Agile Project Management Concepts

Agile Project Management

• Org. Cultures & Styles: Shared vision, mission, and values; risk tolerance; code of conduct, work ethics, and working hours; operational environment.
• Org. Communication: Effective communication is a key factor for successful projects; communication with stakeholders and project teams.
• Org. Structures: Functional, weak matrix, balanced matrix, strong matrix, projectized, and composite structures.
  • Functional: Functional managers manage functional projects.
  • Weak Matrix: Functional managers still manage the project;
  • Balanced Matrix: Functional and project managers share project management.
  • Strong Matrix: Project manager responsible for the project;
  • Projectized: Project-specific managers;
  • Composite: Hybrid structure, mixing functional and project approaches.
• Functional Structure: Project manager allocated to a specific project.
• Work style: Coordinators have limited freedom for decision-making but coordinate the work; Expeditors coordinate the work.
• Projectized Organization: Teams are specifically created/classified for projects.
• Composite Style: A mixture of functional and matrix project structures.
• Balanced Matrix Structure: Combines functional and project-based structures.
• Organizational Process Assets: Templates, standards, knowledge bases, historical information, and lessons learned which are assets used within an organization, processes, and procedure.
• Enterprise Environmental Factors: Internal and external factors that can influence projects (e.g., infrastructure, HR skill, market conditions, and political climate).

Project Life Cycle (PLC)

• Project Team: Groups of individuals working together to complete a project.
• Project Life Cycle (PLC) Phases: A series of phases from start to finish.
• Important PLC Types:
  • Predictive/Plan-Driven: Planning-centric approach.
  • Iterative & Incremental: Work in phases, refining as you go.
  • Adaptive/Change-Driven (Agile): Adapts to change; responding to the evolving needs of the project.
• Characteristics of PLC: Starting, predicative life cycle, Waterfall Model, Prototyping.

Agile Project Management Benefits

• Benefits of Agile Project Management: Better product quality, customer satisfaction, more control, risk reduction, and faster ROI.
• Agile Team: Self-empowered, collaborative teams.
• Agile Development Benefits: Visibility, adaptability, risk management, business value, Agile Triangle (scope, time, cost, and quality).
• Agile vs. Traditional: Agile's scope, time, cost, and quality are dynamic vs. the fixed qualities of traditional projects.

Reasons for Agile Software Development

• Ambiguous Requirements: Agile handles inevitable changes well, as opposed to fixed and comprehensive planning.
• Frequent Reflection: Agile processes allow flexibility, frequent change, and continuous review, which promotes quality.
• Manifesto for Agile Software Development: Focuses on individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration, and responding to change.

Agile Methodologies

• Agile Methodologies (e.g., XP, Scrum, DSDM, Kanban, Lean): Agile methodologies are iterative and adapt quickly to circumstances; they combine different iterative and incremental development techniques.