Agile Project Management basics explained through the key values and principles of this methodology. A quick overview of some of the most important agile tools and techniques, like "MoSCoW" priority management and "Timeboxing" priority management.

1. AN INTRODUCTION TO
AGILE
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com
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2. AGENDA
1. What’s Agile PM?
2. Key Values
3. Agile Principles
4. Agile Tools
5. How Agile PM affects the business
6. Priority management: MoSCoW
7. Time management: Timeboxing
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3. WHAT’S AGILE PM? 1/3
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Agile methodology responds to the
“need for an alternative to
documentation driven, heavyweight
software development processes”
The Agile Manifesto
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4. WHAT’S AGILE PM? 2/3
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“We want to restore a balance. We
embrace modeling, but not in order to file
some diagram in a dusty corporate
repository. We embrace documentation,
but not hundreds of pages of never-maintained
and rarely-used tomes.”
The Agile Manifesto
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5. WHAT’S AGILE PM? 3/3
5
“We plan, but recognize
the limits of planning
in a turbulent environment.”
The Agile Manifesto
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com

6. KEY VALUES 1/4
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“Individuals and interactions
over processes and tools”
Self-organization, co-location and motivation
are very important in an Agile environment.
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com

7. KEY VALUES 2/4
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“Working software
over comprehensive documentation”
Provide a neat, working software
is much more important and welcome
than presenting documents to clients in meetings.
You should spend your time according to this.
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com

8. KEY VALUES 3/4
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“Customer collaboration
over contract negotiation”
Continuous customer (or internal stakeholders)
involvement is welcome and encouraged,
since requirments can rarely be fully collected
at the beginning of the project lifecycle.
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com

9. KEY VALUES 4/4
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“Responding to change
over following a plan”
The team must be ready in every moment
to change priorities and internal organization
in order to achieve the final goal.
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10. AGILE PRINCIPLES
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1. Customer satisfaction by rapid delivery of useful software
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development
3. Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months)
4. Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers
5. Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted
6. Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location)
7. Working software is the principal measure of progress
8. Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design
10. Simplicity – the art of maximizing the amount of work not done – is essential
11. Self-organizing teams
12. Regular adaptation to changing circumstances
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11. AGILE TOOLS
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http://trello.com
http://asana.com
http://basecamp.com
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com

12. PRIORITY MANAGEMENT:
MOSCOW
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Agile PM defines 4 priority levels for every feature, task or
requirement in a project:
MUST: This requirement must be satisfied for the project to be
considered a success.
SHOULD: This is a high-priority item that should be included in
the solution if it is possible.
COULD: This requirement is considered desirable but not
necessary. This will be included if allowed by time and resources.
WON’T: This requirement will not be implemented in a given
release, but may be considered for the future.
IMPORTANT: priority levels are assigned by project stakeholders,
not software developers!
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13. TIME MANAGEMENT:
TIMEBOXING 1/2
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Traditional approach: projects usually work to a fixed scope.
When some deliverables cannot be completed, either the deadline
slips (to allow more time) or more resources are involved (to do
more in the same time).
Agile Timeboxing: the project is divided in small fixed
deadlines (days, weeks) focused on specific deliverables and
following MoSCoW priority levels.
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com

14. TIME MANAGEMENT:
TIMEBOXING 2/2
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WHAT’S IN A TIMEBOX?
KICK-OFF
CLOSE OUT
Kick-off: team meeting to define timebox’s goals.
Investigation: definition of timebox’s deliverables and acceptance criteria.
Refinement: time dedicated to actual development, testing and (only if really
needed) writing documentation.
Consolidation: a complete review of the produced deliverables to verify if
acceptance criteria are met.
Close out: formal validation of deliverables; timebox evaluation (what worked,
what didn’t); replanning of not-met requirements and goals.
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com

15. HOW AGILE PM
AFFECTS THE BUSINESS
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TRADITIONAL APPROACH
Time
Cashflow
Deploy
Break-even Point
AGILE APPROACH
Time
Cashflow
Final Deploy
Break-even Point
First Deploy
20% of the features
bringing 80% of the revenues
Marcello Brivio | www.marcellobrivio.com