set of deliverable the project is approved to build

• Defined at a high level in the business case or project charter

• Defined in greater detail in a product requirements document or a work break down structure

Managing Project Costs

• Project cost is the sum of all capital expenditures, contractor expenses, and internal cost of labor

• Project managers track project expenses in relationship to the budget

• Responsible for making sure the project is spending money at the right rate and time

Managing the Schedule

• The project schedule defines when all the deliverables should be completed and who is going to do them

• The project schedule also defines the order of the deliverables and is used to track physical percent complete.

Building the Project Schedule

• Scope for the project is defined and the size of the deliverables are estimated

• Deliverables are sequenced and resource needs are calculated

• Based on the size, available budget, dependencies, and constraints; the project timeline can be calculated

Traditional Waterfall Scheduling

What always happens when we approach the business with our project schedule?

Add more resources (crashing)

De-scope or phase the project

Overlapping Phases (fast tracking)

Project Baseline and Critical Path

• Once the project sponsors agree to the schedule, the schedule is locked and becomes the baseline

• Once the project has a baseline, the project manager will calculate the critical path and begin tracking earned value

• Earned value measures how much the project is spending relative to time and deliverables

What about uncertainty?

Project Risk Assessment

• What are the factors that could impact our ability to meet our project objectives

• Risk can be categorized by likelihood of occurrence, impact severity, and ability to detect

• The project managers prioritizes risk and create mitigation strategies

Primary Traditional Project Constraints

• Scope is typically the primary driver… time and cost are calculated based on the size of the project

• Assumes an ability to accurately predict scope, cost, and schedule

So… what’s new about Agile Project Management?

Primary Agile Project Constraints

• Time and cost are the real drivers… scope has to be able to vary

• Agile is a framework, a new way of looking at product development, that gives the project team the ability to inspect outcomes and adapt accordingly

Scope

Time Cost

Scope

A Fundamental Paradigm Shift

• Not all projects are predictable

• Market uncertainty drives change

• The less certain we are about our requirements, the more we need to plan to adapt

Agile embraces uncertainty!

Agile is a risk mitigation technique when our assumptions about predictability do not hold

The Cost of Change

• Cost of traditional change management is too high in many project contexts

• Change control is bureaucratic and slow

• We become resistant to change when we should embrace change

How often to we really take process cost into consideration when planning our projects?

Still answering the five questions…• When will the project be

done? • How much will it cost? • Do we all agree on what

done looks like?• What are the risks to getting

done on time and on schedule?

• How will we mitigate these risks so we can get done

…but taking a difference approach

• Deliver working product in short cycles

• Keep the evolving product highly visible

• Inspect outcomes frequently • Change our product or

processes as we learn more to ensure acceptable outcomes

• Do less work that will change

…and a shift in focus• Focus less on

predictive up front planning

• Focus more on delivering value

• Focus more on collaboration with the business

• Focus more on engaging the team

Moving away from activity based Project Management toward value based Project Management…

Not all value based project management is agile…

Proto-Iteration Planning

Iterative Planning

Predictive Feature Based

Agile Project Management

Agile and the PMBOK

Agile and the PMI process groups

Initiation Planning Execute Monitor Control Closing

The Importance of Language

• Companies don’t change over night

• People need to bridge the old language to the new

• Help teams understand new concepts within the old model

Understanding Agile in the context of the PMI knowledge areas…

Project Time

• Define deliverables not activities

• Strive to reduce dependencies between deliverables

• Prioritize don’t sequence. Work from the top of the list.

• Estimate based on relative size

• Releases and iterations always end on time.

TimeManagement

Activity definition

Activity sequencing

Activity resource estimating

Activity duration estimating

Schedule development

Schedule control

Project Cost

• Cost is defined by your willingness to invest

• Cost estimates are the product of the team size and project duration

CostManagement

Cost estimating

Cost budgeting

Cost control

Project Scope

• Scope is defined at progressive levels of detail.

• Plan scope, deal with project realities, and make tradeoffs.

• Allow room for scope negotiation when planning project scope

• Collaboration and frequent interaction

ScopeManagement

Scope Planning

Scope Definition

Create WBS

Scope Verification

Scope Control

Project Risk

• Business Risk, Technical Risk, and Logistical Risk

• Risk management is built into the structure of the project

• Risks are constantly visible and managed through iterations

• Risk lists, response planning, and mitigation strategies

RiskManagement

Risk management planning

Risk identification

Qualitative risk analysis

Quantitative risk analysis

Risk response planning

Risk monitoring and control

Project Quality

• Quality is not an afterthought• Test first design• Test driven development• Continuous integration• Continuous testing

QualityManagement

Quality planning

Perform quality assurance

Quality control

Project Communication

• Communication planning can be thought of in the traditional sense when looking outside the project team

• Collocation• Information radiators• Osmotic communication

CommunicationManagement

Communications planning

Information distribution

Performance reporting

Manage stakeholders

Project Integration

• Agile has room for a Charter or a Vision statement

• Project management plans and approach statements

• More empowering style of management based on individual accountability

• Change control is built into the process. Tradeoffs managed in real time.

IntegrationManagement

Charter

Scope statement

Project Management Plan

Direct and Manage Project Execution

Monitor and Control Project work

Integrated change control

Close project

Project Procurement

• Agile does not deal much with procurement

• Approach contracts with adaptability in mind

• Build relationships based on trust

• Create win-win agreements

Time Management

Plan purchases and acquisitions

Plan contracting

Request seller responses

Select sellers

Contract administration

Contract closure

Project Human Resources

• Staffing based on available people and willingness to invest

• Build your team around motivated people

• Give them what they need to be successful and remove impediments

• Allow teams to self-organize

Human Resource Management

Human resource planning

Acquire project team

Develop project team

Manage project team

What Can I Do Today?

Agile Project Management Plans

• Explain agile processes in the context of an agile project management plan

• Build agile principles into the project charter or project definition document

Feature Based Deliverables

• Stop putting activities in your project plan

• Focus on outcomes… what are we going to build?

• What capabilities need to be in the system by when?

• Let’s start actually Earning Value

Iterative Planning

• Do detailed planning on iterative cycles

• Use the data gathered in the planning to do a reality check on your schedule

• Keep a higher level plan, maybe a milestone plan in a traditional PM tool

Daily Stand-up Meetings

• Increase visibility• Establish a sense

of team work and collaboration

• Shared accountability

Agile PM Model

• Project Manager as the center of the project

• Project manager as an enabler

PMPM

TeamTeam

TeamTeam

TeamTeam

TeamTeam

TeamTeam

TeamTeam

TeamTeam

TeamTeam

PM

Incorporate agile values and principles

Empowerment

• Create the context

• Manage the process not the people

Self-Organization

"Simple, clear purpose and principles give rise to complex and intelligent behavior. Complex rules and regulations give rise to simple and stupid behavior.” Dee Hock, Founder and Former CEO of Visa International

Trust

• Expect the best out of people

• Elevate the individual, give them respect

• Value people and encourage relationships

Accountability

• Measure results, not processes or steps

• Focus on value• Inspect the

process • Create a culture of

accountability

True Agile Project Planning

Know where you are… Know where you are going… Know what else you need to do to get there…

Great Project Managers take input from reality and deal with it

Resources

• Traditional Project Management– http://www.pmi.org

• Agile Project Management and Leadership– http://www.versionone.com– http://www.apln.org– http://www.agilealliance.org– http://www.scrumalliance.org– http://www.dsdm.org– http://www.agilemanifesto.org

• How to contact me– email: mike.cottmeyer@versionone.com– Blog: http://blog.versionone.com– Blog: http://www.leadingagile.com – Presentation: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cottmeyer

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