Agile Project Management Flashcards
Differences between process and project management
Process:
Repeat process or product
Several objectives
Ongoing
People are homogenous
Well-established systems
Greater certainty
Part of line organization
Established practices
Supports status quo
Project:
New process or product
One objective
One-shot-limited life
More heterogeneous
Integrated system efforts
Greater uncertainty
Outside of line organization
Violates established practice
Upsets status quo
What is the difference of Project Work and day-to-day activities/ tasks?
Projects vs Ongoing tasks
Projects: one-time, have a specific goal, limited by certain pre-defined parameters
Ongoing tasks and operations: Things that need to be done on a permanent basis to keep the product/service provision of the organization going
What is a Project?
• Projects are complex, one-time processes
• Projects are limited by budget, schedule, and resources
• Projects are developed to resolve a clear goal or set of goals
• Projects are customer-focused
A project is a temporary task created to produce something new, like a product, service, or result.
What is Project Management?
Project management helps to guide the project work to deliver the intended outcomes. It’s the application of knowledge, skills, and tools, to activities to meet project requirements.
Project life cycle
A project life cycle refers to the stages in a project’s development and are divided into 4 distinct phases:
- Conceptualization: development of the initial goal and technical specifications of the project. Key stakeholders are identified and signed on at this phase.
- Planning: all detailed specifications, schedules, schematics, and plans are developed.
- Execution: the actual “work” of the project is performed
- Termination: project is transferred to the customer, resources reassigned, project is closed out.
Project Components
Client Interest: level of enthusiasm or concern, of the customer. Clients could be from within your team or external customers.
Project Stake: it’s the level of investment the organization has in the project. The longer the life of the project, the greater the investment. If a lot of time, money, or effort is put into it, the project becomes more critical.
Resources: Commitment of financial, human, and technical resources needed to make the project happen.
Creativity: level or amount of innovation required by the project, especially during certain development phases. Some projects need a lot of creative solutions, especially when they involve new or unique ideas.
Uncertainty:This is about the level of risks the project might face. Riskiness is the number of unknowns, and challenges the project might face. At the start, there’s usually more uncertainty because many problems haven’t been identified yet, nor addressed.
How projects success is measured?
(Factors)
Budget
Client Acceptance
Time
Performance
Costs
Achievement of defined milestones (see next slide)
- How “happy” the customer is (internal/external):
- Measured based on the fulfillment of the project specifications and/or customer needs
On time vs. delayed
Execution quality (disturbances, blocking times, resource occupation
Commercial success achieved (the part that is measurable today)
The eventual success of a project is only determined at a later time, not immediately upon project delivery (in many cases
What are Project Milestones?
Milestones are events or stages of the project that represent a significant accomplishment
Benefits of defining project milestones:
1. Signal completion of important steps
2. Motivate team and suppliers
3. Offer reevaluation points
4. Help coordinate schedules
5. Signal other team members when their participation begins
Why projects terminate? Reasons for project termination
Extinction
Addition
Integration
Starvation
Extinction : This occurs when the project ends because it has achieved its objectives or failed completely.
Addition: The project becomes a permanent part of the organization.
Integration: The project’s outputs, team, or resources are absorbed into other parts of the organization.
Starvation: This happens when a project is deliberately or unintentionally deprived of resources (e.g., funding, staff, or time). As a result, the project is forced to stop without officially being declared terminated
What’s Agile Project management?
Agile Project Management (Agile PM) is a new era in project planning that focuses on flexibility and changing customer requirements.
• Planning the work and then working the plan
• Customer needs may evolve and change over course of project
• Importance of evolving customer needs leads to incremental, iterative planning process
- Agile is a form of adaptive or change-driven project management that largely reacts to what has happened in the early or previous stages of a project rather than planning everything in detail from the start.
Difference between agile project management and classical management (waterfall model)
Waterfall project development process works well when:
• Requirements are very well understood and fixed at the outset of the project
• Product definition is stable and not subject to changes
• Technology is understood
• Ample resources with required expertise are available freely
• The project is (typically) of short duration
Agile:
Flexible, adaptive and iterative.
Adapts to feedback and changing customer needs to ensure customer satisfaction.
• Encourages collaborative teams.
Waterfall:
Rigid and sequential.
Changes are difficult and expensive once the project has started.
Interaction with customer limited to the initial requirements
Fixed plan with no room for adaptation
Little to no Feedback during the project
Collaboration is limited
Understanding of how does scrum work in project management
• Agile PM, by using Scrum, Agile Project Management, especially with Scrum, avoids the mistake of thinking a project will go exactly as planned from the start.
• Flexible, iterative system designed for the challenge of managing projects in midst of change and uncertainty
• “Rolling wave” process of continuous plan-execute-evaluate cycle
• Emphasis on adaptation, flexibility, and coordinated efforts of multiple disciplines
It helps to adapt changing customer needs or market trends, and adjusts to them. It uses a “Rolling wave” process of a continuous plan - execute - evaluate cycle. Scrum breaks work into short steps called sprints, where teams deliver these tasks and get feedback to improve. Scrum is a flexible and iterative system designed to handle uncertainty and change.
- Terms in agile project management:
Generalized specialists: Very good at one thing, but also competent at a wide variety of work.
Improve collaboration: When one worker has problems. others help and learn together
Courage: Tell the truth, work together, adaptto changes, question status quo, have difficult conversations
Collective ownership: All qualified team members are responsible for product, and all can change it.
Openness : Seek new ideas. ask for help when needed
Pair programming: Practice of one programmer writing while another reviews, two minds are better than one.
Developmental leadership: Safe environment in which different team members informally take on leadership roles at different times and are supported by team members and other stakeholders.
Servant leadership: Leader focuses on needs of the followers first through integrating followers’ needs with project goals, honesty, delegation, and empowerment.
Transformational leadership: Leader aims to develop trust and alian personal values of individuals (followers) to accomplish vision and mission of the
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Respect: Everyone gives and feels respect, everyone contributes, team strength is collaboration, give each other permission.
- Terms in Agile Project Management
Customer prioritization:Decide importance or urgency of work based on customer input
Customer driven value: Define value from a customer’s perspective
Minimum viable product (MVP): The simplest version of a product with just enough features to gain quick customer feedback
Prioritized backlog: Desired products prioritized by business value and risk
Product: The deliverables that are created in an Agile project
Product backlog: A wish-list of things that may be created by the project team
Product Roadmap: Visual showing high-level plans of products expected to be created during each release
Refine requirements: Use feedback to progressively understand true needs
Release: Period when functionality is created and transitioned to users
Risk-adjusted backlog: To-do prioritized list of work to both create product and reduce risk
Solutions: Deliverables that are usable, desirable, and functional in helping customers achieve desired outcomes
- Terms in Agile Project Management
Continuously Identify Risks: Specific effort to use feedback and engage team to identify risks.
Premortum: Brainstorming description of what could go wrong
Assume Variability: Preserve options to provide flexibility because of unknowns.
Handoffs: Whenever work is turned over some tacit knowledge is lost.
Risk-based Spike: Short time-boxed work to address a specific risk.
What is Digital Workplace? What does digital workspace entail?
Digital workplace is the first step to take work beyond the borders of the physical office
• This enables access to a bigger pool of talents
• Also enabling people to work securely anywhere, anytime and on any device
• It is not only about the technology applied to and at work
it sees anthe a perse cut teer, the policies that the company sets for its species everything agiologies to play a major role in modern project management.
• Workplaces become complicated because of the pluralistic needs of the workforce
A digital workspace is a virtual environment that enables individuals
and teams to perform work-related tasks, collaborate, and access tools, data, and applications from anywhere, using internet-enabled devices. It is designed to provide a centralized, seamless experience, that integrates various digital tools and resources to enhance productivity, communication, and flexibility.
Stakeholder management
Every business has stakeholders
Every project has stakeholders
Stakeholder analysis is a useful tool for revealing conflicts that may appear unavoidable during the planning and implementation of new projects.
Project stakeholders are defined as all individuals or groups who have an active stake in the project and can potentially impact, either positively or negatively, its development.
Stakeholder management involves identifying, understanding, and engaging with people who can influence a project.
Identification: Recognizing all potential stakeholders, including those who might be internal (team members, executives) or external (customers, regulatory bodies).
Analysis: Assessing their level of influence, interest, and potential impact on the project.
Developing strategies to communicate regularly and appropriately, keeping stakeholders informed and involved. This can include meetings, reports, or informal updates.
