Agile Principles and Mindset

Agile is a time boxed, iterative approach to software delivery that builds software incrementally from the start of the project, instead of trying to deliver it all at once near the end.

It works by breaking projects down into little bits of user functionality called user stories, prioritizing them, and then continuously delivering them in short two week cycles called iterations.

Summarizes belief and value of agile methodologies.

Better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we value:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

The 12 Agile Principles are a set of guiding concepts that support project teams in implementing agile projects.

• 1.Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
• 2.Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
• 3.Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
• 4.Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
• 5.Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
• 6.The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
• 7.Working software is the primary measure of progress.
• 8.Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
• 9.Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
• 10.Simplicity – the art of maximizing the amount of work not done – is essential.
• 11.The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
• 12.At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behaviour accordingly.

This lecture introduces the Making Project Manager agile section to the audience, it tells what all knowledge area project managers are usually interested in and how the work associated with these knowledge area is done in agile.

We look at 5 Project management domains (Initiating, planning, executed, monitoring and closing) and 10 Knowledge area (Project Integration Management, Project Scope Management, Project Time Management , Project Cost Management , Project Quality Management , Project Human Resource Management , Project Risk Management , Project Communication Management , Project Procurement Management and Project Stakeholder Management ).

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Project Integration Management as

"Project Integration Management includes the processes and activities to identify, define, combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities within the Project Management Process Groups."

In this lecture we see how we start project in agile , how we execute project in agile , how monitoring and planning is done in agile. We also gets into details of managing changes in agile.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Project Scope Management as

“Project Scope Management includes the processes required to ensure that the project includes all the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully.”

In this lecture we see how the scope get managed using backlog of work items in agile, we look at approaches which helps in delivering things iteratively and incrementally in agile projects.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Project Time Management as

“Project Time Management includes the processes required to manage the timely completion of the project.”

Approach for time management is very different in agile, in agile we do not create detailed project plan in the beginning of the project rather we progressively elaborate it . The rolling wave planning approach is followed in agile.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Project Cost Management as

“Project Cost Management includes the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting, financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed within the approved budget.”

In general we agile budgeting is done at gross level and in most of the agile projects we work with fix team capacity (more or less fix monthly expense) so the budgeting approach is quite simple and lean in case of agile. The money get allocated to business rather than to projects.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Project Quality Management as

“Project Quality Management includes the processes and activities of the performing organization that determine quality policies, objectives, and responsibilities so that the project will satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken.”

In agile quality is expected to be part of development process, agile recommends ensuring that quality requirements are met and taken care while doing the development rather than adding an extra step of detailed inspection at later stage.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Project Human Resource Management as

“Project Human Resource Management includes the processes that organize, manage, and lead the project team.”

Agile focuses on creating self-organizing team which can take care of their own planning , executing and monitoring and controlling activities.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Project Communication Management as

“Project Communications Management includes the processes that are required to ensure timely and appropriate planning, collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval, management, control, monitoring, and the ultimate disposition of project information.

Agile focuses on real time communication where customer is engaged and they can see what is happening inside the project by just looking around the work area. Agile recommends usages of Information radiators more than status reports.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Project Risk Management as

“Project Risk Management includes the processes of conducting risk management planning, identification, analysis, response planning, and controlling risk on a project.”

The short feedback looks and using working software for taking feedbacks mitigates most of the project management risks organically . Risk management is in build in agile projects.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Project Procurement Management as

“Project Procurement Management includes the processes necessary to purchase or acquire products, services, or results needed from outside the project team.”

Most of the agile teams are not involved in procurement but whenever needed agile team needs to ensure that vendor also follows agile based approach and build process which promotes flexibility for achieving business results.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Project Stakeholder Management as

“Project Stakeholder Management includes the processes required to identify the people, groups, or organizations that could impact or be impacted by the project, to analyze stakeholder expectations and their impact on the project, and to develop appropriate management strategies for effectively engaging stakeholders in project decisions and execution.”

Agile is all about stakeholder engagement , in agile the focus remains making stakeholders part of development process, they are involved in it by way of providing regular feedbacks and working with team to figure out how fast we can meet the business need.

This lecture gets into the details of project characteristics where agile based processes are most suited. We look at various types of processes like defined and empirical and get into project attributes where process based on agile make perfect sense.

How agile and scrum are related? Can be implement agile without using scrum? Why most of the agile implementation are scrum implementation. This lecture explores questions like these. We look the relation of agile and scrum and introduce how scrum helps us in implementing agile values and principles.

This lecture introduces the upcoming section where we look into how things are doing in agile. We have explored agile and the context where it suits the most now we are looking into how part of agile.

• How to start a project in agile?
• How to plan a project in agile?
• How to execute a project in agile?
• How to monitor and control a project when it is following agile based process?
• How to close a project in agile?

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Initiating Process Group.

“Those processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase.”

Most of the popular agile methods do not prescribe any specific way of starting the project but in general starting project in agile environment also needs visibility of project vision, constraints , top level objectives and approach.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Planning Process Group..

“Those processes required to establish the scope of the project, refine the objectives, and define the course of action required to attain the objectives that the project was undertaken

to achieve.”

Planning in agile is not a phase it is an activity which is performed throughout the project duration.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Executing Process Group..

“Those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project

management plan to satisfy the project specifications. “

This is where most of the agile processes focus the most, here we create working software frequently and we produce value. Agile focussed on team self-organizing themselves and producing customer value at regular interval.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Monitoring and Controlling Process Group..

“ Those processes required to track, review, and regulate the progress and performance of the project; identify any areas in which changes to the plan are required; and initiate the corresponding changes.”

Agile monitoring is not focused on conformance it looks into opportunities for adaption in planning and execution approach. The monitoring focuses more on producing value and less on measuring variance against plan.

PMBOK® Guide Fifth Edition defines Closing Process Group.

“Those processes performed to finalize all activities across all Process Groups to formally close the project or phase.. “

Most of the agile methods works in iterations and closing of iterations which is more frequent and regular event gives team opportunity to learn and implement learning based on lesson learned.

This section looks into the project roles. Here we explore how things changes for people when the agile based development approach is followed in projects. In general agile focuses on cross functional and multi skilled team and it expects all team members have agile mind-set.

Yes developer keeps doing coding as before the only difference is in approach, rather than thinking big requirement and developing many things at same point in time, agile developer focuses on building and delivering things on incremental manner. Agile developer also ensures in-build quality in coding rather than leaving things for testing group to detect.

Tester focuses shifted towards ensuring quality is in-build into process, tester coaches' developers on testing mind-set. Testers are expected to automate maximum amount of repetitive testing.

Business analyst focuses on keeping team focused on delivering business value, many times business analyst works with product owner or product management group, and in some cases business analyst himself is product owner.

The main responsibility of business analyst is to clarifying business context to development team and ensuring team works on right business requirements.

System Architect, many agile methods are against this role because many time architects focuses on creating design in diagrams and results in big upfront design. In agile architect are expected to work on code and produce working architecture rather than document. Architect coaches the development team to build architecture incrementally and practice emergent design.

Architect does most of their work by doing spikes.

Project Management Office (PMO) are usually involved in providing support and managing shared resources in organization. In agile also they do more or less same function but the approach is different. The way agile leadership is more about facilitation and providing an environment where people get trusted and find safe environment to fail.

Role of a Manager, in agile we do not expect manager to get involve in directing and controlling rather manager focuses on facilitating and coaching. The leader / manager work as developer where he develops team members to solve their project related problems.

Leader / manager creates self-organizing team who plan their work and regularly monitor their work status and adapt to achieve the project goal.

Manager also works as impediment remover , works as a servant leader who leads the team by serving .

PMI-Professional Development Units (PDUs ) helps in maintaining the PMI’s certificates like PMP® , PMI-ACP® , PMI-PBA® , PgMP® etc

This program covers the leadership dimension of PMI talent triangle so the PDUs provided by this program can be used in maintaining any of the PMI certificate, this lecture gives you steps needed to claim the PDUs.

This video talks about how to keep learning agile after this course , it explains 3 steps to keep learning agile.

A. Take some agile certification program, Scrum Alliance and PMI's , certifications are quite popular in market. CSM (certificate from Scrum Alliance) requires you to attend the classroom session for 2 days. Whereas PMI-ACP can also be done online. We support both certifications

B. Join face to face community to learn, share and discuss about agile. You an find Scrum User groups at scrum alliance website , identify some local group in your geography and start attending events organized by them

C. Join online communities on Agile, Linkedin has many active communities , you can join our community also “Discuss Agile Network”