Ryan G. Rosandich, Ph.D. Associate Professor, MIE Agile Project Management

Agile Characteristics High speed Changing requirements Quality results

The Agile Manifesto Responding to change over following a plan Working products over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Responding to change Envision and explore, not plan and do Adapting instead of anticipating Goal oriented, not task oriented Short term plan, long term change

Working products Short term deliverables that are real Drawings, specifications, bid packages Products, models, or prototypes Has value to customer Less emphasis on documentation Fewer reports Documents developed interactively, not exchanged Quick meaningful feedback from customers

Customer Value What they are willing to pay Meeting expectations Product performance (now and later) Cost/budget Schedule/delivery Expectations and requirements Requirements are fixed and stated up front Expectations evolve with the project

Project Participants Deliver Value Everyone has the vision Goals known Customer known Motivated, self-directed participants Decision making at the lowest level

Customer collaboration Customer or proxy? Customer or stakeholder? Customers define value Stakeholders define constraints Higher uncertainty means higher customer collaboration

Individuals and interactions Individuals produce goods and services Unique talents and experience Unique personalities and behavior Creators and stewards Good processes Support people Adapt to the needs of people Good tools improve efficiency People make decisions

Agile Project Managers Leaders, not enforcers Managers, not administrators Enable rather than hinder progress Add value to the project rather than creating busy work Would the customer pay for this?

How much structure do we need? Too much Stifles creativity Rigidity Predictable results Not enough Inefficiency Chaos Balance of flexibility and stability

Agile Project Management Framework Envision Speculate Explore Adapt Close Iterative

Iterative Development Short iterations Real deliverables Incremental improvements Lower cost commitment per iteration Product representations Models Simulations Prototypes

Envision Phase What is the vision for the product? What are the objectives and constraints? Who will be involved in the project? How will they deliver the product (vision)?

The Vision Thing A good vision Is clear (but details are fuzzy) Is an obvious improvement or advancement Creates a sense of urgency and/or excitement Apollo moon project

Elevator Test Statement For (target customer) who (want or need) The (product) is a (product category) that (reason to buy) Unlike (competition) our product (primary differentiation)

Product Vision Name Graphical representation Key selling features (3-4) Detailed feature description Operating requirements Package, brochure, web page

Product Architecture Feature breakdown structure Platform Components Modules Interfaces Project team structure and organization Guiding product principles (<10)

Project Team Get the right people Technical skills Knowledge or experience Personality traits Full-time or visiting?

Define project participants Customers Features Benefits (value) Stakeholders Constraints Resources Affected parties Collateral benefits or damage

Project Processes How will responsibilities be allocated? How will team members work together collaboratively? How will customers be involved? How many customer representatives? What kind of interaction Face-to-face ore shared information Formal reports and/or reviews Frequency of interaction

Speculate Phase Driven by the Envision phase Detailed project plan Iterative Feature-based Traditional project information may be evolutionary or progressive Scope Budget Schedule

Speculative Planning Information is incomplete Future is uncertain Forecasts, predictions Conjecture, “gut feel” Plan should be Flexible Visible to the customer NOT a tool for future punishment

Feature-based planning Customers and project team members understand features Features become deliverables Feature delivery is scheduled based on relative value and risk Duration of iterations Timing of features

Goals of the Speculate Phase A flexible plan for feature delivery Feature timing (value and risk) Anticipation of uncertainty (alternatives) Reinforcement of project goals, business goals, and customer expectations Why are we doing this Who are we doing it for

Feature Breakdown Structure Build on what was done in the envision phase Indented BOM type of organization Product Component Group Feature 1 Feature 2

Feature card Feature name and ID Description in customer terms Estimate of effort Requirements gathering/research Design and specification Material procurement Coding, building, construction, assembly Startup, testing, documentation

Feature Card (cont.) Feature dependencies Logical dependencies to other features Space or resource dependencies Acceptance tests Customer criteria for acceptance

Release, Milestone, and Iteration Plan Iteration (2-6 weeks) Delivery of tested features Milestone (1-3 months) Synchronization and integration Project review and adjustments Release (1 or more per project) Product released to customer

Iteration Zero Balance between planning and action Major project decisions (tradeoffs) Overall architecture design Team building and organization Project initialization No features delivered to the customer

Iteration Schedule Assign features to each iteration Develop a theme for each iteration Cards and storyboarding are tools Group iterations into milestones, releases Business plan Customer involvement Definition or theme

Iteration Planning Board

Types of Iteration Plans All features assigned to iterations Choose the features for the next iteration, and leave the rest in the pool Identify only those features for the next iteration, as the pool is unknown

Explore Phase Exploration is agile execution Emphasis on self-organized teams Capable Accountable Motivated Heavy customer and stakeholder involvement

Agile Workload Management Workers manage their own workloads during an iteration Manager monitors key goals Features Quality Technical practices Coaching, not micro-management Focus on difficult or high-risk tasks

Customer & Stakeholder Management Customer collaboration is key to agile projects Customer expectations and project goals must be aligned Customers decide the value of deliverables Stakeholders provide resources and ensure external support

Adapt Phase (Progress Review) Regular reviews are positive rather than negative Responding to changes Environment, customer perception, priorities Continuous improvement process

Adapt Phase (Progress Review) Monitoring and control Each iteration Each milestone Entire project team is involved

Product, Process, and Team Review Product functionality (customer) Product quality (technical) Team function Project status Schedule of features Value of features Risk management Budget

Customer Review Review product functionality from a customer acceptance perspective Recommendations Changes or improvements to current features Ideas for future features (general)

Technical Review Preferably done by outsiders Review Individual features Product as a whole (so far) Selected documents Test results Recommendations for improvements/rework

Close Phase Celebration or event Final product delivery or unveiling Reward Closure Clean-up Documentation finalized and filed Contracts closed Information and responsibility transferred to customer or production