All About Agile Project Management (AgilePM®) Framework

Agile Project Management (AgilePM®) is the world’s leading guidance and certification for agile project management. AgilePM Achieves an ideal balance between the standards, rigour and visibility required for good project management, and the fast-pace, change and empowerment provided by agile.

With over 189,000 certified professionals, Agile Project Management (AgilePM®) is the fastest growing framework that guides professionals on how to manage their projects with agile mindset.

Background

• Until the introduction of Agile frameworks and approaches, the world of project management was dominated by traditional (often referred to as “Waterfall”) methods for project management.
• For decades, reports from a wide variety of sources highlight poor project performance (e.g. delivered late, over budget, scope creep, benefits unrealized, etc.).
• Agile’s influence on the project management industry continues to rise at pace.
• Agile methods have long been popular in IT & software development, offering a more collaborative and incremental approach to solution development.
• Increasing numbers of organizations and project professionals are embracing Agile tools and frameworks as they aim to increase the success of – and return on investment from – projects and other change initiatives.
• Despite originating in the software development arena, Agile methods and frameworks are becoming increasingly popular in a wide variety of industries and projects as the benefits over more traditional frameworks and methodologies are realised.

The Agile Manifesto

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Benefits of Agile

• Improved revenue and speed to market: the Agile philosophy supports the notion of early and regular releases, enabling benefits to be realised early as the solution continues to develop.
• Increased collaboration and customer satisfaction: the continuous involvement of a user representative and/or product owner, high visibility of the solution and progress, and the flexibility to change when change is needed, create much better business engagement and customer satisfaction.
• The right product/solution: traditional approaches typically require detailed specifications during the start-up phase. As all deliverables are based upon documented requirements, the client may not see the final solution until it’s almost finished. At this stage, changes can be difficult (and costly) to implement. Agile, in contrast, advocates a high-level plan at the start of the project whilst encouraging change and flexibility though incremental development cycles, helping to ensure that what’s delivered at the end of the project is current, fit for purpose and satisfies the client/business.

The AgilePM Handbook

• Offers a practical and repeatable methodology that achieves an ideal balance between the standards, rigour and visibility required for good project management, and the fast-pace, change and empowerment provided by Agile.
• Based on the Agile Business Consortium's Agile Project Framework (established for over 20 years).
• Offers a structured and scalable corporate Agile framework based on proven practice.
• Available to be purchased in paper or eBook formats.

Brings together all elements of a project in an Agile context:

• Principles (the behaviours);
• People (roles and responsibilities);
• Process (the life cycle);
• Products (what is produced and when);
• Practices (timeboxing, modelling, iterative development, prioritization and facilitated workshops);

A complete framework for successful Agile Project Management.

The DSDM Based Agile Project Management Philosophy

Best business value emerges when projects are aligned to clear business goals, deliver frequently and involve the collaboration of motivated and empowered people.

This is achieved when all stakeholders:
• Understand and buy into the business vision and objectives
• Are empowered to make decisions within their area of expertise
Collaborate
• To deliver a fit for purpose business solution
• To deliver to agreed timescales in accordance with business priorities
• Accept that change is inevitable as understanding of solution grows over time

The Project Variables and Agile Environment

Projects have to balance conflicting demands, and the four most common demands are: time, cost, features (scope) and quality. Trying to fix all four at the outset of a project is nor realistic neither achievable, as this would only work in a perfect world where business needs never change and everything is fully and concisely understood in advance - problems never occur. This desire to fix everything is the cause of many project failures, since the lack of sufficient contingency results in flawed decision that are often only noticed towards the end of the project when it is already too late to correct those.

For such reason, it is important at the start of the project to ask the question "if we hit a problem, what do we protect (fix) and what can we negotiate (vary), if necessary?"

The AgilePM (DSDM) Principles for Effective Agile Project Delivery

The eight principles of DSDM support the philosophy and compromising any of the principles undermines the philosophy via introducing risk the successful outcome of the project. The collective application of DSDM's principles bring the philosophy to life.

1. Focus on Business Needs
2. Collaborate
3. Build Incrementally From Firm Foundations
4. Communicate Continuously and Clearly
5. Deliver On Time
6. Never Compromise Quality
7. Develop Iteratively
8. Demonstrate Control

The The DSDM Based Agile Project Management (AgilePM) Process Lifecycle

1. Pre-project

   • Ensure only the right projects are started
   • Ensure projects are set up correctly based on clearly defined objective

2. Feasibility

   • Focus is to establish whether proposed project is likely to be feasible
   • To plan and resource Foundations phase
   • Feasibility effort - just enough to decide whether further investigation is justified or project should be stopped if unlikely to be viable

3. Foundations

   • Organising work to establish firm Foundations
   • PM establishes which of 6 key Foundations products need to be created or evolved from Feasibility outline set

4. Evolutionary Development

   • Builds on project firm foundations to evolve the solution
   • PM passes day-to-day management of Timeboxes to SDT

5. Deployment

   • To bring a baseline of Evolving Solution into operational use
   • PM coordinates day-to-day activities to bring Solution Increment into live operational use

6. Post Project

The AgilePM Roles and Responsibilities

DSDM based AgilePM framework is based on following recommended organisational structure:

1. Project Level consisting of:

   • Business Sponsor (business oriented role)
   • Business Visionary (business oriented role)
   • Technical Coordinator (technical role)
   • Project Manager (management oriented role)
   • Business Analyst (mix of business and technical orientations) - Equally part of Project level as it is part of SDT level

2. Solution Development Team (SDT) consisting of:

   • Business Ambassador (business oriented role)
   • Solution Developer (technical role)
   • Solution Tester (technical role)
   • Team Leader (management oriented role)
   • Business Analyst (mix of business and technical orientations) - Equally part of Project level as it is part of SDT level

3. Supporting roles consisting of:

   • Business Advisor (business oriented role)
   • Technical Advisor (technical role)
   • DSDM Coach (process oriented role)
   • Workshop facilitator (process oriented role)

The DSDM Based Agile Project Management Products

The DSDM Agile Project Framework describes a set of products to be considered as the project proceeds:

• Business Case
• Prioritised Requirements List (PRL)
• Solution Architecture Definition (SAD)
• Development Approach Definition (DAD)
• Delivery Plan
• Management Approach Definition (MAD)
• Feasibility Assessment
• Foundation Summary
• Evolving Solution
• Timebox Plan
• Management Approach Definition
• Timebox Review Record
• Project Review Report
• Benefits Assessment

Timebox Formats in DSDM Based Agile Project Management

DSDM defines a Timebox as a fixed period of time, at the end of which an objective has been met. The time box objective is usually completion of one or more deliverables making up a solution increment.

The optimum length of a timebox is typically between two and four weeks - long enough to achieve something useful, short enough to keep the Solution Development Team focused. In exceptional circumstances, a Timebox might ba as short as a day or as long as six weeks.

DSDM based Agile Project Management has prescribed two formats of Timeboxes:

• DSDM Structured Timebox
• Free Format (Scrum style) Timebox

Why Agile Project Management (AgilePM)?

1. A tried & tested corporate approach:
   1. Based on the Agile Business Consortium's Agile Project Framework (established for over 20 years).
   2. Provides governance & rigour along with the agility & flexibility demanded by organizations today.
   3. Adopted by a wide range of organizations representing various sectors & industries.
2. Addresses the full project lifecycle (beyond product development):
   1. Informality of many agile approaches is daunting and sometimes perceived as too risky.
   2. AgilePM offers a mature approach offering agility & flexibility whilst retaining concepts of a project, project delivery & project management.
3. Clear roles & responsibilities:
   1. AgilePM assigns clear roles & responsibilities to each person in a project, representing the business, solution/technical, management and process interests.
   2. AgilePM advocates close collaboration, open communication & team empowerment to break down potential communication barriers.

Why Agile Project Management (AgilePM)?

4. Quality, governance & risk management:
   1. AgilePM advocates high-level acceptance criteria at various stages throughout the project lifecycle to ensure solutions meet the business need & project objectives.
   2. AgilePM directly addresses common risks for projects, incorporating a Project Approach Questionnaire for understanding risks & their mitigation.
   3. One of the framework’s underlying principles is Never Compromise Quality.
5. Popular agile practices incorporated to support effective solution development:
   1. MoSCoW Prioritisation
   2. Timeboxing
   3. Iterative Development
6. Integrates with existing processes:
   1. AgilePM was designed pragmatically to work alongside more formalized project management approaches such as PRINCE2®, and can be dovetailed into formalized quality processes such as ISO9001.

AgilePM Training and Certification

Agile Project Management (AgilePM) certification trainings are provided by APMG International's Accredited Training Organizations (ATOs) across the globe. Tecknologia is also an APMG Accredited Training Organization (ATO) offering Agile Project Management certification trainings across the globe and in various formats.

Click on the links for certification levels to explore the exam details.

Benefits of Agile Project Management (AgilePM) for Individuals

• Deliver quicker, cost-effective and low risk change by implementing a tried and tested approach to agile project management.
• Understand the background of agile in project management and the differences compared to traditional / alternative approaches.
• Equip yourself with the core principles, concepts and processes required for successful agile projects.
• Learn how to apply the DSDM approach to projects.
• Boost communication and stakeholder engagement skills; critical for successful projects.
• Clarify different management styles needed for successful agile projects compared to traditional projects and be able to tailor these to the situation.
• Embrace an evolutionary development approach for more effective solutions.
• Help organizations deliver effectively, at a lower cost and with lower risk, by continually validating project milestones against business objectives.
• Implement an Agile methodology into your daily activities.
• Become an informed member of a project team using DSDM and AgilePM practices.
• Enhance your CV and boost future employment prospects.
• Successful candidates get a 3 month’s free membership to the Agile Business Consortium.

Benefits of Agile Project Management (AgilePM) for Organizations

• Deliver change faster and more effectively by adopting a tried & tested approach to agile project management; underlying framework established and regularly refined for over 20 years.
• Offers a structured and scalable corporate Agile framework based on proven practice.
• Achieves an ideal balance between the standards, rigour and visibility required for good project management, and the fast-pace, change and empowerment provided by Agile.
• Covers the full project lifecycle, from initiation & foundations through to project close.
• Ensures clear roles & responsibilities are allocated to each person in a project, representing all key stakeholder groups.
• Built-in quality, governance and risk management controls to ensure ongoing viability of the project at various stages throughout the lifecycle.
• Incorporates and encourages a range of popular agile practices to support effective product and solution development.
• Incorporates a specific process for change management to ensure support for end users and other project stakeholders.
• Forster improved collaboration and communications between project teams and other stakeholders.
• Complements and works with existing corporate processes such as PRINCE2®, quality and audit processes.

In comparison: PMI-ACP® (Agile Certified Practitioner)

• The PMI-ACP certification does not offer an end-to-end agile project management framework.
• Instead it assesses a candidate’s expertise in using a range of common Agile approaches, tools and techniques.
• The PMI-ACP certification is designed for experienced agile team members who have good collaboration skills, embrace complexity, and thrive on rapid response times.
• There are also strict prerequisites for candidates, including:-
  • 2,000 hours of general project experience working on teams. A current PMP® or PgMP® will satisfy this requirement but is not required to apply for the PMI-ACP.
  • 1,500 hours working on agile project teams or with agile methodologies. This requirement is in addition to the 2,000 hours of general project experience.
  • 21 contact hours of training in agile practices.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Agile Project Management (AgilePM)