Agile Project Management CHARLIE PFEIFFER, PMP, CSP
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES CONFERENCE
OCTOBER, 7 2015
Agenda 9:00-9:10 – Introduction
◦ Agenda ◦ About Charlie Pfeiffer
9:10-9:25 – Traditional Project Management ◦ Project Management Phases & Processes ◦ Triple Constraint ◦ Waterfall Methodology ◦ Work Breakdown Structure ◦ Project Communications ◦ Waterfall Challenges
9:25-9:40 – Agile Project Management ◦ Agile Manifesto ◦ Agile Methodology ◦ Scrum Process ◦ Product Backlogs ◦ Scrum Team Communications ◦ Kanban Process
9:40-9:50 – SCORE (SCrum fOr REsearch) ◦ About SCORE ◦ SCORE Structure ◦ Backlog Management ◦ Feedback on SCORE
9:50-10:00 – Wrap Up ◦ Agile Resources
About Charlie Pfeiffer UC ANR IT Project Manager
◦ Joined UC ANR in March 2015
◦ Implementing Agile/Scrum Practices within the Web Development Team
◦ Managing Infrastructure Projects
Background ◦ 15+ years in Project Management (Waterfall and Agile Methodologies)
◦ Implemented Project Management Processes at multiple organizations (Waterfall and Agile)
◦ Various Industry experience, including State, Insurance, Payment Processing, Inventory Management, Retail, Travel, and Loyalty
Project Management Certifications ◦ Project Management Professional (PMP) – Project Management Institute
◦ Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) – ScrumAlliance.org ◦ Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
Traditional Project Management Project Management Phases
Project Management Processes
Triple Constraint
Waterfall Methodology
Work Breakdown Structure
Project Communications
Waterfall Challenges
10:10 AM 10:25 AM
Project Processes Initiation Planning & Design Executing Monitoring &
Controlling Closing
• Project charter
• Collect requirements • Define scope • Create WBS • Assign resources • Develop schedule • Determine budget • Communication plan • Risk management
plan
• Manage project execution
• Perform QA • Manage project
team • Manage stakeholder
expectations • Distribute
information
• Change control process
• Verify & control scope
• Control schedule • Control budget • Report
performance • Monitor & control
risks
• Close project
Triple Constraint (Project Management Triangle)
Scope
Time
Quality
Cost
You cannot change one without impacting the others
If you want to increase Scope, then Time and/or Cost will increase
If you want to decrease Time, then you will need to reduce Scope, or Increase cost
If you want to decrease Cost, then you will need to reduce Scope
Quality is be impacted by decisions to change any of the constraints
Waterfall Methodology Planning takes place first
The entire project is defined and documented before the work starts
Work tends to be done in silos
Change Management process for handling scope, time, or budget changes
Regular status meetings to keep project team and stakeholders updated
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) List all tasks for the project
Estimate the durations of each task
Identify Task Dependencies
Assign resources (may need to modify based on resource availability)
WBS will show what tasks should be worked on every day of the project
WBS will show the critical path of the project
Project Manager must stay on top of the WBS every day
Project Communications Status meetings with project team to make sure project is staying on track
Status meetings with stakeholders to update them on progress
Status meetings with managers to update them on progress
Meetings include reviewing: ◦ Scope
◦ Schedule
◦ Budget
◦ Quality
◦ Issues
◦ Risks
◦ Project Metrics
Challenges with Waterfall Lacks collaborative environment
“Throw over fence” mentality
Team members still have functional managers to please (in Matrix organizations)
Accountability falls on Project Manager, not the team
Focused on heavy processes, not on results
Too many lengthy status meetings
Team members often wait for status meetings to bring up issues
Stakeholders often don’t see result until project is complete
“I believe in this concept, but implementation described above is risky and invites failure.” Dr. Winston W. Royce
“Today is the dumbest day of the rest of our project.” Michael James, CST
2011 CHAOS report (Standish Group)
Successful 14%
Challenged 57%
Failed 29%
Waterfall Projects
Successful 42%
Challenged 49%
Failed 9%
Agile Projects
Agile Project Management Agile Manifesto
Agile Methodology
Scrum Process
Product Backlogs
Scrum Team Communications
Kanban Process
10:25 AM 10:40 AM
Agile Manifesto Promotes teams working together to achieve a shared goal.
Focus on completing product increments that provide value.
Constant communications between teams and stakeholders to ensure the right product is being created.
Flexibility to adapt to evolving visions, rather than following a plan developed when you knew the least about the project/product.
Agile Methodology Removes the silos to allow for better collaboration and teamwork
Succeed or Fail as a team
Focus on highest priority/value items first
Work on product increments in iterations/sprints
Ability to adapt as visions/needs change
Stakeholders see results/progress after every iteration
Ability to adapt as visions/needs change
Product Backlog All work identified for the product is in the Product Backlog
Prioritized by the Product Owner
As new work items are identified they are added to the backlog, including feedback from Sprint Reviews
Scrum Team estimate level of effort for each work item
◦ This should happen at least once every sprint
Estimated work items provide a roadmap for when items can be completed
Sprint Planning First activity of every sprint
Team commits to work items they can complete in the sprint
Use estimates to assist in determining which work items can be completed
Work items broken down into tasks
Hour estimates for tasks
Once planning is done, work items should not be added or removed from the Sprint
Tasks do not need to be assigned
Daily Scrum / Standup Daily Standup meeting
No longer than 15 minutes
Answer three questions: 1. What you did yesterday
2. What you will do today
3. Any impediments preventing your work
For the team members, not the Scrum Master
Not a status meeting (the team should not be saving issue updates for the next Standup)
Sprint Review Team Demonstrates completed work items
from the sprint to the stakeholders
Sometimes stakeholders don’t know what they want until they see it
Feedback provided from team and stakeholders (product ideas)
Provide update to stakeholders on roadmap, including what has changed since the last Sprint Review
Kanban Process Very similar to Scrum
Product Backlog is managed the same as Scrum
There is not a time-boxed sprint, work is done continuously ◦ When a team member finishes a work item, they can assign themselves to the next highest priority
work item on the Kanban board
Great for teams that cannot predict work for an entire sprint (sprints are typically 1-4 weeks) ◦ Examples: Help Desk / Support – When high priority support is needed, it can’t wait until next sprint
Recommend to still have a regularly scheduled review of the work items completed ◦ This keeps stakeholders in the loop
◦ It also keeps pressure on the team to continue performing
SCORE About SCORE
Daily Scrum & On Demand Meetings
Backlog Management
Feedback on SCORE
10:40 AM 10:50 AM
About SCORE SCORE – SCrum fOr REsearch
Created by Michael Hicks and Jeffrey S. Foster from University of Maryland
The traditional approach to working with Ph.D. students wasn’t working ◦ They would block one hour per week for each student to mentor with projects
◦ Sometimes an hour was too much, and sometimes it was not enough
◦ There was little-to-no collaboration, or learnings being shared between the students
◦ As responsibilities and class sizes grew Michael Hicks and Jeffrey Foster couldn’t keep up
They wanted to find a process to manage their time and effectiveness with students ◦ They began looking into Scrum, even though it was known as a software development process
◦ The principles of Scrum made sense to them, and with a little tweaking, they created SCORE
SCORE Structure Daily Scrum: They have them three days per week
◦ All of their Ph.D. students participate together ◦ It is kept to a 15 minute meeting, and everyone stands ◦ Each student presents:
◦ What they did since the last meeting
◦ What problems they encountered
◦ What they plan to do before the next meeting
On-Demand Meetings ◦ Typically scheduled based on problems reported during the Daily Scrum ◦ Since the Daily Scrums are the only scheduled meetings, it is easy to find time for On-Demand meetings
Weekly Lunch ◦ To further increase group spirit and collaboration they also have a weekly lunch
Reading Group ◦ Read one paper per week (rotate students)
Backlog Management Work items (or research activities) are planned during On-Demand meetings
The work items need to be prioritized
The frequency depends on the research project ◦ Early stages of a project – There is no backlog to start, so On-Demand meetings need to be frequent
(once per week, or more)
◦ Middle of a project – Assuming the project is running smoothly and there are activities planned well in advance, then On-Demand meetings can be less frequent (every other week)
◦ End of a project – As a project is close to ending, then On-Demand meetings may be very frequent (possibly daily)
Scrum best practices recommend having a backlog of at least 2-3 sprints worth of work items ◦ Not always possible with research projects
Feedback on SCORE Michael Hicks and Jeffrey S. Foster:
◦ Daily Scrums have created a simple way to keep up-to-date with all research projects
◦ On-Demand meetings have a clear purpose & are more productive that the previous meetings
◦ Length of On-Demand meeting scheduled appropriately (anywhere from 15 minutes to 3 hours)
Student surveys about SCORE: ◦ More productive and enthusiastic about research
◦ Students feel more urgency to be productive between Daily Scrums
◦ Better interactions with other students and advisers
◦ Sense of community and shared sense of success that wasn’t there before
◦ Know what other students are doing in substance and approach
◦ Interacting and learning more between themselves and other faculty
◦ Senior students have begun mentoring junior students
◦ Students have found that other students share some of their same struggles and challenges
Additional Topics & Resources Traditional Project Management
◦ Project Management Institute (www.pmi.org)
Agile Project Management: ◦ Scrum Alliance (www.scrumalliance.org)
◦ Free Scrum Training Videos (www.scrumtrainingseries.com)
SCORE: ◦ http://www.cs.umd.edu/projects/PL/score/
◦ Adapting Scrum to Managing a Research Group (http://www.cs.umd.edu/~mwh/papers/score.pdf)
◦ Agile Research Group Management Article (http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2010/10/99484-score-agile-research-group-management/fulltext#R3)
Charlie Pfeiffer, PMP, CSP: ◦ [email protected]
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