Agile Project Management
Course Description
Organisations experiencing difficulties in developing and delivering working products, on time and within budget, frequently cite problems such as: lack of end-user involvement; unrealistic timescales; incomplete, unclear and changing requirements, insufficient testing and inflexible and top-heavy management processes. Agile Project Management provides solutions to the many of the issues associated with these problems.
This course explains the Agile approach and iterative development methods. It will describe how Agile projects work to create the functionality that customers really want and will help project teams plan and manage development to deliver
working products quickly. Delegates will engage in practical exercises and a case study to better understand how to implement an Agile approach on their own projects.
This course explains the Agile approach and iterative development methods. It will describe how Agile projects work to create the functionality that customers really want and will help project teams plan and manage development to deliver
working products quickly. Delegates will engage in practical exercises and a case study to better understand how to implement an Agile approach on their own projects.
Course Duration
2 days
Course Objectives
On completion of the course, delegates should be able to understand:
• the key concepts and benefits of the Agile approach;
• what kind of projects are suitable for Agile;
• how Agile promotes team and stakeholder collaboration;
• the way that Agile is designed to cope with effects of changing requirements;
• how Agile contributes to quality;
• how to set up and support an Agile project environment.
• the key concepts and benefits of the Agile approach;
• what kind of projects are suitable for Agile;
• how Agile promotes team and stakeholder collaboration;
• the way that Agile is designed to cope with effects of changing requirements;
• how Agile contributes to quality;
• how to set up and support an Agile project environment.
Course Content
Introduction to Agile Project Management
What is Agile?; The Agile Manifesto; Who uses Agile and why?
The Agile development life cycle
Iteration 0 (Warm Up); Development Iterations; Release (End Game); Production.
An Agile approach to requirements definition
Capturing requirements in the form of user stories; progressive elaboration as the project proceeds; Estimating and Prioritisation; Documentation.
Roles and responsibilities in Agile Projects
Customers - Product Manager, Product Owner, Analyst, Business Analyst, Project Manager, Testers;
Implementors - Developer, Testers, Designer, Architect, DBA, Configuration
Engineer; Facilitators - Agile Coach, ScrumMaster, Agile Mentor, Iteration Manager.
An Agile Project Management approach
Deadline-driven approach - timeboxing;
Scope-driven approach - iterations;
Communications-approach – collaboration.
Release and Iteration Planning
Collaborative team working; Prioritising functionality; Analysis & design; Issues and Change management; Quality; Implementing user stories; Delivering pre-production units; Testing; Reducing uncertainty.
Measuring progress
The primary status metric – completed features (or user stories); Conducting project reviews.
Reporting progress
Time & Budget charts; Parking Lot diagrams; Big visible charts; Velocity diagrams; Burndown charts; Customer Acceptance Test charts; Defect charts; Team Performance charts; Conducting project reviews.
Production
Maintaining useful and productive systems after deployment.
Adopting Agile
Introducing Agile processes into an organisation; Barriers to adoption; Facilitating Agile teams; Using Agile in conjunction with other methodologies.
What is Agile?; The Agile Manifesto; Who uses Agile and why?
The Agile development life cycle
Iteration 0 (Warm Up); Development Iterations; Release (End Game); Production.
An Agile approach to requirements definition
Capturing requirements in the form of user stories; progressive elaboration as the project proceeds; Estimating and Prioritisation; Documentation.
Roles and responsibilities in Agile Projects
Customers - Product Manager, Product Owner, Analyst, Business Analyst, Project Manager, Testers;
Implementors - Developer, Testers, Designer, Architect, DBA, Configuration
Engineer; Facilitators - Agile Coach, ScrumMaster, Agile Mentor, Iteration Manager.
An Agile Project Management approach
Deadline-driven approach - timeboxing;
Scope-driven approach - iterations;
Communications-approach – collaboration.
Release and Iteration Planning
Collaborative team working; Prioritising functionality; Analysis & design; Issues and Change management; Quality; Implementing user stories; Delivering pre-production units; Testing; Reducing uncertainty.
Measuring progress
The primary status metric – completed features (or user stories); Conducting project reviews.
Reporting progress
Time & Budget charts; Parking Lot diagrams; Big visible charts; Velocity diagrams; Burndown charts; Customer Acceptance Test charts; Defect charts; Team Performance charts; Conducting project reviews.
Production
Maintaining useful and productive systems after deployment.
Adopting Agile
Introducing Agile processes into an organisation; Barriers to adoption; Facilitating Agile teams; Using Agile in conjunction with other methodologies.
Who should attend?
This course is intended for project executives, project managers and team members who wish to gain an understanding of an Agile project management environment. Key stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, partners and end-users may also benefit.
Pre-requisites
Some experience of Project Management or Software Development is required.
