PMP Agile Flashcards
Types of agile methodologies
Scrum, extreme programming (XP), lean development, Kanban
What is converting the triangle?
Agile manifesto values
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
- Working software over comprehensive documentation.
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
- Responding to change over following a plan.
What is meant by customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
One of the four agile manifesto values. It means to be flexible and accommodating instead of fixed and uncooperative. Manage change, don’t suppress change. Shared definition of done. Requires trusting relationship.
Agile guiding principles
Customer sat through early and continuous delivery of valuable software, welcoming, changing requirements, deliver working software frequently, business people and developers, must work together daily, build project around motivated individuals and give them supportive environment and trust, face-to-face conversation, working software is primary measure of progress, agile processes, promote sustainable development (maintain constant pace, indefinitely), continuous attention to technical excellence and good design, enhances, agility, simplicity, self, organizing teams, reflection and retrospective
Low tech, high touch
One of the gating principles of agile is to involve face-to-face conversation wherever possible. Whiteboards and close proximity interaction is encouraged.
Core values of extreme programming
Simplicity, communication, feedback, courage, respect
Extreme programming roles
Coach (scrum, agile, project manager, or scrub master), customer (scrum product donor), programmers, testers
What is another name for a sprint and extreme programming?
Scrum term is a sprint. Extreme programming term is an iteration.
Practices in extreme programming
Release planning, iteration planning, small releases frequently, customer tests, collective code ownership (cross training), code standards, sustainable pace (reduce frequency of long hours), metaphor (helps translate user requirements into technical understanding), continuous integration (and frequent bills to bring code together to identify problems quickly.), test driven development, pair programming, simple design, refactoring
Test driven development (TDD)
Extreme programming practice. The team writes the test prior to developing the new code. The code will pass the test once it is written correctly.
Pair programming
An extreme programming practice. Production code is written by two developers, working as a pair to write and provide real time reviews of the software as it emerges. Working in pairs helps spread knowledge about the system through the team.
Simple design
Extreme programming practice. Code is always testable, brows, understandable, explainable. Replace complex with simple design. The best architecture requirements and design designs emerge from self organizing teams.
Refactoring
Remove redundancy, eliminate, unused functionality, rejuvenate, obsolete designs. Ref factoring throughout the entire project lifecycle saves time and increases quality. Code is kept clean and concise so it’s easier to understand modify and extend.
Difference between sag, crumbum, and XP
Principles of the Toyota lean methodology
Using visual management tools, identifying, customer defined value, building in learning and continuous improvement
Seven principles of lean software development
Eliminate waste, and power, the team, deliver fast, optimize the whole, build quality in, deferred decisions, amplify learning
Eliminate waste
A principle of lean software development. To maximize value, waste must be minimized. For software systems, waste can take the form of partially done work, delays, handoff, unnecessary features.
Empower the team
Don’t micromanage, respect team members superior knowledge of the technical steps required on the project.
Deliver fast
One of the seven principles of lean software development. Quickly delivering valuable software and iterating through designs.
Optimize the whole
One of the seven principles of lean software development. We aim to see the system as more than the sum of its parts.
Amplify learning
One of the seven principles of a lean software development. This concept involves facilitating, communication early and often, getting feedback as soon as possible, and building on what we learn.
Seven wastes of lean
Partially done work, extra processes, extra features, task, switching, waiting, motion (unnecessary processes that create overhead like making most of the team travel upstairs for stand-up because the product owner works on a different floor), defects
Kanban five core principles
Visualize the workflow, limit work in progress, manage flow, make process policies explicit, improve collaboration
A tool used to coordinate task handovers
Manage flow
Kanban principal. Tracking flow of work through a system, poor methodology, where sticky notes are moved through the columns until process is finished. Or not limited to four columns (tasks, in progress, testing, done) – can have more specific columns if desired
Little’s Law
Cycle times are proportional to queue lengths. We can predict completion times based on queue size.
Agile declaration of interdependence (DOI)
Agile links, people, projects, and value. We increase ROI by making continuous flow of value our focus. We expect uncertainty, unleashed, creativity and innovation, boost performance through group, accountability, and shared responsibility
Agile mindset
Welcome, change, working and small value increments, using build, and feedback, loops, learning to discovery, value, driven development, failing fast with learning, continuous slavery, continuous improvement
Servant leadership
Leader provides what the team needs: shield team from interruptions, removing impediments to progress, communicate project vision, continuously, carry food and water
12 principles for leading agile projects
Learn the team member needs, learn the project requirements, act for simultaneous welfare of team and project, create environment of functional accountability, have a vision of completed project, use project vision to drive your behavior, serve as central figure in successful project team development, Recognize team conflict as a positive step, manage with an eye towards ethics, ethics is critical, take time to reflect on project, think backwards (retrospective)
Understand Kanban
Is this a methodology by itself or his con describing the board that’s being used that is more like a tool?
In agile, what is the strongest indicator of project success?
Stakeholder satisfaction. Shows understanding of stakeholders needs, that they are engaged, and builds confidence of stakeholders in team.
What are signs of waste?
Partially done work, extra processes, extra features, Waiting, defects
Return on investment (ROI)
The ratio of the benefits received from an investment to the money investment. usually a percentage
Internal rate of return (IRR)
Financial metric for assessing value. This is the interest rate you will need to get in today’s money to receive a certain amount of money in the future.
Present value/net present value (NPV)
A financial metric for assessing value. This is the Value of future money in today’s terms.
Earned value management (EVM)
A financial metric for assessing value. These are formulas that monitor the value of the project as it progresses.
Four financial metrics for assessing value
Return on investment, internal rate of return, net present value, earned value management
What is considered anti-value?
Risk, a K a threats
What are tools to manage risk?
Risk adjusted backlog and risk burn down chart
Methods for customers to conduct value prioritization
Simple scheme, MoSCoW, monopoly, money, 100 point method, do voting or multi voting, Kano analysis, requirements prioritization model
Simple scheme
Method of prioritizing features. This is just a flat list provided by the customer listing out Priority one priority two, priority three, etc. Could be problematic as many items become the first priority.
MoSCoW
Feature prioritization technique. Must have, should have, could have, would like to have, but not this time.
A tool used to prioritize tasks if prioritization is unclear
Dot voting
Feature prioritization technique. Each person gets a certain number of dots to distribute to the requirements or features
Monopoly money
Feature prioritization technique. Give everyone equal monopoly money and they distribute the funds to what is most valuable.
100 point method
Feature prioritization technique. Each person is given 100 points that is then used to distribute amongst individual requirements or features.
Kano analysis
Feature prioritization technique. Helps to understand the customers satisfaction: delighters/exciters, satisfiers, dissatisfiers, indifferent
Cost of change
Describes the principle of costs increasing and change becoming more expensive as the product gets closer to production and eventually is deployed to production
Information radiator
This is a term/metaphor used to describe the importance of a Kanban or task board because the information is constantly surrounding and in front of and in the attention sphere of the team
Cumulative flow diagrams (CFDs)
A stack graph that shows how work is progressing. This graph is tied to the.Theory of Constraints, which involves detecting bottleneck activity. Your test may ask you too identify the bottleneck, which is the area below the growing shaded area
Money for nothing
Agile contracting method. contract states 20 features will be delivered, 15 are delivered and company doesn’t see any value in continuing the project so closes the project and the seller keeps the money
Types of agile contracting methods
Money for nothing, change for free, graduated, fixed, price, contract, fixed price work packages. Fixed price work packages probably most used. Can use a combination of any of these methods.
Change for free
Agile contracting method. Buyer can remove and replace features interchangeably with no penalty
Graduated fixed price contract
Agile contracting method. Buyer and seller share and risk and rewards. Different hourly rates based on early finish, finish on time, finish late.
Fixed price work packages
Agile contracting method. Negotiating and assigning a fixed price for each feature. Probably the most used. Mitigate risk of under or over estimating.
Golf of evaluation
What one person describes is often different from how others interpret. Think of a game of telephone.
Planning feedback loops
Resolve problems as soon as possible and don’t let little problems grow overtime
Use case diagram
Visually shows how users would use an application.
Methods of brainstorming
Quiet writing – give people five minutes to write their ideas, round robin – pass a token around to ensure everyone will speak, free for all – people shout out thoughts, but environment must be supportive
Collaboration games
Remember the future, prune the product tree, speedboat or sailboat
Remember the future
A type of collaboration game. Ask stakeholders to imagine that an upcoming release was successful and to elaborate on why it was successful. It’s like a play on words, where you are remembering why something was successful, but you’re looking through the lens of a future deployment.
Gets a better understanding of how the stakeholder would define success. Outlines how we can accomplish that success for them.
Prune the product tree
A type of collaboration game. Draw a tree and ask stakeholders to add their features to it. Use sticky notes to have them place new features on the tree. Group features on the trunk. Features that depend on other features are higher up in the tree. Let’s everyone understand priorities of development.
Speedboat or sailboat
Type of collaboration game. Draw a waterline and a boat moving. Explain the boat is moving toward the goals of the project. Ask them to use sticky notes to show what can make the boat move (wind) and what can stop it (anchors). Allows stakeholders to identify threats and opportunities.
Levels of active listening
Level one (internal) – how is this story I’m listening to going to affect me. If you don’t wanna be a level one listener.
Level two (focused) – put ourselves in the mind of the speaker. This is good, but body language is important, which is why level three is better.
Level three (global) – builds on level two with body language
Models of team development
Shu-Ha-Ri - a model of skill mastery. shu = obey (at first learning, you obey everything) Ha = moving away (as you gain experience, you experiment with methods based on your understanding.) Ri = finding individual paths
Dreyfus model of adult skill acquisition – novice, advanced, beginner, competent, proficient, expert
Tuckman’s five stages of team development
Forming, storming, Noring, performing, adjourning
Adaptive leadership
This is the agile perspective on Tuckman’s ladder. Forming = directing, storming = coaching, norming = supporting, performing = delegating, journey. The latter descriptions are the agile terms. Adjourning has no direct agile term.
Osmotic communication
Part of the team space concept where the benefit is to have a shared team space where you can see each other. People who overhear conversations can learn things and apply them without directly being involved in the conversation.
Burn up verse burn down
Burn up is tracking the work completed or done, burn down is tracking the work that remains to be done
Velocity chart
Used to estimate the amount of work a team can get done in an iteration
Progressive elaboration
This is a planning concept where more detail is added, as more information is uncovered
It is the iterative process of increasing the level of detail in a project management plan has greater amounts of information and more accurate estimates become available
Ideal time
The amount of time it would take to complete a task given zero interruptions or unplanned problems
User stories must follow the strategy of INVEST
User stories must be independent, negotiable, valuable, estimateable, sizable, test
Counterproductive estimation concepts and how to resolve
Bandwagon, HIPPO (highest paid persons opinion, groupthink. Wideband Delphi combats these things by performing anonymous estimation and sizing
Iteration zero and iteration H
Iteration zero is the first sprint of a project where no coding takes place and the team agrees upon things like technical stack and coding language, etc. iteration H is the ending sprint where code cleanup is supposed to happen.
Architectural spoke
Part of work done before starting of project/iterations.
Period of time dedicated to a POC.
Risk based spike
Part of work before starting a project/iterations. Team investigates to determine how to reduce risk.
Slicing the stories
When a story is too big to fit in an iteration (1-4 weeks)
Lead time and cycle time
Lead time – how long something takes to go through the entire process
Cycle time – how long something takes to go through a part of the process. It is a section within lead time. A measurement of how long it takes to get things done.
Cycle time formula
Cycle time = WIP/Throughput
Throughput is the amount of work that can be done in a time period.
Sample question: what is cycle time if your feature is 60 story points and your team can do 5 story points a day? Cycle time = 12 days.
Long cycle times lead to what?
Increased amounts of WIP
Escaped defect
A bug that makes it to the customer. More costly to fix. Goal is to fix defects asap.
Variance analysis
Measure of how far apart things are (or vary)
Control limits
Provides guidelines to operate within. If the amount of work done is outside the expected story point range (average 15 points plus or -3 points) then your work done for that iteration falls outside the control limits and you should look into what you are doing poorly or very well.
Risk adjusted backlog
Re-prioritizing the backlog to account for risk
Expected monetary value
A way to define a monetary value for things such as risk. Helps rank risk. Equation:
Impact in dollars times probability percentage equals EMV
Ways to rank risk
Expected monetary value and risk severity. To calculate risk severity use a numbering system and multiply risk probability times the severity weight (for example weight can be severity one, two, three, four, five)
Risk burn down chart
Shows you the severity of risk overtime. Insert details. Insert image.
Kaizen
Continuous improvement. People improve products and services. Small incremental over time is paramount.
Agile cycle
Plan, develop, evaluate, learn
Trend analysis
Measure that provides insight into future issues. Lagging metrics provide information on something that has already happened. Leading metrics provides information on occurring events or is about to occur.
Value stream map
Optimize the flow of information or materials to complete a process. Reduce waste (waiting times) or unnecessary work.
Six steps to creating:
1. Identify the product or service.
2. Create a value stream map.
3. Review to find waste.
4. Create a new map with the desired improvement.
5. Develop a roadmap to implement fixes.
6. Plan to revisit again.
Pre-Mortems
Team meeting that looks at possible things that can cause failure during a project before they take place. This is like a low tech high touch risk assessment. Steps include:
Think what the failures might be
Create a list of reasons that can cause the failures
Review the project plan to determine what can be done to reduce or remove the reasons for failure
Retro - once issues are identified, how do you decide what to do about it?
Short subjects – team decides what actions to take in the next iteration (start doing, stop doing, do more of, do less)
SMART goals - specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timely
Stages of retrospective
Set stage, general insights, collect data, decide what to do, close retrospective
