Agile Project Management

I have long held the belief that agile is only a part and a subset of the wider topic of project management. I feel there are various aspects of project management that aren t particularly covered by any of the most popular agile methods, or at least not by Scrum and XP (Extreme Programming). Therefore I have always been keen to highlight the importance of project management beyond what is provided for by agile methods, and equally keen to help project managers understand where agile methods fit in to what they already know. Although agile and traditional project management methods place a completely different emphasis on different parts of the project lifecycle (eg waterfall/PRINCE2 puts a heavy emphasis on the planning phase, whereas agile does not), it is somewhat possible to augment PMBOK with agile methods, as they are largely complimentary. I hope that one day this will actually happen as an official and global standard, but in the meantime I thought I d have a go at expanding on PMBOK, and in the style of PMBOK, to give my view about where agile fits in with the wider discipline of project management as a whole. Here are the typical 5 distinct phases in project management:
y y y y y

Initiating Planning Executing Monitoring and Controlling Closing

I think the same phases can be and usually are applied to agile projects, but as I mentioned earlier, the emphasis and detail within the phases would change accordingly, and some of the language would also change too. Because of the iterative nature of agile methods, all of these phases take place firstly at the project level, initially only at a high level, and then again in more detail within each iteration or Sprint (Sprint is the name given to an iteration in the Scrum agile methodology). y Plan Iteration (Sprint Planning)

Plan Iteration (Sprint Planning) is the process of discussing what can be delivered in the next iteration, clarifying requirements for selected User Stories , identifying tasks and estimating the effort, and committing to the work. Inputs 1 Product Backlog (Prioritised) 2 Velocity Achieved Previously Tools & Techniques 1 Sprint Planning Meeting 2 Estimating in Points (Fibonacci) Outputs 1 Sprint Goals 2 Sprint Backlog 3 User Stories Selected

3 User Stories (Draft) 4 Team Members Availability

Planning Poker

4 Task Breakdown and Estimates 5 Team s Commitment 6 Cards on Whiteboard

Execute Iteration (Sprint)

Execute Iteration (Sprint) is the process of producing working software as planned for the current iteration. Inputs 1 Selected User Stories (represented by Cards on Whiteboard). 2 Task Breakdown 3 Automated Testing. 3 Automated Tests. Tools & Techniques .1 Collaboration 2 Test Driven Development Outputs .1 Working Software for Selected User Stories 2 Test Confirmations

4 Continuous Integration 4 Any Related Documentation or Daily Build 5 Test Early & Often 6 Pair Programming 7 Refactoring Monitor and Control Iteration (Manage Sprint) Monitor and Control Iteration (Manage Sprint) is the process of tracking work in progress and assisting successful delivery. Inputs .1 Work Completed Yesterday Tools & Techniques Outputs .1 Cards on Whiteboard .1 Final Burndown or Burnup Chart 2 Daily Scrum/Standup 2 Work Planned Today 2 Velocity Achieved 3 Daily Burndown or 3 Impediments Affecting Burnup Chart Progress 4 Review Product 4 Working Software for Frequently / Active User User Stories Completed Involvement So Far 5 Address Impediments 6 Definition of Done

Close Iteration (Sprint Review) Close Iteration (Sprint Review) is the process of reviewing work completed in the current iteration, reviewing progress against the overall plan, reflecting on how the iteration went, and deciding how to improve in the next iteration.

Inputs .1 Final Burndown or Burnup Chart 2 Velocity Achieved 3 Working Software for Completed User Stories 4 Feedback from Team

Tools & Techniques Outputs .1 Sprint Review Meeting .1 Demo of Completed User Stories 2 Sprint Retrospective 2 Updated Product Meeting Backlog 3 Retrospective Actions 4 Updated Velocity Graph 5 Sprint Report