Methodology Selection: Project Management (Part 1)

As a project manager, have you ever had a project sponsor ask “Can we use an Agile approach, this product needs to be developed ASAP”?   If you’re not expecting this, or have not dealt with it before, this could be a very challenging question.  Here are some questions to ask.

1)     Product Delivery: Can this product be delivered in pieces?

One of the core principles of agile is the ability to define a development strategy that delivers small pieces of the overall puzzle through short time boxed development periods.  This affords frequent product reviews and changes.  Even though some aspect of the product may take months to develop, there needs to be a clear strategy for delivering incremental pieces that when the project is complete, delivers the desired product.  Note that this is not limited to building just the product; this includes developing support systems such and an IT Infrastructure or an engineering design structure.  Anything it takes to deliver the final product should be considered.

2)     Project Team: Is the project team co-located and are they dedicated to this project?

Agile project function in short time-boxed increments because the core team is together and available.  Having the entire team physically located in a WAR room is ideal.  This includes the product owner, scrum master, developers, business analysts, testers and so on.  Anyone who has a stake in the project should be available.  Some of these challenges can be addressed with technology like live ongoing chat sessions, but for the most part the team should be together.  Availability is another issue, if you believe a project team member or members may be pulled from the project from time to time to assist other project team or team members will be required to be away from the office for travel, you should consider alternate team members.

3)     Governance: Can issues be escalated and corrected quickly?

Consider if the leadership is structured in a manner that supports frequent reviews and escalation.   Change is inevitable. Issues are inevitable.  Executive management needs to be available to review the product and make recommendation for improvement.  If you believe this will not be the case, request a governance structure or the delegation of authority to a team member that can support an agile approach to managing project risks and schedules as well as product functionality and quality.

4)     Commitment: Are the stakeholders committed and available?

If the answer is no, consider an alternate strategy.  Otherwise you will find the project team members waiting on decisions or guidance for the product specification.  Stakeholders such as the product owner or steering committee need to be able to adjust the direction and focus of the team when they deem it necessary to control product quality and scheduling.

5)     Testing: Is automated testing an option?

Testing of the delivered product is key to a quality product that functions within specifications.  This is in direct support of the time-boxed development approach of the product.  An automated testing approach can bring great benefit to agile projects so if that is available or implement able, do it.  If automated testing is not an option, develop a test strategy that has the testers available and flexible enough to support the fast movement of the team.

Summary: Agile project success depends on an incremental delivery strategy, team member availability and commitment, and iterative testing.

In my next post, we will discuss 5 other areas of focus when considering an agile project management approach and how it can be supported. 

Agile Arguments and why they fail.

Most of us have been there once or twice.  Sitting in a conference room with 15-20 resources discussing why agile project management won’t work.  Some of the comments I have heard in the past are:

“Agile is just the latest gadget, It’s not real world.”

“Agile Project Management is for cowboy teams that just don’t want to be managed.”

Or my favorite….

“Agile won’t work here because we have to maintain our CMMI certification.”

These comments are exactly why some organizations need to embrace Agile Project Management.  Here are 3 reasons to put these SCRUMphobia’s behind you and lead the charge within your organization.

3 – In today’s “Real World” development teams are utilizing technology like never before. By utilizing social tools like chats, tweets, blogs and others, the development teams can be geographically diverse and still maintain a level of collocation that supports the agile process extremely well.  By providing these tools to your team, you are empowering them to work together more aggressively and therefore, more productively.

2 – The daily stand up meetings are specifically designed to increase team synergy.  Teams that work well together become more self-managed as the project progresses.  When I am in a stand up meeting, one of my favorite statements I hear is “I can help you with that.”  This is a key sign that the team is self managing.  In fact, some organizations rate their agile teams and SCRUM masters based on how well the team manages itself.  A strong self managed team is a sign of a quality CSM.

1 – Organizations that are current working toward CMMI certification or are currently re-certifying should be extremely happy about utilizing the Agile project management process.  There are plenty of articles being published that demonstrate how well Agile supports the CMMI practices with as little or less documentation than other project management methodologies.   I personally, really like the fact that teams can demonstrate delivered business value by tracking the story points as opposed to an Earned Value type of approach.  Additionally, the product and sprint backlogs cover many of the CMMI specific practices.  Follow the Agile principles, keep the documentation current and you will be fulfilling the CMMI practices at the same time.

In summary,

Agile project management is a culture changes for some teams.  Helping them realize the benefits will help them take a step toward Agile.  That said, I must note that not all projects and/or team should use the agile methodology.  Each project and team must be analyzed to determine if agile is a good fit for the team, customer, project and organization.  A well rounded organization will have a process to determine which project management methodology should be used based on specific criteria.

Happy Scrumming....