Agile Project Management

Question 1

Projects Appropriate For Agile

Answer 1

Product Development & Software

Intangible Requirements (Hard To Visualize)

Pressure To Get A Working Product To The User Urgently

Internal Organization Projects (non-contract)

Evolutionary Deliverables

Customer/Product Owner Commitment

Question 2

The Agile Manifesto

Answer 2

Individuals Over Process & Tools& Interactions

Working Over Comprehensive
Software Documentation

Customer Over Contract
Collaboration Negotiation

Responding Over Following A Plan
To Change

Question 3

Agile Principles (1-4)

Answer 3

1. Our Highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of value.
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
3. Deliver working product/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.

Question 4

Agile Principles (5-8)

Answer 4

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 (a white board helps).
7. Working product/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.

Question 5

Agile Principles (9-12)

Answer 5

9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility (don’t over engineer, keep it simple, test, inspect, QA, QC, continuously).
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 behavior accordingly.

Question 6

Most Popular Agile Methodologies

Answer 6

Scrum

Extreme Programming (XP)

Lean Development

Question 7

Scrum & Scrum Roles

Answer 7

Short Iterations called sprints (2 - 4 weeks long, consist of planning, producing, testing, reviewing, reflecting) produce a “working product” which is releasable)

Scrum Master (protect the process)

Product Owner (determine value of backlog features)

Scrum Team (empowered to determine how much to accomplish in the current sprint, self-manage production)

Question 8

XP Roles

Answer 8

Coach, Customer, Developer, Tracker, Tester

Question 9

XP Practice

Answer 9

Planning Games
Small Releases
Metaphor
Simple Design
Testing
Refactoring
Pair Programming
Collective Product Ownership
Continuous Integration
Sustainable Pace
On-Site Customer
Coding Standards

Question 10

Lean Principles

Often Applied To Processes Instead Of Projects – Except For Agile

Answer 10

Eliminate Waste
Amplify Learning
Decide As Late As Possible
Deliver As Fast As Possible
Empower The Team
Build Integrity In
See The Whole

Question 11

Agile or Traditional?

Answer 11

Agile projects work well where there is a moderate level of uncertainty and complexity, and agreement on requirements has not been achieved (i.e. intangible requirements (hard to visualize), pressure to get a working product to the user urgently, product development, IT [software], process improvement, periodic upgrades, etc.)