MGP 535- Agile Project

Management
Session 1

MGP 535- Agile Project Management – Claude El Nakhl Khalil 1

 Course Learning objectives
• To introduce Agile principles
and methodologies in project
management. 1. Understand and apply Agile principles
• To understand the differences and values in project management.
between traditional project 2. Compare and contrast various Agile
management and Agile methodologies and select the most
approaches. suitable for specific projects.
• To equip students with the 3. Implement Agile practices and
knowledge and skills needed techniques to improve project delivery
to lead and participate in Agile and stakeholder satisfaction.
projects. 4. Lead Agile teams and facilitate Agile
• To explore various Agile ceremonies effectively.
frameworks and choose 5. Analyze real-world scenarios and
appropriate ones for specific recommend Agile solutions for project
project contexts. challenges.
• To foster collaboration,
adaptability, and continuous
improvement in project teams
through Agile practices MGP 535- Agile Project Management 2
Our Journey this semester
Domain Tasks
Domain I: Agile Principles Explore, embrace, and apply Agile principles and mindset within the context
and Mindset of the project team and organization.
Deliver valuable results by producing high-value increments for review,
Domain II: Value-Driven early and often, based on stakeholder priorities. Have the stakeholders
Delivery provide feedback on these increments, and use this feedback to prioritize
and improve future increments.

Engage current and future interested parties by building a trusting

environment that aligns their needs and expectations and balances their
Domain III: Stakeholder
requests with an understanding of the cost/effort involved. Promote
Engagement
participation and collaboration throughout the project life cycle and provide
the tools for effective and informed decision making.

Create an environment of trust, learning, collaboration, and conflict

Domain IV: Team
resolution that promotes team self-organization, enhances relationships
Performance
among team members, and cultivates a culture of high performance.
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Our Journey this semester
Domain Tasks

Produce and maintain an evolving plan, from initiation to closure, based on goals,
Domain V: Adaptive Planning
values, risks, constraints, stakeholder feedback, and review findings.

Continuously identify problems, impediments, and risks; prioritize and resolve in a

Domain VI: Problem Detection
timely manner; monitor and communicate the problem resolution status; and
and Resolution
implement process improvements to prevent them from occurring again.

Domain VII: Continuous

Continuously improve the quality, effectiveness, and value of the product, the process,
Improvement (Product, Process,
and the team.
People)

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Introduction
• Early adopters of agile development were often small, self-contained teams
working on small, self-contained projects.
• They proved the agile model can work, to the joy and betterment of software
makers around the world.
• It turned out the waterfall development model wasn't as effective for the
development of software as agile project management was for most teams
• The popularity of agile project management has led to more organizations scaling
agile beyond single teams or projects and applying it to whole programs.
• Agile has even spread beyond development teams to include IT, marketing,
business development, and more.

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Context
For many years, there has been a traditional method of project
management based on the idea that the customer can know and define
his or her requirements fully up front.
While this is occasionally the case, very often customers either don't
know precisely what they want or, more often, "will know it when they
see it”
Agile started to emerge as a framework in 2001 when software
developers gathered near Salt Lake City, Utah looking for a better way.
They created the Agile Manifesto
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Domain 1: Agile Principles and Mindset

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Domain I—Agile Principles and Mindset
Learning Objectives of Session 1:
• Define Agile
• Discuss Agile Best Practices
• Describe Agile Manifestos
• List the 12 principles of Agile
• List Agile core principles and practices
• Discuss the benefits of Agile

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What is Agile
Agile is a family of product development methodologies, in which customer
requirements and solutions evolve through repeated cycles of Plan, Collaborate, and
Delivery, as depicted in the image. This helps deliver the right solution at the right
time.

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 Agile—Best Practices
• Agile emphasizes on flexibility and adaptability, which is made possible by
implementing some of the best practices from the software industry.
• Some of the best practices recommended by Agile are:

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Agile Evolution
• Agile evolved in the late 1990s, in response to the burdens of heavy
documentation and frequent requirements changes. It started as a
collection of lightweight and quality-driven approaches to software
development.
• Some of the prominent techniques included:

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 Agile Manifesto
• The Agile
Manifesto was
signed in
February 2001, by
17 leading
software
developers.
• It is considered
the key reference
for all Agile
practices.
• The Agile
Manifesto is a
guiding set of
practices for Agile
Software
Development.

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Agile Manifesto Explained
The first two points of the Agile Manifesto are:
1.Individuals and interactions over processes and tools:
For the success of a project, individuals and the interaction between them is critical, while processes and
tools are also necessary.
The emphasis is on individuals and interactions that make up the project.
2.Working software over comprehensive documentation:
Documentation does not demonstrate any progress or value.
The emphasis is on the working software, which the business can see and work on.
It doesn't mean that you should not create documentation; it means you should create documentation
that provides value and at the same time does not hinder the team's progress

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Agile Manifesto Explained
The last two points of the Agile Manifesto are:
3.Customer collaboration over contract negotiation:
Organizations need to be flexible and accommodating rather than following definitions of contracts.
It is necessary to collaborate with customers to accommodate changes, even if it is late in the
development cycle.

4. Responding to change over following a plan:

It is recommended to plan upfront.
Always be responsive to change and refine the plan to bring the project back on track, instead of
putting all the efforts to sticking to the original plan.

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Principles of the Agile Manifesto

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Agile—Less Engineering, More Enabling
Over time, Lean and Six Sigma techniques began to infuse into Agile practices. These include the
following:

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Agile Core Principles and Practices
•.

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What Agile is Not
Agile does not involve:
• a big design and requirement gathering upfront;
• predictions on project completion;
• ‘death march’ projects, where project teams make up the difference for poor estimates with unpaid
overtime;
• the use of tools that force behaviors, such as, task management tools;
• top-down management and control;
• ‘heavy’ documentation, particularly Status Reports, Software Architecture Diagrams, Software
Requirements Specifications, and Test Plans.

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Benefits of Agile
Agile has rapidly become one of the most popular and effective techniques to manage
projects. It is important to understand its benefits, such as:
• Emphasis on collaboration, team empowerment, and frequent demonstrations of progress
• Lightweight, relying on whiteboards, index cards, and facilitation techniques
• Very appealing to developers with its development focus
• Faster time-to-market and high priority features driving the development life cycle
• Focus on Pull instead of Push
• Simple to understand
• Contemporary and meets the dynamic needs of the customer

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Agile—Real Life Example
• A custom software development and outsourced IT services company was struggling with
traditional methods of software development. The company realized that Agile provides better
outcomes than the traditional method. Hence, they decided to take up Agile transformation.
• The graphic below shows how the transformation benefitted them as they developed each portal
and gained a better understanding of Agile principles and practices.
• The outcomes of the changes made to the requested features in various web portals are:
Portal 1 Portal 2 Portal 3
Delivered all the Delivered in 30% less Reduced the time taken
features time and 10% less cost to place a business order
in half the time and than originally from 10 minutes to 3
for 10% less cost estimated, with half the minutes. It was 80% less
than originally functionality deployed than a similar project
estimated. early. two years ago.

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MGP 535- Agile Project Management 21
Question 1

Agile Manifesto states, “Responding to change _______ ?”

 over contract negotiation

 over following a plan
 over dictating a solution
 over comprehensive documentation

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Question 2
What does the Agile Manifesto principle “Build projects around
motivated individuals” mean?

 Only engage in projects that motivate individuals

 The best architectures emerge from self-organizing teams
 Trust the team to get the job done
 Do projects that will ‘excite’ the customers

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Question 3
Which of the following is NOT seen as a benefit of Agile?
36

 Emphasis on collaboration and frequent demonstrations of progress

 Accurate predictions of project completion
 Lightweight, relying on whiteboards, index cards, and facilitation
techniques
 Implicitly focusing on ‘pull vs. push’

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Question 4
Agile does NOT recommend Big Design upfront, because:

 Too much emphasis on design limits the amount of requirements gathering

 The best designs usually emerge from writing a clean code over a period of
time
 Agile does not recommend design as it constrains development velocity
 Designing up-front wastes time that can be better spent on other activities

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Question 5
Which of the following Agile Manifesto values is incorrect?

 Working software over comprehensive documentation

 Responding to change over following a plan
 Individuals and interactions over plans and practices
 Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

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Wrap up
• Agile evolved in the late 1990s, in response to the burdens of heavy documentation and frequent
requirements change.
• The Agile Manifesto was signed in 2001, by 17 software developers, which captured the values
and principles of the Agile movement.
• Agile Manifesto highlights 12 principles.
• As a lightweight project management approach, Agile avoids big design, heavy documentation,
and top-down management or control.
• Agile emphasizes collaboration, team empowerment, and frequent demonstrations of progress, by
focusing on Pull vs. Push.

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Servant Leadership
The concept of servant leadership was defined by Robert Greenleaf.
This leadership style lends itself to the participatory style of management that is encouraged in self-
organized and Agile teams.
Servant leadership positions the leader as the enabler.
A servant leader:
 helps the team;
 removes obstacles that the team is faced by the team; and
 gives them the required tools and skills to protects them from unnecessary disturbances.

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Characteristics of a Servant Leader

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Agile Servant Leadership
Servant leadership is valuable for all projects, regardless of methodology. However, it is
necessary in Agile.
The reasons are as follows:
• Agile believes in self-managing teams, which need no help with task management, but
need help in forming, building, and nurturing.
• Agile leaders adapt their behavior to meet the needs of the team, and are willing to go to
the distance in trying to help the team achieve its goals.
• Values that would be cherished in such a team include trust, empathy, collaboration,
and ethical use of power.

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Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a servant leader?

 Listening
 Happiness
 Foresight
 Stewardship

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