"Agile Project Management": Is it an Oxymoron?

© 2014 NUS. All rights reserved
Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Agile Project Management –
Is it an Oxymoron?
Jagadeesh Balakrishnan
Institute of Systems Science
National University of Singapore

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Outline of the session
 Why Transition to Agile?
 Is there a Agile Silver Bullet Methodology?
 Binary Thinking : Traditional or Agile Planning?
 Is Agile PM an Oxymoron?

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
AGILE – To be or
Not to be?
Why Transition to Agile?

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
1. Build ability to “Change”
Agile is a way of developing software that’s all about planning for
and expecting change!
“ It is not the strongest or the
most intelligent who will survive
but those who can best manage
change”
- Charles Darwin

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
2. Agile Projects – Promotes Chaos or Order?

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Copyright © 2010 AgileInnovation
2. “Chaordic” Agile Projects

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
3. Handle Requirements “Uncertainty”
You have to meet your friend who lives in KL.
You start on a Saturday afternoon in your car to
KL from Singapore; On the way to KL, you find
that there is a bridge you need to cross . You start
climbing the bridge. It would normally take 5
minutes to reach the crest of the bridge from the
entry at the speed of 65km/h.
Please find out how much time it would take to
cross the bridge in total.

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
4. Deliver “ Value” early
Agile approach delivers value early compared to a waterfall approach!

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
5. Release Software “frequently”
How frequently do you release software?
• Once a day
• Once a week
• Once a month
• Once a year
• Once in several years?
Jez Humble Quote:
‐ “In the mid 2000s, a number of very fast‐moving companies were able to change the way
software development happened.
‐ Flickr ‐ being able to do multiple deployments per day.
‐ This ability to move very quickly threatens existing organizations who are unable to adapt”

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Source : John Allspaw: “Ops Metametrics” http://slidesha.re/dsSZIr
Benefits of frequent release are constant customer feedback & reduced risk of release!
5. Release Software “frequently”

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
6. The Agile “belief system”
• You have to be an Agile believer!
• Agile doubters knead out “Agile can’t work stories”
• Our business users will never get involved in project actively
• We have a fixed contract
• We can’t allow teams to self organize as it will result in chaos
• We are already successful using traditional waterfall
• There is no way to understand requirements upfront
• There is nothing scientific about agile – its against process
culture

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Reasons for Transition to Agile:
1. To Build ability to Change
2. To Manage Chaordic projects
3. To Handle Requirements uncertainty
4. To Deliver Value early
5. To Release Software frequently
6. Agile Belief System
Summary ‐ Reasons for Transition to Agile

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Where is my PRINCE 2 / PMP Equivalent?
Which Agile Methodology is Best?

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
SCRUM – Management Driven
Source: Scrum Primer
Requirements Management
Release Management
Monitoring

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Feature Driven Development – derived from
traditional methods
Source: http://www.skillresource.com
Management and Development focused
Object oriented, unit testing, design sessions, code reviews
Design first, upfront plan

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
DSDM Process Overview
Design
& Build
Iteration
Agree
Schedule
Create
Design Prototype
Identify
Design Prototype
Review
Design
Prototype
Implementation
Implement
Review
Business
Train
Users
User Approval &
User Guidelines
Review Prototype
Functional
Model
Iteration
Agree Schedule
Create
Functional
Prototype
Identify
Functional
Prototype
Feasibility
Business Study
Management and Delivery
Functional Model Iteration
Design and Build iteration

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Few Agile Frameworks – Brief Comparison
Model Selection Criteria
SCRUM  Team Size : 6‐8
 Scalability : Use Scrum of Scrums approach
 Team Dynamics : Colocation preferred
 User Involvement : High
 Iteration length : 2‐ 4 weeks
 Nature of Requirements : Complex
FDD  Team Size : Can be of any order
 Scalability : Scalable for large, distributed agile teams /projects
 Nature of requirements : Should be breakable in to features
 Approach : Favors object oriented approach to development
DSDM  Team Size : 2 ‐6
 Scalability : Multiple team groups of 2‐6 members within the same project
 Nature of requirements : Should be able to create prototypes for the system
during early stages of the project
 Approach : Use whenever feasibility and business study are necessary

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Which Agile model(s) for our Organization?
Jim High Smith's Advice : Hang out with a few agile models. Your
organization will know what you like soon. Agile is a culture NOT a process!

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Model Dilemma : What’s popular vs. What’s the
future?
19
Take the Quiz :
“ Who amongst the below were NOT used for
promoting Cigarette advertisements in USA?”
 A - Small Baby
 B – Pregnant Woman
 C – Doctors
 D – Supreme Court Judge
 Most popular models may not be the perfect
solution for your organization.
 Testing out multiple models and adapting it to the
work environment is the fundamental essence of
Agile.
 Case : Scrum – FDD – DSDM – My own model?

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Agile Ecosystem or Methodology?
Ecosystems are about its inhabitants. Methodologies are about the
processes. Methodology driven culture is the opposite of Agile culture!
Remember:
1. Articulate agile values & principles for your organization first.
2. Remember that popular agile methodologies are just barely good enough. Use it as it is at your own risk.
3. Don’t search for solutions in methodologies. There is no silver bullet there!
4. Remember Cockburn : Larger teams need heavier methodologies!

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Binary Thinking – Traditional or Agile Planning?

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Planning at Organization Level : Stages of Agile adoption

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Planning at Project Level : Plans as Hypothesis or a
Fixed Goal?
“Plan the work & work the plan” approach fails when we are not even
sure where we are headed!
Don’t try to find processes that eliminate change. Build processes
that respond to change.
A plan isn't a prediction. It is there for collaboration. It’s there to help
make go /no go decisions. Its not there to dictate.

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Find your Balance Points…
Try this Agile Value interpretation exercise:
 Could we have a successful project by delivering documentation without working software?
 Could we have a successful project by delivering working software without documentation?
Note : Delineate the extremes, the end points so that organizations, teams & individuals can find
their own balance points – Jim High Smith
Companies must determine what level of agility they require to remain competitive…

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
The Good, Evil, Great in Agile Projects…
 Agility is not a fancy name for lack of planning & ad hoc-ism.
 Agile projects still plan. They just understand the limits of planning.
 Programmers become skilled & agile from long hours of training and
mentoring. Agility in fact requires discipline and skill.
 One has to be skilled before becoming agile ( Picasso)
 If you want to explore & innovate, give room for some inefficiencies

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Is the role of Project Manager non existent in Agile?

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Complications in Agile Project Management?
User involvement
Fixed end date
New /old staff
Multi location project
Many Component
projects

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Traditional PM or Agile PM ‐ Clash of Titans…
PMPs versus APMs??
 “Ramrod Project Managers” are extremes and
never promoted either by traditional or agile
project management.
 Agile Projects need to be budgeted for and
controlled and hence need supervision.
 Not minding anything but the team and Agile
principles can create a bubble that could burst
at any moment.
ITS ABOUT HOW AGILE YOU WANT TO BE NOT
ABOUT WHICH APPROACH IS BETTER!

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Agile Project Management is definitely NOT
an Oxymoron!
There is no Agile Silver bullet out there…
Organizations need to carefully build their
own Agile bridges by asking “How Agile
should we be?”.

Agile Seminar/V 1.0
Be Agile…

"Agile Project Management": Is it an Oxymoron?

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"Agile Project Management": Is it an Oxymoron?