The Agile PMP

Teaching 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?
 Scope

Primary Agile Project Constraints

• Time and cost are the real

drivers… scope has to be able to
vary
Time Cost
• 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
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 Time
Management
• Strive to reduce dependencies
Activity definition
between deliverables
Activity sequencing
• Prioritize don’t sequence. Work from
Activity resource
the top of the list. estimating

• Estimate based on relative size Activity duration

estimating
• Releases and iterations always end on
Schedule
time. development

Schedule control
Project Cost
Cost
Management
• Cost is defined by your willingness to Cost estimating
invest Cost budgeting
• Cost estimates are the product of the Cost control
team size and project duration
Project Scope
Scope
Management
• Scope is defined at progressive levels
Scope Planning
of detail.
Scope Definition
• Plan scope, deal with project realities,
Create WBS
and make tradeoffs.
Scope Verification
• Allow room for scope negotiation
Scope Control
when planning project scope
• Collaboration and frequent
interaction
Project Risk
Risk
Management
• Business Risk, Technical Risk, and Risk management
Logistical Risk planning

• Risk management is built into the Risk identification

structure of the project Qualitative risk

analysis
• Risks are constantly visible and
Quantitative risk
managed through iterations analysis

• Risk lists, response planning, and Risk response

planning
mitigation strategies
Risk monitoring and
control
Project Quality
Quality
Management
• Quality is not an afterthought Quality planning
• Test first design Perform quality
assurance
• Test driven development
Quality control
• Continuous integration
• Continuous testing
Project Communication
Communication
Management
• Communication planning can be
Communications
thought of in the traditional sense planning

when looking outside the project Information

team distribution

• Collocation Performance reporting

Manage stakeholders
• Information radiators
• Osmotic communication
Project Integration
Integration
Management
• Agile has room for a Charter or a
Vision statement Charter

• Project management plans and Scope statement

approach statements Project Management

Plan
• More empowering style of
Direct and Manage
management based on individual Project Execution
accountability Monitor and Control
• Change control is built into the Project work

process. Tradeoffs managed in real Integrated change

control
time.
Close project
Project Procurement
Time
Management
• Agile does not deal much with
Plan purchases and
procurement acquisitions

• Approach contracts with adaptability Plan contracting

in mind Request seller
• Build relationships based on trust responses

• Create win-win agreements Select sellers

Contract
administration

Contract closure
Project Human Resources
Human Resource
Management
• Staffing based on available people
and willingness to invest Human resource
planning
• Build your team around motivated Acquire project team
people Develop project team
• Give them what they need to be Manage project team
successful and remove impediments
• Allow teams to self-organize
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
Team
• Project Manager as
the center of the
Team PM Team project
• Project manager as an
Team enabler
Team

Team Team

PM
Team
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
Simplifying Software Delivery