In my previous post, I noted that some of the speakers at the recent PMI Chicagoland Professional Development Day were bashing Agile. They were derisive and dismissed Agile as 'nothing new'.
The speakers may be right that Agile is nothing new, however, they missed the point. The point is NOT about the newness of Agile; the point is whether people are using project management methods that are effective. Most IT projects are not deemed successful, based on the Standish Group Chaos Studies that measure project effectiveness based on traditional project management standards (on time, on budget, and with required functionality). So stop bashing Agile, and start talking about what is required to increase project success rates. And in particular for those of you in the project management office (PMO), stop making or accepting excuses for why Agile doesn't work for you.
I promised in my previous post to outline some of the project management elements that I think are critical to all projects, Agile or not, and I challenged readers to compare their methodology to my checklist. Tell me which of these you don't feel are important in your environment, and why or why not.
One last thing - it might be helpful to note whether the allowed practice matches your methodology. If your actual practices for project management vary from the methodology, then it would only make sense to compare your actual practices to my list.
1. Communications - Most of us would agree that communications are an important, if not critical part of successful projects. I like the frequent and focused daily team communications that occur during Scrum standup meetings. I also like the concept of pairing (2 people working together) from XP; it helps share knowledge and build stronger teams. Finally, I have a strong preference for using the most intimate communication mode available, like face to face meetings, rather than email.
Give yourself a point for each of these items that your methodology supports:
______ Daily Standup Meetings
______ Pairing, whether pairing 2 programmers, a programmer and a BA, or some other combo
______ Face-to-face meetings are a priority; we use them whenever possible
2. Transparency - Organizations benefit from Teams that are clear about their progress. The overall team status should be posted in a public place, with clear progress against plan, with nothing hidden and no surprises. Updates should be at least weekly, and preferably daily or real time. Teams benefit when the people working on the team are responsible to provide clear and transparent progress reporting at the person-task level, rather than the project manager running around and collecting the information. Tasks need to be granular enough that they get done by one person in about a day or less. Task reporting is done by one of three states: not started, in progress or done - we shouldn't waste our time with proving % complete.
Give yourself a point for each of these items that your methodology supports:
______ Clear and Open Team Level progress Reports, updated at least weekly
______ Clear task level status reports updated daily
Take away a point for this item:
______ Use of % Complete status reporting
3. Predictability - The team should have a credible and effective way of estimating the work remaining, and when the project will be done or a major piece of functionality is delivered. This should be based on the actual delivery of value (i.e. velocity) as measured on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. I've seen too many projects where it was on time right up until the date for launch or go live, and only then was it late. Those are unwelcome surprises! If you don't have accurate forecasts, it's not working!
Give yourself a point if your methodology supports:
_____ Predicts team delivery accurately
4. Short cycles - We need to break work down into short iterations of 1 to 4 weeks. Each short cycle should produce something of value to the end user or customer.
Give yourself a point if your methodology supports:
_____ Iterations that deliver value every 1 to 4 weeks
5. Constant feedback and Learning - We need to incorporate feedback on a regular basis. Each day there should be some reflection with a more formal lessons learned or post mortem at least every 2-4 weeks. Lessons learned at the end of the project are a complete waste of time to perform and store.
Give yourself a point if your methodology supports:
_____ Regular retrospectives every 1 to 4 weeks, with feedback incorporated.
6. Planning, and Re-planning are routine activities that the term performs. We should adopt rolling wave planning so that we plan in detail the work that is near term (the current iteration) and spend less time planning work that is in the distant future.
Give yourself a point if your methodology supports:
_____ Rolling wave - plan in detail only the work to be performed in the next 1 to 4 weeks
_____ Planning - work is planned by the resources who will perform it.
Take a point away if:
_____ Individuals outside the team plan the work and commit to delivery dates.
7. Change - The pace of change is increasing daily. We need mechanisms to incorporate not only what we are learning, but what is changing, whether that be technology, competition, or team capabilities.
Give yourself a point if your methodology supports:
_____ Support changes in requirements without undue cost, penalty, or waste.
8. Requirements - For all but the smallest of efforts, it is impossible to state with accuracy the requirements up front. It may actually be counter-productive to specify them in detail, based on the previous point about change and learning that occurs during the execution. Our methods need to flex, to recognize this fact. And if the requirements cannot be known well in advance, we should not spend a lot of time on developing detailed budgets and schedules to complete those requirements. Let's stop pretending we can accurately schedule things that are unknown and unpredictable.
Give yourself a point if your methodology supports:
____ Our methods allow for us to adapt to changing requirements.
Take away a point if your methodology includes:
_____ We produce detailed project schedules for time frames beyond 90 days
9. Accountability and Commitment - The project manager has been thought of as the 'single throat to choke', or 'the first one to take a bullet when the team fails'. The reality is that it takes an entire team (crap, I almost said "it takes a village"). The team, not the PM, can either deliver a successful project or not. To that end, we need mechanisms to shift the accountability and commitment to the team members.
Take away a point if your methodology includes:
_____ The PM or team lead is held accountable for the team performance
10. Self-Organizing Teams - It is more efficient for the team to figure out what needs to be done, and execute it, than for the PM to do it for them. It is also more rewarding for the team members, and the PM.
Give yourself a point if your methodology supports:
____ Our methods encourage self-organizing teams to flourish
11. Miscellaneous. Score yourself on the following, with positive or negative points:
____ (-1) Multitasking - System processes that encourage the maximum utilization of resources by spreading them across multiple projects, work against the success of all projects. People should be assigned to as few of projects as possible, with one project per person be the ideal.
____ (+1) Constant Engagement with the Customer - It is not sufficient to involve the customer only at the beginning and end of projects. Customers should be involved throughout the project to make decisions and provide direction.
____ (-1) Paperwork and Documentation - Some level of documentation is generated for all projects. However, most projects waste a lot of time producing, reviewing, and updating documentation either 'just in case', or 'just because' the PMO or other governing body requires it.
Total Points ____
I believe the above list is a pretty good starting point, based on my experience. There are a total of 18 possible points across all categories. What did your methodology score? Which areas do you disagree with? Which areas represent fighting words?
Cheers!
Anthony
