Agile Project

Management

Dr. David Rumeser

 Intro

Sometimes in projects, the end product is not well defined

and evolves over time. This project environment requires
flexibility and the ability to manage changes as more
information and learning take place.
What is agile project management?
-an analogy

Instead of attempting to plan the entire project up

front, Agile PM relies on incremental, iterative
development cycles to complete projects.
 The Opposite of Agile:
Traditional (Waterfall) Approach
ex: software development project

Source of uncertainty #2:

Technology is not well-established

Source of uncertainty #1:

Stakeholders are not certain
about the scope of work
 Project Uncertainty

Agile PM

Traditional PM
Traditional vs Agile PM
 Agile PM: Iterative & incremental cycle

Each cycle would usually takes 1-4 weeks

• The goal of each iteration is to develop a workable product

• At the end of each iteration, stakeholders and customers review progress and re-evaluate priorities
• Adjustments are made and a different iterative cycle begins
• Each new iteration adds new capabilities to the evolving product
Case Study
 Advantage of iterative development processes

• Continuous integration, verification, and validation of the evolving product.

• Frequent demonstration of progress to increase the likelihood that the end
product will satisfy customer needs.
• Early detection of defects and problems.
Agile or Traditional PM?
 Principles of Agile PM

• Focus on customer value—Employ business-driven prioritizations of

requirements and features.
• Iterative and incremental delivery—Create a flow of value to customers
by “chunking” project delivery into small, functioning increments.
• Experimentation and adaptation—Test assumptions early and build
working prototypes to solicit customer feedback and refine product
requirements.
• Self-organization—Team members decide among themselves what
should be done and who should do it.
• Continuous improvement—Teams reflect, learn, and adapt to change;
work informs the plan.
 Agile PM in Action: SCRUM

They compare this approach of a cross-functional team collaborating to develop

a new product to rugby, where the whole team “tries to go the distance as a unit,
passing the ball back and forth.”
 SCRUM Brief Explanation (7 minutes video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TycLR0TqFA&ab_channel=Uzility
 SCRUM Process

• Begins with a high-level scope definition and rough time and cost estimates for the
project
• The theory is that since requirements evolve over time, detailed up-front planning
will be wasted
• Scrum uses product features as deliverables. A feature is defined as a piece of a product
that delivers some useful functionality to a customer. In the case of a software project, a
feature may be a bank customer being able to change her PIN. In the case of a high-tech
product, it may be 3G wireless access.
• Features are prioritized by their perceived highest value. The project team tackles the
highest, feasible priority features first.
• Priorities are re-evaluated after each iteration.
• Iterations are called sprints and should last no longer than four weeks. The goal of each
sprint is to produce fully functional features (ready for demo).
• Specific features are created according to four distinct phases: analysis, design, build, and
test. Each feature can be thought of as a mini-project.
SCRUM Process
 Roles and Responsibilities (1)
There are three key roles to the scrum process:
Product owner, Development Team, and Scrum Master.

• The product owner acts on behalf of customers/end users to represent their interests. For
commercial development projects the product owner may be the product manager. For
internal projects, the product owner could be the manager of the business group that will
benefit from the software. In other cases, the product owner could be a representative of
the client organization.
• They focus their efforts on developing a product that will fulfill the business objective of
the project.
• The product owner in consultation with others establishes the initial list of product
requirements and prioritizes them in the product backlog.
• Owners often work with the development team to refine features through stories and end
user cases (e.g., when the user double-click a mouse a file will be opened).
• They negotiate sprint goals and backlog items with the development team.
• Owners have the option to change features and priorities at the end of each sprint.T
• They are empowered to accept or reject each product increment.
• They ultimately decide whether the project is completed.
• Product owners are the keeper of the product vision and the watchdog on project cost.
 Roles and Responsibilities (1)
There are three key roles to the scrum process:
Product owner, Development Team, and Scrum Master.

• The team is responsible for delivering the product.

• A team is typically made up of five to nine people with cross-functional skill sets.
• There are no designated roles or titles; people take on different responsibilities depending
on the nature of the work.
• The team is self-organizing in the sense they decide both who does the work and how the
work is to be accomplished.
• Team members should be co-located so that intense face-to-face collaboration occurs.
• They are responsible for achieving commitments they make at the sprint planning and
sprint review meetings.
 Roles and Responsibilities (3)
There are three key roles to the scrum process:
Product owner, Development Team, and Scrum Master.

• The scrum master (project manager) facilitates the scrum process and resolves problems at
the team and organization level.
• The Scrum master is NOT the leader of the team (the team leads itself!) but acts as a buffer
between the team and outside interference.
• They have no formal authority. Instead, they are responsible for making sure that the
scrum process is adhered to.
• They help the product owner with planning and try to keep the team energized.
• The Scrum master serves more as a coach than a manager.
 Scrum Meetings

Establish the goals and • Plan which features will • 15 minutes meeting to Demonstrates the actual Reflect on how well the
general plan for the project be prioritized and ensure everyone knows work product to the previous sprint went and
PURPOSE

developed for the next what to do in that day product owner and other identify specific actions that
1-3 weeks and monitor daily stakeholders to gather can improve future sprints.
• Breakdown features (if progress feedback, refine key
needed) • Resolve problems in requirements
real-time

• Initial product backlog • Updated product • Daily plan and • Refined requirements Continuous improvement
• Major risks backlog monitoring • Feedback for next sprint both in products and
OUTCOME

• Overall feature and • Sprint backlog planning SCURM processes.

functionality
• Rough delivery date and
cost estimates
Product and Sprint Backlogs

PRODUCT BACKLOG SPRINT BACKLOG

Sprint Burndown Chart
 Limitations and concerns

• Management often demands certainty and details: detailed planning, detailed

budget, clear scope.
• Companies need time to develop agile PM culture. For example, Siemens
Medical Systems started with one Scrum team in 2004, then 10 Scrum teams
in 2005, 70 teams in 2006, and over 97 teams in 2007.
• Intense collaboration is not for everyone. One Agile manager confessed that
she had to let several of her top engineers go because their lone-wolf
personalities were not compatible with collaboration.
• Agile methods appear to work best on small projects that require only five to
nine dedicated team members to complete the work. Here face-to-face
communication replaces time-consuming documentation and informal
coordination supplants top-down control.
• Even though there is consistent evidence that customer participation
enhances project success, not all customers want to be that actively involved.
Other form of agile PM: Kanban
 Other form of agile PM: Kanban

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8dKoRjFvTY&ab_c
hannel=OnlinePMCourses-MikeClayton
Thank You