Agile Project Management

Traditional project managers are often uncomfortable with the apparently unstructured nature of agile software development. This article gives a definition of project management, and then goes on to cover traditional project management, why software development is different, how agile project management is different, and the role of an agile project manager.

Definition of Project Management

According to Wikipedia: Project Management

Project Management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives.

Unlike operational activities, which are on-going, a project is finite with a beginning and end. Each project is trying to achieve a clear objective and bring about change. Not surprisingly in the software development world that typically means building software. Project management has to balance scope, quality, time and budget to achieve the given objective.
Continue reading

Agile Lifecycle / Agile Heartbeat

All software development methods, including the Agile ones, have some sort of underlying project lifecycle. System Development Lifecycle (SDLC) is the common name for a software development process, but in the Agile world I prefer calling it a “heartbeat” reflecting the organic nature of an Agile project. Some of the big Agile methods don’t make a big deal of the heartbeat and others do. Some have such abstract lifecycles that it is actually hard to know what activities to schedule. And they all use different terms for the same thing. I have pulled out the common activities to create a generic agile lifecycle.
Continue reading

Agile Risk Management

Risk management is about identifying, addressing, and eliminating sources of risk before they become a threat to the project. This article outlines traditional risk management, how Agile is a risk mitigation strategy, and how to do Agile risk management.
Continue reading

Scaling Agile Software Development for Larger Projects

“Small projects can succeed through sheer force of will and a bit of luck.  Medium and large projects require a more systematic approach” (McConnell, 1998, p. 36).

Most of the Agile Software Development methods are designed for small team sizes, for example the original XP team had 8 people, but what if we’re talking about 30 developers (let alone customers); what process should we use?
Continue reading

An Agile Comparison

This is an article I wrote some years ago when I was trying to get my head around “What is Agile?” and “What is the difference between the different methods?”. It is a bit dated now but I’ve kept it on the website as the third question “Is Agile good Project Management?” is still what I’m concerned about.

Continue reading