Agility in Project Management
A recipe for turbulent times
By
Contents
Why agility is required? Recipe for success
Concept of agile project management Across knowledge areas
Integration management Scope management Time management Cost management Quality management Communication management Human resource management Risk management
Procurement management
Why agility is required?
Business landscape is fast and competitive Short product life cycle
Pressure to reduce cost
Business needs quick decision with incomplete information and
uncertainty
Why agility is required…contd
Overtime or budget, 46% Succeeded, 35% Failed, 19% 65% Failed$80-150 Billion spent on failed
projects1
25%-40% of all spending on
projects is wasted in re-work2
40% of the problem are found by
end users3
60%-80% of project failures can
be attributed directly to poor requirement gathering, analysis and management4
Nearly two thirds of IT projects
Recipe for success..
Incremental development with constant customer feedback Simpler organization structure
Efficient communication
Concept of agile project management
Agile process focus on Speed,
Smartness and Simplicity
Rapid Iterative planning and
development cycle
Features are worked and delivered
in the order of business value
Project team and customer work
together to identify what needs to be done and prioritize
Working and tested product serves
as a primary measure of progress
Key practices include
Release planning Iteration planning
Daily stand-up meeting
Planning Vision Product Roadmap Retro-spective Initial Intermediate Final
•Visioning
•Product roadmap Planning •Product backlog definition
•Visioning
•Product roadmap Planning •Product backlog definition
Agile process
Agile process…contd..
Initial Release Release Release Final
•First phase is release planning
•Each release can be made of one or more iteration
•First phase is release planning
Agile process…Contd…
Initial Release Release Release Final
•Project retrospective •Document lessons learnt •Project closure
How does it compare?
Traditional process •Initiate
•Plan •Execute
•Monitor and control •Close
Traditional process •Initiate
•Plan •Execute
•Monitor and control •Close
Agile process •Initiate
•Plan release
•Plan iteration
•Plan daily work •Execute
•Guide and Facilitate •Close the iteration
•Review and retrospective •Until enough iteration
•Close
Agile process •Initiate
•Plan release
•Plan iteration
•Plan daily work •Execute
•Guide and Facilitate •Close the iteration
•Review and retrospective •Until enough iteration
Across knowledge areas
Integration management
Defining the vision
Vision meeting
Elevator statement Design the box
Project management planning done iteratively Monitor and controlling by servant leadership Entire team manage change using
Product backlog
Across knowledge areas…
Scope management
Agile project welcomes change.
Iterative and incremental process itself manages scope
Release planning/Iteration planning and daily planning replaces WBS Scope verification happens after every release
Across knowledge areas…
Time management
Time is managed by team and customer
Schedule development at release and iteration level Schedule control tools include
Burn down chart (release and iteration) Daily stand up meeting
Across knowledge areas…
Cost management
Fast, Cheap, Good you can have any two!Entire team involved in cost planning Cost estimates done top-down
Cost control occurs at the release level, cost baselines are updated based
on the deliverables after each iteration
Quality management
Cross-functional team implement QA
Verify quality of the product after each iteration Incorporate the review feedback in next iteration Quality control tools
Across knowledge areas…
Human resource management
Self organizing and dedicated team
Project managers would facilitate continuous improvement Theory Y style of team management
One-on-one real time feedback
Communication management
Tell me, I’ll forget, show me I’ll remember, involve me I will understand
Face-to-face communication
Iteration , demo and review meeting Daily stand-up meeting
Information radiators
Communicating project status using
Burn down charts
Across knowledge areas…
Risk management
Risk management is owned by the team Risks identified early
Risks are identified in all planning meetings, release, iteration and daily
stand-ups meetings
Procurement management
Project team actively gets involved in the procurement process Contract is documented preferably in face-to-face meetings
Contract administration can be done such that contractor deliverables
Myths
Agile development is undisciplined Agile teams do not plan
Conclusion
Primary objective of agile or traditional project management, value to customer Agility provides you with the ability to constantly adopt and take decisions
during project planning and execution
Shift in focus to execution
Agile Traditional
Thi s i s val ue dri ven approach to project management
Thi s i s a pl an dri ven approach to project management
Iterati ve and i ncremental wi th each i terati on produci ng a workabl e product
Project i s di vi ded i n sub-phases wi th handoffs between teams after each phase
Each i terati on fol l ows waterfal l method
Enti re project fol l ows waterfal l method
Customer i nfl uence remai ns strong for the enti re project
Contact information
Anil Kumar Natogi
References
1 The Standish group international,Inc 2 Carnegie Mellon
3 Gartner 4 Meta group
5 2006 The Standish group 2006 CHAOS Survey
6 www.mountaingoatsoftware.com
7 people.westminstercollege.edu
8 http://www.lostechies.com/
Agile Project Management by Jim highsmith
