The Project Manager's Guide to Mastering Agile E-Book

Charles G. Cobb

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 682

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Streamline project workflow with expert agile implementation The Project Management Profession is beginning to go through rapid and profound transformation due to the widespread adoption of agile methodologies. Those changes are likely to dramatically change the role of project managers in many environments as we have known them and raise the bar for the entire project management profession; however, we are in the early stages of that transformation and there is a lot of confusion about the impact it has on project managers: * There are many stereotypes and misconceptions that exist about both Agile and traditional plan-driven project management, * Agile and traditional project management principles and practices are treated as separate and independent domains of knowledge with little or no integration between the two and sometimes seen as in conflict with each other * Agile and "Waterfall" are thought of as two binary, mutually-exclusive choices and companies sometimes try to force-fit their business and projects to one of those extremes when the right solution is to fit the approach to the project It's no wonder that many Project Managers might be confused by all of this! This book will help project managers unravel a lot of the confusion that exists; develop a totally new perspective to see Agile and traditional plan-driven project management principles and practices in a new light as complementary to each other rather than competitive; and learn to develop an adaptive approach to blend those principles and practices together in the right proportions to fit any situation. There are many books on Agile and many books on traditional project management but what's very unique about this book is that it takes an objective approach to help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of both of those areas to see how they can work synergistically to improve project outcomes in any project. The book includes discussion topics, real world case studies, and sample enterprise-level agile frameworks that facilitate hands-on learning as well as an in-depth discussion of the principles behind both Agile and traditional plan-driven project management practices to provide a more thorough level of understanding.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Preface

The Impact of Agile

Learning Objectives for an Agile Project Manager

How This Book Is Organized

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Introduction to Agile Project Management

The Chasm in Project Management Philosophies

The Evolution of Agile and Waterfall

The Evolution of the Project Management Profession

Agile Project Management Benefits

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Part 1: Fundamentals of Agile

Chapter 2: Agile History and the Agile Manifesto

Agile Early History

Agile Manifesto (2001)

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Chapter 3: Scrum Overview

Scrum Roles

General Scrum/Agile Principles

Scrum Values

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Chapter 4: Agile Planning, Requirements, and Product Backlog

Agile Planning Practices

Agile Requirements Practices

User Personas and Stories

Product Backlog

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Chapter 5: Agile Development, Quality, and Testing Practices

Agile Software Development Practices

Agile Quality Management Practices

Agile Testing Practices

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Part 2: Agile Project Management

Chapter 6: Time-Boxing, Kanban, and Theory of Constraints

The Importance of Flow

Time-Boxing

Kanban Process

Theory of Constraints

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Chapter 7: Agile Estimation

Agile Estimation Overview

Agile Estimation Practices

Velocity and burn-down/burn-up charts

Summary of key points

Discussion topics

Chapter 8: Agile Project Management Role

Agile Project Management Shifts in Thinking

Potential Agile Project Management Roles

Agile and PMBOK®

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Chapter 9: Agile Communications and Tools

Agile Communications Practices

Agile Project Management Tools

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Chapter 10: VersionOne Tool Overview

Product/Project Planning

Release and Sprint Planning

Sprint Tracking

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Chapter 11: Understanding Agile at a Deeper Level

Systems Thinking

Influence of Total Quality Management (TQM)

Influence of Lean Manufacturing

Principles of Product Development Flow

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Part 3: Making Agile Work for a Business

Chapter 12: Scaling Agile to an Enterprise Level

Enterprise-Level Agile Challenges

Enterprise-Level Obstacles to Overcome

Enterprise-Level Implementation Considerations

Enterprise-Level Management Practices

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Chapter 13: Adapting an Agile Approach to Fit a Business

The Impact of Different Business Environments on Agile

Typical Levels of Management

Corporate Culture and Values

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Chapter 14: Enterprise-Level Agile Transformations

Planning an Agile Transformation

Adaptive Project Governance Model

Summary of Key Points

Discussion Topics

Part 4: Enterprise-Level Agile Frameworks

Summary of Enterprise-Level Frameworks

Chapter 15: Scaled Agile Framework

Team Level

Program Level

Portfolio Level

Program Portfolio Management

Chapter 16: Managed Agile Development Framework

Managed Agile Development Overview

Objectives of Managed Agile Development

Framework Description

Roles and Responsibilities

Chapter 17: Disciplined Agile Delivery Framework

Summary of Enterprise-Level Frameworks

Part 5: Case Studies

Chapter 18: “Not-So-Successful” Case Studies

Company A

Company B

Company C

Chapter 19: Case Study—Valpak

Background

Overview

Project Management Approach

Challenges

Key Success Factors

Results and Conclusions

Lessons Learned

Chapter 20: Case Study—Harvard Pilgrim Health Care

Background

Overview

Project management approach

Challenges

Key Success Factors

Conclusions

Lessons Learned

Chapter 21: Case Study—General Dynamics UKInformation provided courtesy of General Dynamics, UK Limited.

Background

Overview

Project Management Approach

Challenges

Key Success Factors

Conclusions

Lessons Learned

Chapter 22: Overall Summary

Appendices

Appendix A: Additional Reading

Appendix B: Glossary of Terms

Appendix C: Example Project/Program Charter Template

Appendix D: Suggested Course Outline

Index

End User License Agreement

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Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Preface

Begin Reading

List of Illustrations

Figure 1.1

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The Project MANAGER'S GUIDE TO MASTERING AGILE

Principles and Practices for an Adaptive Approach

Charles G. Cobb

Cover image: Blur ©iStock.com/snvv

Cover design: Wiley

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright © 2015 Charles G. Cobb

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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ISBN: 978-1-118-99104-6 (paperback)–ISBN 978-1-118-99177-0 (epdf)–ISBN 978-1-118-99176-3 (epub)

Preface

THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROFESSION is beginning to go through rapid and profound changes due to the widespread adoption of agile methodologies. Those changes are likely to dramatically change the role of project managers in many environments as we have known them and raise the bar for the entire project management profession.

It is not a simple matter of making a binary choice between a totally plan-driven approach and totally adaptive or agile approach. There are many alternatives between those extremes, and it takes a lot of skill to adapt an approach to fit the situation. This book is designed to help project managers with a traditional, plan-driven project management background understand these challenges and to develop a more adaptive project management approach for blending traditional project management with agile principles and practices in the right proportions to fit a given project and business environment.

Agile is changing the way we think and work in many industries and application areas. The impact today is most obvious in the area of software and information technology, where an agile approach is essential to deal with the level of uncertainty in a typical software development project; however, the rapidly changing and competitive business world we live in today is already beginning to rapidly expand the influence of agile to many other areas.

This is the third book I've written on the subject of agile project management. My primary motivation in all of the books I've published in this area has been to help close the gap between the traditional project management and agile communities. Those two areas have essentially been treated as separate and independent domains of knowledge with a very limited amount of integration between the two and some new thinking is badly needed to see both of these areas as complementary to each other rather than competitive.

If I were to publish this book as an entirely separate and independent book from my two previous books, it would have either been disjoint or there might have been redundancy with the material in the two previous books. For that reason, I have decided to merge together some information from my two previous books into this one book to make it much more comprehensive, well-integrated, and easy to follow. It is designed to be used as a textbook in a graduate-level Agile Project Management course and includes a suggested course outline and instructional materials to align with the material in the book.

The Impact of Agile

I believe that agile is having a profound impact on the project management profession and will cause us to fundamentally rethink many of the well-established notions of what a project manager is over some period of time. My opinion is that:

Those changes will dramatically impact the role of project managers in many environments and perhaps even eliminate the role of some project managers as we have known them.

It will also raise the bar for the entire project management profession, broaden the definition of what we think of as

project management

, and require project managers to acquire significant new skills and new ways of thinking.

Some people may see that as unsettling and perhaps even threatening; however, it is very clear that agile is not a fad, is here to stay, and will bring about some significant changes that we can't ignore. I believe that it is critical for project managers and the project management profession, as a whole, to be proactive and anticipate the most likely impact and adapt accordingly. To me, that means figuring out how to integrate agile and traditional project management principles and practices to provide one integrated view of what project management is.

Many project managers are wondering what impact this has on their career path and it can be confusing because the role of a project manager in an agile environment is not defined. This raises a number of questions including:

What is the role for a project manager in an agile project?

Are traditional project management principles and practices in conflict with agile principles and practices?

How does a typical project manager shape his or her career to move in a more agile direction?

Those are the needs and challenges that this book is intended to address. Learning to become an agile project manager can be a long and difficult journey, and this book is only a small part of that journey.

Learning Objectives for an Agile Project Manager

The following is a summary of what I believe are the most important steps in the journey toward becoming an agile project manager (not necessarily in this order):

Develop new ways of thinking and begin to see agile principles and practices in a new light as complementary rather than competitive to traditional project management practices.

Gain an understanding of the fundamentals of agile practices and learn the principles behind the agile practices at a deeper level in order to understand why they make sense and how they can be adapted as necessary to fit a given situation.

Learn how to go beyond the traditional notion of plan-driven project management and develop an adaptive approach to project management that blends both agile and traditional project management principles and practices in the right proportions to fit a given project and business environment.

Understand the potential roles that an agile project manager can play and begin to reshape project management skills around those roles.

Learn some of the challenges of scaling agile to an enterprise level and develop experience in applying these concepts in large, complex, enterprise-level environments.

How This Book Is Organized

Agile project management is an art that will take time for anyone to develop and master. There's a concept from martial arts called shu-ha-ri that is very appropriate here. It outlines the stages of proficiency someone goes through to develop mastery of martial arts techniques. The same concept can be applied to agile project management:

“Shu”

: In the “shu” stage, the student learns to do things more-or-less mechanically, “by the book,” without significantly deviating from the accepted rules and practices and without improvising any new techniques. This stage is equivalent to a new inexperienced project manager following PMBOK or other accepted practices “by the book” without necessarily adapting those practices to fit the situation.

“Ha”

: In the “ha” stage, the student begins to understand the principles at a deeper level and learns how to improvise and break free from rigidly accepted practices, but it's important to go through the “shu” stage and gain mastery of the foundational principles before you start improvising—improvisation without knowledge is just amateurish experimentation.

“Ri”

: Finally, in the “ri” stage, the student gets to the highest level of mastery and is able to develop his/her own principles and practices as necessary.

Many project managers may think that they are already at a very high level of mastery based on their knowledge of PMBOK and other well-accepted traditional project management practices, but agile changes that dramatically and raises the bar significantly.

The way the book is organized follows the shu-ha-ri approach to learning:

The initial sections of the book start out with a very basic understanding of the “mechanics” of agile and learning how to do it “by the book.” That is equivalent to the “shu” level of training.

The book will go deeper into the principles behind agile and why they make sense. It is essential to understand the principles at a deeper level before moving on to the “ha” level and know how to customize an approach to fit a given situation.

The final goal is to move to the master level or “ri” level where you will learn to go beyond current ways of implementing both agile and plan-driven approaches and learn how to blend them together as needed to fit a given project and business environment. That goal is somewhat beyond the scope of this book and will only come from actual practice in implementing these ideas in real world situations; however, it is hoped that the information in this book and the case studies that are included will help project managers move rapidly in that direction.

Part 1 – Fundamentals of agile

The first step in learning to become an agile project manager is to learn the fundamentals of agile, which includes not only the mechanics of how an agile project based on Scrum works, but also understanding the principles behind it at a deeper level so that you can go beyond just implementing it by the book.

Part 2 – agile project management

Agile is causing us to broaden our vision of what a project manager is and that will have a dramatic impact on the potential roles that a project manager can play in an agile project. In fact, the role of a project manager at a team level in a typical agile/Scrum project is undefined. That will cause us to rethink many of the things we have taken for granted about project management for a long time to develop a broader vision of what an agile project manager is.

Part 3 – Making agile work for a business

There are many precedents for successful implementation of agile principles and practices at a project team level; however, extending the agile principles and practices to large-scale enterprise implementations and integrating with a business environment can be very difficult and introduces a number of new challenges, which include:

Large, complex projects that are commonly found at an enterprise level may require some reinterpretation and adaptation of agile principles and practices as well as blending those principles and practices with traditional, plan-driven principles and practices in the right proportions.

Integrating agile principles and practices with higher levels of management typically found at an enterprise level, such as project portfolio management and overall business management can be difficult. However, if an agile implementation is limited to a development process only and does not address integration with these higher-level processes it is not likely to be effective and may result in failure.

This section of the book is intended to address these topics and provide an understanding of the key considerations that need to be addressed for scaling an agile approach to an enterprise level, integrating it with a business environment, and planning and implementing an enterprise-level agile transformation.

Part 4 – Enterprise-level agile frameworks

Putting together a complete, top-to-bottom, enterprise-level agile solution can be a very challenging task, especially when some of the pieces are not designed to fit together. To simplify the design of an enterprise-level agile implementation, it is useful to have some predefined frameworks that can be modified to fit a given business environment, rather than having to start from scratch to design an overall management approach. Three frameworks are discussed in this section: the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) (Dean Leffingwell), Managed Agile Development framework (Chuck Cobb), and the Disciplined Agile Delivery framework (Scott Ambler).

Part 5 – Case studies

In any book of this nature, it's always useful to go beyond theory and concepts and show how companies have actually put these ideas into practice in the real world. Of course, there is no canned approach that works for all companies—each of these case studies is different and shows how a different approach may be needed in different situations. It also includes a chapter on “Not-So-Successful” case studies, which shows some of the problems that can develop in an agile implementation.

Part 6 – Appendices

The appendices to the book include additional supplementary information:

Additional Reading List

Glossary of Terms

Example Project/Program Charter

Suggested Course Outline for a graduate-level course to accompany this book

Acknowledgments

I USED A VERY AGILE APPROACH for writing this book as well as my previous books. It was a team effort of a number of people who worked with me collaboratively as the book was being written to provide feedback and inputs. I particularly want to thank the following people for their contributions to the book:

Erik Gottesman, director general management at Sapient—Erik is a significant thought leader in this area. He played a huge role in helping me develop my two previous books on agile project management and provided some good advice and input on this book as well.

Dr. Michael Hurst, PMO director at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care—Michael has played a significant role in providing input and advice for both this book and my last book and he also played a key role in providing a case study on Harvard Pilgrim Health Care that is included in this book.

Andrew Bone, IT program/PMO director—Andrew did a thorough review of the entire book, provided a number of good comments and inputs, and also sponsored a presentation on the book with the Long Island, New York, PMI Chapter.

Liza Wood, senior production manager at Warner Bros. Games—Liza also did a thorough review of the entire book on behalf of the PMI Agile Community of Practice and provided a very large number of excellent comments.

Several companies generously shared case studies with the results of successful agile implementations:

Michael Hurst, director PMO, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care—Michael and Harvard Pilgrim shared the results of a very large and successful enterprise-level agile transformation effort of more than 200 projects.

Stephanie Stewart, director of agile leadership at Valpak—Stephanie and Valpak shared the results of an enterprise-level implementation of the Scaled Agile Framework at Valpak.

Nigel Edwards, program manager at General Dynamics, UK—Nigel shared the results of a very large and complex, agile fixed price government contracting effort.

I would like to also thank the following individuals who took the time to review an early draft of this book and provided very helpful feedback, comments, and suggestions:

Tanvir Ahmed, PMP, CSM,PSM

Sr. consultant—Agile process improvement and implementation

Philadelphia Water Department

Gopi Aitham, PMP, CSM, ITIL, SSGB

Learner, educator, & entrepreneur

Chris Chan

Supervising consultant, enterprise agile coach

Object Consulting

David G Peterson, PMP

Consultant

Czeslaw Szubert, PMP

Program manager

AMD

Kevin Wegryn, PMP, PfMP

Vice president

Chapter 1Introduction to Agile Project Management

OVER THE PAST 10 TO 15 YEARS, there has been a rapid and dramatic adoption of agile methodologies:

Project Management Institute (PMI)® studies concluded that from 2008 to 2013, the use of agile practices tripled.

1

According to a 2013 survey conducted by VersionOne:

2

88% of the respondents say that their organizations are practicing agile development, up from 84% in 2012 and 80% in 2011.

Over half of the respondents (52%) are using agile software to manage the majority of their projects.

88% say that they are at least “knowledgeable” about agile software development techniques, up 7% from the previous year.

This trend has been going on for some time. As early as 2007, a Forrester survey reported:

3

“26% are already using agile and an additional 42% are aware.”

“Adoption of agile increased 56% from 17% in 2006, to 26% in 2007.”

“Awareness increased 45% from 29% in 2006, to 42% in 2007.”

These statistics indicate that agile is not a fad, it is having a significant impact on the way projects are managed, and it's definitely here to stay. This trend has a significant impact on the career direction of project managers who have come from a traditional, plan-driven project management background since there is no formal role for a project manager at the team level in an agile project.

The Chasm in Project Management Philosophies

In spite of this rapid and sustained proliferation of agile, there is still a fairly large chasm between the agile and traditional project management communities:

There has been only a limited amount of progress on developing a more integrated approach to project management that embraces both agile and traditional plan-driven project management principles and practices.