CORE VALUES OF

AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Sylvain CHERY

PMI Luxembourg Event – Dec. 11, 2007

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 AGILE PARTNER

IT AGILITY BUSINESS AGILITY

Business productivity solutions

Collaboration, ECM & search, BI
Application platform solutions
Architecture
Development & user experience
Data management
Development teams support
PM, coaching, trainings

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Impact of the writers strike on TV shows?
Well, it depends…
 THE DIFFERENCE IS UNCERTAINTY

Scripts are written at least half New episodes are ordered as

a season in advance the season progresses
 WHY AGILITY?

Agility is about maximising Return on

Investment in a Changing environment

RESOURCES

VALUE

UNCERTAINTY

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 SURVEY RESULTS

Source : 2nd Annual Survey “The State of Agile Development”, conducted June-July, 2007, VersionOne, Inc.
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 AGENDA

Agile Values by Domain

Planning
Change Management
Customer Relationship
People
Process Improvement
Role of the Project Manager
Barriers
Summary & Conclusion

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 PLANNING

Planning for delivery of value

Tasks are in themselves of no value to the client
Earned-value only when 100% complete

A continuous flow of value

Small units of value delivered in a continuous flow
Keeping the batch size down to improve process
efficiency (Lean Manufacturing)

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 TRACKING

100% complete

100% complete

100% complete

100% complete

Batch size

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 PRIORITIES

Prioritization
According to business value
Defined by the customer

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 CHANGE MANAGEMENT

You can’t eliminate uncertainty

Marketplace
Politics

Defects
Actual need?
Missed

Regulations Communication Legislations

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 CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Prepare for and welcome change rather than

fight it
Anticipation
Adaptation (feedback & reflection)

Just-In-Time
Reduce inventory (Lean Manufacturing)
No Big Requirements Up Front

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 FIXED BUDGET

What about fixed-price projects?

That should not mean “fixed-scope”

For each batch

Re-estimate
Re-prioritize

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 ADVANTAGES

For the Customer For the Project Team

Actual value delivered Deliver highest value
regularly No useless work
Control over the scope
• Items in/out
Control over the schedule
• Prioritization
Control over the budget
• Funding

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 GUIDELINES

Plan for value not tasks

Deliver in small pieces

Get the customer prioritize

Accept Uncertainty !

Work incrementally & adapt

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 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP

Who is the customer?

User/Sponsor/Champion…
Owns the product
Is entitled to make decisions

Trust between the customer and the project

team is a key success factor
One common goal (shared ownership)

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 FREQUENT INTERACTIONS

Customer responsibilities
Timely and comprehensive
information (requirement details)
Decisions about scope and priorities
Quick feedback
Team responsibilities
Share progress information
Explain technologies and techniques, why they are
used and the implications
Demonstrate work results
Involve other stakeholders

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 PEOPLE - INDIVIDUALS

Individuals are the ultimate source of value

Real people
Each individual can make a positive difference

Creating the environment

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 PEOPLE - GROUP

Group accountability for results improves

performance

Shared responsibility for team effectiveness

It’s not the other one’s fault
Know / understand what the other ones do
Everyone is in it together

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 PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

No silver bullet, no one answer

Situationally specific strategies,
processes and practices

Continuous process improvement

Uncertainty and changes affect also the process
Periodical feedback and retrospectives

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 AGILE PROJECT MANAGER

For the project team For the organization

Support Communicate
Guide Report
Remove obstacles Explain
Obtain support

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 GUIDELINES

Engage only with trusted peers

Engage frequent interactions

Create a short feedback loop

Empower your team

Review your role as PM

Create your own set

Adapt it along the way

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 BARRIERS

Source : 2nd Annual Survey “The State of Agile Development”, conducted June-July, 2007, VersionOne, Inc.
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 SUMMARY

A continuous flow of value

Accept uncertainty and manage it
Frequent interactions & shared ownership
Individuals are the ultimate source of value
Group accountability for results
Situationally specific strategies, processes
and practices

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 WHERE TO START

When confronted with changing business

conditions and needs, you should consider
an agile project management approach
Focus on core agile values
Start with a pilot project
Get management support
Bring-in agile experience

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Thank you

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 REFERENCES

Agile Partner: www.agilepartner.net

Agile Interest Group Luxembourg (AIGLU): www.agile-lu.org
Agile Alliance: http://www.agilealliance.org
The 2nd Annual State of Agile Development Survey Results, VersionOne:
http://www.versionone.com/agilesurveyresults.asp
Declaration of Interdependence: http://www.pmdoi.org/
The Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN): http://apln.org/
Better Software Magazine: The Declaration of Interdependence, Alistair
Cockburn,
http://www.stickyminds.com/BetterSoftware/magazine.asp?fn=cifea&id=77
The declaration of interdependence for modern management , Alistair
Cockburn:
http://alistair.cockburn.us/index.php/The_declaration_of_interdependence_f
or_modern_management
Dr Dobb’s, Agile on a Fixed Budget, Scott W. Hambler:
http://www.ddj.com/development-tools/201202925
Agile Requirements Change Management, Scott W. Hambler:
http://www.agilemodeling.com/essays/changeManagement.htm
all about agile, by Kelly Waters: http://kw-agiledevelopment.blogspot.com

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