Agility in Project Management A recipe for turbulent times By Anil Kumar Natogi, PMP Infosys Technologies Limited
Contents Why agility is required? Recipe for success Concept of agile project management Across knowledge areas Integration management Scope management Time management Cost management Quality management Communication management Human resource management Risk management Procurement management Myths Conclusion Q&A
Why agility is required? Business landscape is fast and competitive Short product life cycle Pressure to reduce cost Business needs quick decision with incomplete information and uncertainty Frequent changes to project requirement
Why agility is required contd $80-150 Billion spent on failed projects 1 25%-40% of all spending on projects is wasted in re-work 2 40% of the problem are found by end users 3 60%-80% of project failures can be attributed directly to poor requirement gathering, analysis and management 4 Nearly two thirds of IT projects fail or run into schedule or budget overshoot 5 Succeeded, 35% Overtime or budget, 46% Failed, 19% 65% Failed
Recipe for success.. Incremental development with constant customer feedback Simpler organization structure Efficient communication Direct involvement of the entire team in project delivery
Concept of agile project management Initial Planning Vision Product Roadmap Release Planning Iteration Planning Daily Standup Intermediate Release or quarter Iteration Daily work Task Final Demo, Review Retrospective Retrospective Update Progress Agile process focus on Speed, Smartness and Simplicity Rapid Iterative planning and development cycle Features are worked and delivered in the order of business value Project team and customer work together to identify what needs to be done and prioritize Working and tested product serves as a primary measure of progress Key practices include Release planning Iteration planning Daily stand-up meeting
Agile process Initial Release Release Release Final Visioning Product roadmap Planning Product backlog definition
Agile process contd.. Initial Release Release Release Final First phase is is release planning Each release can can be be made of of one one or or more iteration
Agile process Contd Initial Release Release Release Final Project retrospective Document lessons learnt Project closure
How does it compare? Traditional process Initiate Plan Execute Monitor and and control Close Agile Agile process Initiate Plan release Plan iteration Plan daily daily work work Execute Guide and and Facilitate Close the the iteration Review and and retrospective Until enough iteration Close
Across knowledge areas Integration management Defining the vision Vision meeting Elevator statement Design the box Project management planning done iteratively Monitor and controlling by servant leadership Entire team manage change using Product backlog Active participation from the customer
Across knowledge areas Scope management Agile project welcomes change. Iterative and incremental process itself manages scope Release planning/iteration planning and daily planning replaces WBS Scope verification happens after every release Scope management in agile management 8
Across knowledge areas Time management Time is managed by team and customer Schedule development at release and iteration level Schedule control tools include Burn down chart (release and iteration) Daily stand up meeting Task board 6 Burn down chart 7
Across knowledge areas Cost management Fast, Cheap, Good you can have any two! Entire team involved in cost planning Cost estimates done top-down Cost control occurs at the release level, cost baselines are updated based on the deliverables after each iteration Quality management Cross-functional team implement QA Verify quality of the product after each iteration Incorporate the review feedback in next iteration Quality control tools Burn down charts Root cause analysis
Across knowledge areas Human resource management Self organizing and dedicated team Project managers would facilitate continuous improvement Theory Y style of team management One-on-one real time feedback Communication management Tell me, I ll forget, show me I ll remember, involve me I will understand Face-to-face communication Iteration, demo and review meeting Daily stand-up meeting Information radiators Communicating project status using Burn down charts Release plans, iteration plans, task boards
Across knowledge areas Risk management Risk management is owned by the team Risks identified early Risks are identified in all planning meetings, release, iteration and daily stand-ups meetings Procurement management Project team actively gets involved in the procurement process Contract is documented preferably in face-to-face meetings Contract administration can be done such that contractor deliverables match iteration deliverables
Myths Agile development is undisciplined Agile teams do not plan Agile approaches don t control scope Agile development do not scale
Conclusion Agile This is value driven approach to project management Iterative and incremental with each iteration producing a workable product Each iteration follows waterfall method Customer influence remains strong for the entire project Traditional This is a plan driven approach to project management Project is divided in sub-phases with handoffs between teams after each phase Entire project follows waterfall method Customer influence occurs upfront and decreases Primary objective of agile or traditional project management, value to customer Agility provides you with the ability to constantly adopt and take decisions during project planning and execution Shift in focus to execution
Q&A
Contact information Anil Kumar Natogi Senior Project Manager Email: anilkpn@infosys.com Ph: 1-616-405-8508
References 1 The Standish group international, Inc 2 Carnegie Mellon 3 Gartner 4 Meta group 5 2006 The Standish group 2006 CHAOS Survey 6 www.mountaingoatsoftware.com 7 people.westminstercollege.edu 8 http://www.lostechies.com/ Agile Project Management by Jim highsmith Software Project Manager s Bridge to Agility by Michele Sliger and Stacia Broderick