chapter 5.2.1

Question 1

what are the steps to plan project iterations?

Answer 1

-define scope
-create prioritized backlog (all features/requirements)
-define iteration length
-select work for iteration
-breakdown work into smaller units
-estimate effort required
-plan iteration
-execute iteration
-review/retrospect iteration

Question 2

what are epics?

Answer 2

-highest level of logical units
-often describe large complex features that require significant effort
-broken down into user stories to facilitate iterative development

Question 3

what are user stories?

Answer 3

-common method for breaking down epics
-define requirements from end user perspective
-represent specific feature or function
-small enough to be completed in one iteration
-typically include acceptance criteria, which define when a story is considered complete

Question 4

what are tasks?

Answer 4

-smallest unit of work in an iteration
-represent individual activities to deliver user story
-estimated in hours, typically assigned to specific team member

Question 5

what are the pros of using iterations in agile project planning?

Answer 5

-early and continuous delivery of value (delivering incrementally allows for feedback, room for adjustment)
-adaptability and flexibility
-improved visibility and predictability (progress measured at end of each iteration)
-continuous improvement
-increased collaboration

Question 6

what are the cons of using iterations in agile framework?

Answer 6

-increased planning overhead (require more planning and coordination than traditional. can increase administrative burden on project)
-risk of scope creep
-dependency management (require effective mgmt of dependencies between work items)
-inflexibility (if work items are not well defined or estimated. lead to delays and missed deadlines)

Question 7

what is the WBS typically replaced with in agile framework? how does it work?

Answer 7

-product backlog
-prioritized list of features or user stories that describe functionality product should have

Question 8

what are some inputs for defining and refining scope in an adaptive project?

Answer 8

-stakeholder requirements
-project objectives
-business case
-constraints
-lessons learned
-change requests
-project team expertise

Question 9

name some reasons why adaptive project tracking is important?

Answer 9

-flexibility (allows for greater flexibility in managing project)
-focus on value (focus on delivering value to stakeholders as quickly as possible)
-continuous improvement (encourages this through frequent retrospectives/willing to adjust approach)
-collaboration (promotes this between team members and stakeholders)
-early detection of issues (frequent checkpoints and opportunities for feedback)

Question 10

what are story points?

Answer 10

-in agile, used as relative estimation tool rather than absolute measurement of time/effort
-allows for greater flexibility/adaptability
-measure complexity, effort, and uncertainty of a task

-story points are assigned to user stories in relation to size of user story
-story points are combined to determine velocity that can be delivered during an iteration
-during sprint, team tracks progress of each user story or task by updating status and number of story points completed.
-helps id any delays/bottlenecks in sprint

Question 11

what is velocity?

Answer 11

-rate at which team completes tasks in an agile project
-measured by number of story points completed in sprint or iteration
-if velocity does not match expected number, then review is done to id the cause
-may ID user stories were not defined well enough
-progress to completion of story points within iteration usually shown on velocity chart

Question 12

what is the kanban board?

Answer 12

-visual tool used to manage work and workflow
-allows team to see status/id any bottlenecks
-emphasis on JIT/limiting WIP

Question 13

what is burnup? what is burndown?

Answer 13

-visual tools used to track progress against set of goals or targets, typically toward a release
-burnup shows work completed over time
-ideal for any time you want to show the accumulation of something rather than the completion of an item
-use for sprint backlog, product backlog, or tracking the item

-burndown shows remaining work to be completed
-burndown is used when you have a long list of items, such as features in product backlog, and by completing each item, the list is “burned down”

Question 14

what is a cumulative flow diagram?

Answer 14

-stack diagram showing number of tasks in each kanban diagram
-example: software development project can have a Kanban board with four columns (backlog development, testing, deployed) chart will show how many items are in each column of the kanban board

Question 15

-what is earned value analysis? what is needed to complete it?

Answer 15

-pm technique used to track progress of project and assess performance in schedule/cost
-provides insight into efficiency and effectiveness of project
-used as tool to monitor and control progress of work within iterations or sprints

-actual cost of release (anticipated cost per release, not just cost for entire project. predict by cost of each story point in iteration and velocity of team)
-estimated product backlog (represents remaining project scope)
-product release plan (when increments will be released and expected number of iterations)
-assumed velocity (number of user story points team will do per iteration)

Question 16

what are the base formulas for agile EVA? not the math, just the actual variables?

Answer 16

-PV (planned value)
-EV (Earned value)
-AC (Actual Cost)
-BAC (budget at completion)

Question 17

documenting project controls for an adaptive project typically includes what but is not limited to?

Answer 17

-define project objectives and goals (SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time bound)
-develop project plan (flexible and responsive to changing requirements)
-define project roles and responsibilities (resource mgmt plan outlines how resources will be managed and allocated)
-document change control
-establish communication protocols
-document project progress
-conduct regular project reviews

Question 18

what are some common artifacts that are used in an adaptive project?

Answer 18

-product backlog
-sprint backlog
-user stories
-burndown chart
-definition of done (DOD)(what constitutes completed task or feature)
-Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
-Minimum business increment
-Retrospective
-Continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline (series of automated processes to build, test, and deploy software updates. used to ensure changes are delivered quickly)
-agile release plan (outlines release schedule for project. roadmap for team and stakeholders)
-velocity chart (graph to track progress of team work. shows amount of work completed over period of time, usually a sprint. vertical axis=work completed, usually in story points. horizontal axis=time

Question 19

what is a minimum business increment (MBI)

Answer 19

-smallest possible deliverable unit
-provides some value to customer
-independently deployed, tested, and validated
-often break down larger features or projects into smaller pieces completed and delivered more effeciently

Question 20

define an adaptive plan? what are its components?

Answer 20

-adjust to changing circumstances or new info

-goals and objectives (SMART)
-key performance indicators (KPI)
-risk management
-resource allocation
-communication plan
-evaluation and feedback mechanisms

Question 21

what three common actions do adaptive methodologies share (based on agile manifesto)

Answer 21

-TIA
-transparency (requires trust, agreement, and open communication)
-inspection (review artifacts, progress, and quality of work)
-adaptation (when issues arise)

Question 22

what are the key aspects of Lean that are incorporated in various agile frameworks?

Answer 22

-delivering value
-respect for people
-minimizing waste
-being transparent
-adapting to change
-continuously improving

Question 23

what is the acronym SAFe

Answer 23

Scaled Agile Framework

Question 24

what is the most well known agile framework?

Answer 24

Scrum

Question 25

what scrum ceremonies are repeated for each timeboxed iteration?

Answer 25

-sprint planning (user stories for sprint are discussed, sized, and committed. meeting between product owner and development team.) -sprint (timebox where stories selected during planning meeting now identified on iteration backlog will be developed) -daily scrum (meeting facilitated by scrum master. team members individually id what they worked on previous day, planning to do today, roadblocks that require scrum master. referred to as "stand-up", limited to 15 minutes. not daily status meetings. -sprint review (end of each iteration. demonstrates for stakeholders work team has done, receive their approval. attended by team, product owner, and ID'd stakeholders. sum of story points completed becomes velocity of that sprint) -sprint retrospective (end of each sprint, team reflects on work just completed, ID what went well/bad. often result of analyzing why they couldnt finish story or meet expectations. usually facilitated by scrum master)

Question 26

what are some scrum artifacts?

Answer 26

-product backlog -sprint backlog -increments (working software that is released to the customer at the end of the iteration or sprint. may not be complete, but provides some value to customer/can be used to gather feedback

Question 27

difference between sprint and iteration?

Answer 27

-iteration fixed period of time (usually 1-4 weeks) team works on set of user stories or features. -goal is to deliver working software that provides value to customer. -at the end, team reviews work/determines what they can do better next iteration. -key component of agile/allows for feedback/improvement -sprint is specific type of iteration used for scrum -typically 2-4 week focused on delivering specific set of user stories or features -during sprint, tema works to complete work IDd in sprint backlog -during sprint review, demonstrate working software completed during sprint, gather feedback from stakeholder. -also hold sprint retrospective, review process and id areas for improvement

Question 28

what is an increment?

Answer 28

-chunk of usable product developed in each sprint. -potentially releasable part of final product -each increment is appended to prior increments

Question 29

what is a vision statement? what 5 elements must it contain?

Answer 29

-describes goals and why the project exists -unambiguous definition of project -clear and simple language -alignment with organizations values -realistic expectations of the project -short and direct

Question 30

how are user stories prioritized?

Answer 30

-based on the value to the customer -some user stories carry significant risks and should be moved earlier in the project -product owner and team calculate expected financial value or risk by: probability x impact = expected monetary value

Question 31

how do you create the sprint backlog?

Answer 31

-team and product owner review most valuable user stories from product backlog -determine how many user stories can be completed during sprint -does not change once its created

Question 32

what four questions does the development team answer in the daily scrum?

Answer 32

-what have you accomplished since we last met? -what will you accomplish before our next one? -who do you need to see to make that happen? -are there any roadblocks to your progress?

Question 33

what is a scrum of scrums?

Answer 33

-larger projects/programs hold these -rep from each project attends -discusses project accomplishments, next plans, roadblocks, if they could interfere with other projects

Question 34

who can cancel a sprint?

Answer 34

only the product owner

Question 35

basic layout/phrasing of a user story?

Answer 35

-"as a (role), I want (function), so i can realize (value)

Question 36

detail of a user story? how to create user stories?

Answer 36

-easy to understand by everyone on the team -created by product owner, go in product backlog -each should aim to create value -give scenerio of what the role is doing/action that is happening -provide result (realized value) -"the 3 C's" -Card (user story can fit on one card) -Conversational (quick details/easy to understand) -Confirmation (customer confirms user story has been completed) -during sprint review, team can read card and show the action and the completed result

Question 37

what is a candidate story?

Answer 37

-proposed user story worth considering but hasn't been included in project requirements yet

Question 38

what is another common approach to utilize user stories? (acronym)

Answer 38

-INVEST -Independent (can be prioritized in any order in product backlog) -Negotiable (team/product owner can make trade offs for cost and function) -Value (value of user story action is apparent) -Estimable (required effort to create function can be estimated) -Small (able to complete in single iteration) -Testable (can be tested for completion and accuracy)

Question 39

what is affinity estimating?

Answer 39

-all stories are estimated by same types of rules -product owner/development team/scrum master participate -estimates created from top of product backlog, process begins with proven reference points (past projects/similar work)

Question 40

what is fibonacci sequencing?

Answer 40

-example: examining top of seashell, branching of a tree, and other place in nature -take two consecutive numbers, starting with zero and one, add them together to predict the next number in sequence

Question 41

what is emphasized, values, and principles of extreme programming?

Answer 41

-one of oldest agile methodologies -focused on software development with frequent delivery cycles, usually one week in lengty -emphasizes continuous feedback, rapid iteration, and high level of customer involvement -focuses on results of software project -core values are communication, simplicity, feedback courage, and respect -key principles are humanity, economics, mutual benefit, self-similarity, improvement, diversity, reflection, flow, opportunity, failure, accepted responsibility

Question 42

What does XP aim to do?

Answer 42

-simpliity, get rid of extra features, get rid of waste, keep things simple, find simplest thing that could possibly work to satisfy customer requirements -expects change to happen throughout project, welcomed by team -XP acknowledges rish that deadline-driven project introduces -deadline can cause XP team to feel overworked, under pressure, afraid to innovate

Question 43

how does the XP system work?

Answer 43

-weekly and quarterly cycle to describe timeboxed approach -weekly cycle is an iteration (like a sprint) -first day of week, meet to discuss whats been accomplished, choolse prioritized user stories to create this week, decide how team will create those stories -similar to sprint planning, but shorter than typical sprint -quarterly cycle is release, planned and updated each week by weekly cycle -accomplishments each week help determine what will be released each quarter

Question 44

what is the "10 minute build approach"?

Answer 44

-used in xp -designing system to compile all code and run all tests within 10 minute time frame -encourages team to create automated build approach, test frequently, and follow continuous integration

Question 45

what is the "test first" programming approach?

Answer 45

-used in XP -developers write tests before writing code, causing tests to initially fail due to absence of code -can now build the code knowing exactly what is needed to pass

Question 46

what are the activities in the planning of XP project?

Answer 46

-user stories are written -release schedule is created -plans for frequent, small releases are developed -project is segmented into iterations -each iteration begins with iteration planning session

Question 47

what are the activities in the designing of XP project?

Answer 47

-keep things simple -create system metaphor to quickly explain project -class, responsibilities, and collaboration (CRC) cards help design system -spike iteration are used to address risks -dont add features and functions until requested -refactor, clean up code, happens throughout project

Question 48

what are the activities in coding of xp project?

Answer 48

-customer role available for input. establish standards for all coding -unit tests are written first -programmers utilize paired programming -code is frequently integrated one programming pair at a time -integration server required for project -all code collectively owned, any programmer can review or edit

Question 49

what are the activities in testing of xp project?

Answer 49

-unit tests are required for all code -all code must pass unit test before release -bugs in code require new tests to be created -acceptance testing is required, results are tracked and shared

Question 50

what are the activities in managing the xp project?

Answer 50

-colocated teams work in open workspace -establish sustainable pace of work -each day begins with 15 minute meeting -project velocity is frequently measured -team members are trained in other roles -retrospectives help fix problems in XP

Question 51

what are the xp roles?

Answer 51

customer or product owner coach programmer tester tracker doomsayer manager gold owner

Question 52

what are the responsibilities of the customer or product owner? (XP)

Answer 52

-represents business values -writes user stories -prioritizes requirements -helps programmers understand user stories

Question 53

what are the responsibilities of the coach? (XP)

Answer 53

-coaches team on XP approach -keeps things moving -oversees project work -helps implement process improvements as result of feedback

Question 54

what are the responsibilities of the programmer? (XP)

Answer 54

-programs code -derive tasks needed to complete user stories -work on unit testing in project

Question 55

what are the responsibilities of the tester? (XP)

Answer 55

-runs functional tests on code programmers create -functional tests are integration tests, more indepth than tests run by programmers -document test results

Question 56

what are the responsibilities of the tracker? (XP)

Answer 56

-tracking work assignments to confirm they are on track -ensures assignments are going to plan -meets with programmers/coach/customers to report on project progress

Question 57

what are the responsibilities of the doomsayer? (XP)

Answer 57

-monitors risk, poor results, and issues with the project -objective is to be honest and transparent about projecct

Question 58

what are the responsibilities of the manager? (XP)

Answer 58

-delivering project as promised -communicating status to customer -schedule meetings for release planning -often serves as doomsayer and tracker role

Question 59

what is the gold owner?

Answer 59

-pays for project -often project sponsor in an organization

Question 60

what is a generalizing specialist?

Answer 60

-in xp, role can do more than one thing

Question 61

what are he defining principles of kanban?

Answer 61

-start with current state -agree to incremental change where needed -respect current processes, roles, responsibilities, and titles -encourage leadership activities at all levels

Question 62

core properties of Kanban, similar to Lean, include what?

Answer 62

-visualize workflow through tracking progress toward completion. transparent bottlenecks, current level of work. -establish limits for work in progress -manage flow of work using queues for finished work waiting for next step -make process policies explicit (entry and exit to columns) -implement feedback loops to encourage and incorporate needed changes -improve collaboratively (like scrum retrospective, but done as needed vs. regular basis in scrum)

Question 63

what approach is kanban most used in?

Answer 63

XP

Question 64

when a person chooses a card and moves it into the workflow, what is this called?

Answer 64

-commitment point

Question 65

what is it called when a card is passed through all columns and is completed?

Answer 65

-delivery point

Question 66

what is the acronum SAFe? what is it?

Answer 66

-Scaled Aglie Framework -set of practices for use at enterprise level -often applied to agile projects across multiple levels of organization

Question 67

what does SAFe promote?

Answer 67

-alignment, collaboration, and delivery of results with large number of individual agile teams

Question 68

what are the principles of SAFe?

Answer 68

-economic view to address cost of delays -apply systems thinking of solution, enterprise building the system, value streams -build incrementally with fast, integrated learning cycles incorporating PDCA cycle -base milestones on objective evaluation of working systems and stakeholder involvement with decisions -visualize/limit WIP, reduce batch sizes, manage que lengths like kanban

Question 69

Core SAFe values describing leadership culture and behavior of individuals how?

Answer 69

-alignment with planning and cadences at all levels of organization -built in quality, definition of "done" for every task including flow architecture, code, system, and release quality -transparency planning smaller levels to expose problems and real time visibility into progress -program execution with regular delivery of quality, working software, and business value -leadership with lean-agile behavior to create environment that enables change to the system

Question 70

what is the acronym FDD? what is it?

Answer 70

-Feature Driven Development -created specifically for software development -agile approach, more rigid than Scrum or XP -ideal for complex, long term software projects -skips meetings, utilizes documents for communication -ideal when team is larger, multiple developers that arent colocation, and need history of documented commuication

Question 71

what are the 6 roles in FDD?

Answer 71

-project manager -chief architect (designs/models system, leads planning with other developers) -development manager (oversees daily activity, coaches development team) -chief programmer (assists chief architect and development manager, may lead small development team) -class owner (works with chief programmer, designs, codes, and tests features) -domain expert (like product owner in Scrum, understands customer needs and wants)

Question 72

5 step approach to FDD?

Answer 72

-develop overall model (outline of what solution should include) -build features list (product backlog in scrum) -plan by feature (prioritize features, considers risks, dependencies, team bandwidth) -design by feature (which features/who will do during 2 week iteration) -build by feature (work, testing, added to build)

Question 73

what is acronym DSDM? what is it?

Answer 73

-Dynamic Systems Development Method -agile, provides guidance on how to deliver projects in an agile way -great when working with vendors for agile project -can be blended with Scrum

Question 74

what are the 8 principles of DSDM?

Answer 74

-focus on business need -deliver work on time -collaborate -don't compromise quality -build incrementally -develop incrementally -communicate constantly, directly, clearly -demonstrate control

Question 75

acronym MoSCoW

Answer 75

-Must, Should, Could, Wont

Question 76

what is AgilePM?

Answer 76

-subset of DSDM -provide more focused approach to agile pm -based on DSDM principles, but streamlined to provide more accessible approach -provides more specific guidance on pm practices like risk mgmt, planning and governance

Question 77

what are some practices that can be used to verify achievement of an expected result?

Answer 77

-continuous integration -testing at all levels -test drive development (TDD, written prior to starting development) -Acceptance test driven development (ATDD, like TDD, but develop just enough to meet criteria) -Behavior driven development (BDD, usage based scenarios) -spikes (short time frames for learning of situations ike risk and architectural areas. -demonstration and review activity

Question 78

prioritizing tasks is important in adaptive project management for what reasons?

Answer 78

-focus on high value work -efficient use of resources -manage risk -enable flexibility