InstructionsRead “Introducing Scrum at P2P— Part A and Part B” on pages 599–602 of your textbook.After reading Part A of the case, answer the following questions based on the case details.How well is Scrum working?What are the issues confronting the Big Foot project?Assume you are Kendra. What would you want to say at the retrospective? How would you say it?What improvements or changes need to be made?After reading Part B of the case, answer the following questions based on the case details.How would you assess P2P’s effort at introducing Scrum?What challenges does an organization face when adopting an agile approach like Scrum?What could P2P have done to enhance success?Identify the core agile project management principles P2P used in managing this project. How would the project have been handled differently if traditional project management principles had been utilized instead?Reread pages 17–18 in Chapter 1 or your textbook, and answer the following questions about this case.What would be the technical side and the sociocultural side of this project?How can a Scrum master be in charge of both the technical side and sociocultural side of this project?Your response should be a minimum of two pages in length. APA formatting is not required, but if any sources are used, the authors should be given proper credit.Textbook:Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2018). Project management: The managerial process (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
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UNIT VIII STUDY GUIDE
Agile Project Management
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VIII
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
1. Explain the relationship between the technical and sociocultural sides of a project.
1.1 Identify the technical side and sociocultural side of a Scrum project.
1.2 Determine how a Scrum master can be in charge of the technical and sociocultural sides of a
project.
7. Distinguish the differences between traditional project management and agile project management.
7.1 Identify core agile principles.
7.2 Examine the basic methodology used in Scrum.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
1.1
1.2
7
7.1
7.2
Learning Activity
Chapter 1
Unit VIII Case Study
Chapter 1
Unit VIII Case Study
Unit Lesson
Chapter 16
Unit VIII Case Study
Unit Lesson
Chapter 16
Unit VIII Case Study
Unit Lesson
Chapter 16
Unit VIII Case Study
Reading Assignment
Chapter 1: Modern Project Management, pp. 17–18
Chapter 16: An Introduction to Agile Project Management, pp. 579–595, 599–602
Unit Lesson
The traditional project management approach relies heavily on up-front planning. The rationale is that if you
create a plan, execute the plan, and take corrective action on the plan, then the project will be successful.
Planning requires a reasonable degree of predictability, both in terms of project scope and technology. If you
do not know what you are trying to achieve or how to achieve it, then it is impossible to come up with a
detailed plan to manage the project. The plan would constantly have to be reformulated as questions
regarding scope and technology are resolved.
Traditional project management includes an up-front design, a fixed project scope, deliverables, the need to
freeze the design as soon as possible, low uncertainty, resistance to change, low customer interaction, and
conventional project teams (Larson & Gray, 2018). Agile project management includes continuous design, a
flexible project scope, features instead of deliverables, an unfrozen design until the last possible moment,
high uncertainty, embracement of change, high customer interaction, and self-organized project teams
(Larson & Gray, 2018).
BBA 4126, Project Planning
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Agile project management represents a fundamental shift away from the traditional
project
UNIT plan-driven
x STUDY GUIDE
management approach by adopting a more experimental and adaptive approach
to managing projects
Title
(Larson & Gray, 2018). The final project design is not known in detail and is continuously developed through a
series of incremental iterations over time.
Agile project management is not one set method, but a family of methods designed to respond to the
challenges of unpredictable projects. A few of the more popular ones are listed below.
Scrum
Extreme programming (XP)
Agile modeling
Lean development
Crystal clear
Rational unified process (RUP)
Rapid product development (RPD)
Dynamic systems development method (DSDM) (Larson & Gray, 2018)
Scrum
For the purpose of this unit, we are going to focus on Scrum. Scrum is a framework that is used to complete
complex projects (Scrum Alliance, n.d.). Usually, these projects result in some type of product. Scrum begins
with the development of a scope definition and estimates of time and money required to complete the project
(Larson & Gray, 2018). However, instead of developing a work breakdown structure (WBS) for the completion
of the entire project, the team works on small features of the project that will ultimately result in the final
product that the project was developed for.
The Scrum framework is comprised of various people. The first of these people is the product owner. He or
she determines what actually goes into the final project, and he or she develops the list of tasks that need to
be performed to complete the project and prioritizes them (Littlefield, 2016). The development team is
responsible for completing the project in the form of sprints, which consist of the time needed to keep each of
the tasks on the list created by the product owner (Larson & Gray, 2018; Littlefield, 2016;). Throughout the
project timeline, the development team members hold daily Scrums, which are meetings done every day to
give an update on the sprint in which they are currently involved (Littlefield, 2016). At the end of each sprint, a
retrospective is held, in which the team members discuss the work they have completed and ways they can
improve in the next sprint (Littlefield, 2016).
The final individual involved in the Scrum process is the Scrum master (project manager). He or she is there
to ensure that the process runs smoothly by resolving issues that may develop between team members or
within the organization (Larson & Gray, 2018). He or she is not considered the leader of the team but handles
any problems from outside of the team and keeps these problems from affecting the work of the team. In
addition, the Scrum master’s main job is to make sure that the Scrum process is adhered to throughout the
life of the project (Larson & Gray, 2018).
Differences between the traditional project manager and Scrum master are pronounced. The Scrum master
role is limited to making sure that rules are adhered to and serving as a coach, helping the development team
solve problems. The project manager role on a project is much more dominant. The project manager
formulates the project plan and typically has direct authority over the work being accomplished. The project
manager is responsible for making trade-off decisions between time, cost, and scope as well as taking
corrective action when progress deviates from the plan. It should be noted that many of traditional
responsibilities of a project manager, such as representing the interests of the customer, prioritizing
deliverables, and making cost/scope trade-offs, are the responsibility of the product manager in Scrum.
Similarities are less discernable. One would be that both Scrum master and project manager serve to buffer
the project team from external distractions.
The Scrum process has four phases: analysis, design, build, and test (Larson & Gray, 2018). During the
analysis phase, the team determines the requirements needed to complete the sprint they are about to begin.
Following this is the design phase, which is when determinations are made about exactly how the work will be
done. In the build phase, team members actually complete the work, and in the testing phase, they ensure
that the feature they have been working on is actually functional.
BBA 4126, Project Planning
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What organizational, group, individual, and project factors do you think would UNIT
promote
the successful
x STUDY
GUIDE
adoption of agile project management methodologies like Scrum?
Title
Organizational:
The organization has a history of poor project performance, so there is a great need for change.
An organization’s top management does not demand firm schedules and budgets which agile project
management cannot provide.
An organization’s management is comfortable relinquishing control and empowering development
teams to manage themselves.
Group:
The team is mature and capable of self-management.
The team shares a common goal and a strong commitment to excellence.
The team values transparency and the open sharing of good and bad news.
Individual:
The individual has a reasonably high tolerance for uncertainty.
The individual excels with autonomy.
The individual has a high level of self-discipline and a commitment to learning.
Project:
The project contains a high degree of uncertainty regarding either scope and/or technology.
The project can be easily chunked into small pieces/features.
The project easily represents customer interests.
The project can be done by a small project team.
A Closer Look
You have just taken over a project from another project manager and have come back from a very
uncomfortable meeting with your business sponsor. In the meeting, the sponsor told you how dissatisfied he
or she is with the project’s performance to date and that he or she is getting ready to pull the plug on the
project entirely. Deadlines keep slipping, the application is not complete, and the sponsor feels like he or she
cannot get in touch with anyone to give an update on the project’s status and progress.
Your project team meets to talk about the issues described below.
There is no communication plan for stakeholders, especially the sponsor. Make one.
Get the requirement issue satisfied. Complete and set requirements again. Once set, have the
sponsor prioritize the requirements.
The team seems to be working on things in which they are interested. With requirements prioritized,
the team will have guidance on scheduling their tasks.
When the sponsor sets priorities, have the team quickly demonstrate functionality of a few new
features to gain the sponsor’s confidence.
Since the project is time imposed, will scope have to be reduced? Will resources need to be added?
What Actually Happened
The new project manager instituted a more robust, consistent communication strategy that kept the business
sponsor informed about the project’s progress and status. The project manager also arranged for an
immediate demonstration of the application to the business, with a focus on the parts of the project where
requirements had not been fully defined. The outcome of that meeting was a list of scope activities still to be
completed.
The conversation with the business sponsor turned to a look at the schedule remaining against that scope
and, together, they prioritized the scope, which the project team then worked toward. As the project team
BBA 4126, Project Planning
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completed the scope, the project manager and the business sponsor met regularly
walk through
the
UNIT to
x STUDY
GUIDE
application and confirm that the direction was correct.
Title
The business sponsor ultimately accepted the application on schedule and began discussions for
enhancements.
Impact to Cost on the Project
Cost on the project rose because the new project management spent more time working on the project than
the previous one did. Performance went down because less scope than originally anticipated was actually
completed. Schedule was maintained because that was set outside the project manager’s control.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Agile Project Management
Agile project management does have some advantages and disadvantages. The key advantage of agile
project management is that it is a more flexible approach for completing projects. It simply works better for
these kinds of projects than traditional project management. Specific advantages are listed below.
Work is divided into smaller and smaller chunks that are more easily scheduled and controlled.
Collaboration between the customer and design team is increased, leading to solid change control.
Agile methods demand that features be tested and functional when completed (Larson & Gray, 2018).
At first glance, the disadvantages of agile project management are readily apparent for predictable projects in
which the scope and technology are well defined. Here, flexibility can lead to excessive scope creep and
costly delays. Other disadvantages are listed below.
It is difficult to apply agile project management on large, complex projects involving many groups of
professionals. (It should be noted that this is likely to be true for any project management approach.)
Agile project management does not provide firm schedules and cost estimates.
Agile project management is incongruent with many organizational cultures.
Agile project management may suffer from inadequate customer involvement (Larson & Gray, 2018).
References
Larson, E. W., & Gray, C. F. (2018). Project management: The managerial process. (7th ed.). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill Education.
Littlefield, A. (2016). The beginner’s guide to Scrum and agile project management. Retrieved from
https://blog.trello.com/beginners-guide-scrum-and-agile-project-management
Scrum Alliance. (n.d.). Learn about Scrum. Retrieved from https://www.scrumalliance.org/why-scrum
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