This document discusses effective delivery strategies for handling predictable and unpredictable project elements. It begins with discussing modern project management trends like agility and shifts in practices. It then covers delivery methodologies like agile, hybrid, and waterfall approaches. Predictable and unpredictable project elements are categorized by product, project, and organization variables. A case study example highlights choosing the right delivery method based on identified challenges and elements. The presentation emphasizes adopting the best approach for an organization's environment.

1. Effective Delivery Strategies to handle predictable and
unpredictable project elements
Dr. Kaali Dass, PMP, PhD
Mar 16th 2023

2. Agenda
 Modern Project Management & Trends
 Delivery Methodology
 Predictable and Unpredictable Project Elements
 Case Study
 Q & A

3. Modern Project Management and Trends

4. Agility
The ability to compete and thrive in the digital
age by quickly responding to market changes and
emerging opportunities with innovative business
solutions. Achieving business agility requires that
everyone involved in delivering solutions use
Lean and Agile practices to continually create
innovative, high-quality products and services
faster than the competition.
Agile
A mindset, a way of thinking, a framework for action taking, a
goal, and a journey to more contingent processes, higher
performance, and potentially greater value creation.
Source: On Becoming Agile, Daniel J. Power, Ciara Heavin, 2021 and SAFe 5.0 Distilled: Achieving Business Agility with the Scaled Agile Framework Richard Knaster, Dean Leffingwell, Published by Addison-
Learn Often and Learn Fast

5. Our Goal: Build the RIGHT Product and build the Product RIGHT
Source: Agile Product and Project Management, A Step-by-Step Guide to Building the Right Products Right, by Mariya Breyter,2022
Project Team: Output Customer/Stakeholders: Outcomes
Shift in Practices and Trends

6. Shift in Practices and Trends
Project Teams: Customers are
Embedded
Organization: FasterOutcomes
Customers:Outcomes -Value and Benefit
Source: PMBoK Guide 7th Edition, Pg. 34

7. Pulse of the Profession - Beyond
Agility
Project management methodology is never one size
fits all
Adopt the approach best suited for the organization's
environment
Agile can contribute to organizational and project
success but requires several prerequisites

8. State of the Agile Report 2022 - Priorities for Agile Transformation
https://digital.ai/press-releases/2022-state-of-agile-report-organizations-embrace-agile-innovation-in-lobs-amid-uncertain-business-climate-but-shortfall-in-leadership-can-limit-its-success/
Accelerate time to
market (52%)
Delivery
predictability
(44%)
Lower risk (31%)

9. State of the Agile Report 2022 – Agile Framework Adoption
https://digital.ai/press-releases/2022-state-of-agile-report-organizations-embrace-agile-innovation-in-lobs-amid-uncertain-business-climate-but-shortfall-in-leadership-can-limit-its-success/
Scrum
58% in 2020
87% in 2022
Scaled Agile
Framework
37% in 2021
53% in 2022
Kanban
7% in 2020
56% in 2022

10. PMI Talent
Triange
Ref: https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/talent-triangle-flyer.pdf

11. Survey 1
Project Delivery Practices at Work
 I use Agile and follow 100% Agile
Practices
 I use Agile and do not follow 100% Agile
Practices
 I use Hybrid Methods (Agile + Waterfall)
 I use Waterfall/Predictive Methods

12. Delivery Methodology

13. Delivery Method – Planning Cycle
Reference: PMBOK Guide 6th Edition
Initiation Planning Execution
Monitoring and
Controlling
Closing
 Incremental – Fixed Interval
 Iterative – Flow Based
 Single Delivery with Milestones - Waterfall
 Strategic Objectives
 Programs/Projects
 Scope
 Resources
 Budget
 Timeline
 Risk and Assumptions
Delivery Strategy: Choose
Right Method

14. Uncertainty and Lifecycle
Source: Practice Standard for Scheduling - Third Edition

15. Agile
Scrum
Kanban
Scrumban
XP
Dynamic Systems
Development Method
(DSDM)
FDD
Agile@Scale
Scaled Agile
Framework (SAFe)
Disciplined Agile
(DA)
Scrum@Scale (SaS)
Large Scale Scrum
(LeSS)
Hybrid
Waterfall + Agile
Waterfall
Crystal
Delivery Methodologies / Frameworks

16. Agile Agile Agile Predictive Predictive Predictive
Combine Agile and predictive approaches simultaneously
Agile Agile Agile
Predictive Predictive Predictive
Agile Practice Guide, PMI
Agile followed by Predictive Rollout
Largely Predictive approach with Agile Components
Agile Agile Agile
Predictive Predictive Predictive
Largely Agile approach with Predictive Components
Predi
ctive
Predi
ctive
Predi
ctive
Agile Agile Agile
Hybrid Project Methodology Types

17. ~80%
Using Agile
State of the Agile Report 2022 – Agile Practices
https://digital.ai/press-releases/2022-state-of-agile-report-organizations-embrace-agile-innovation-in-lobs-amid-uncertain-business-climate-but-shortfall-in-leadership-can-limit-its-success/
50% use hybrid
A combination of
Agile, waterfall or
iterative methods
25% use a
combination of
various Agile
frameworks

18. Hybrid Project Success
Hybrid and agile approaches significantly increase
stakeholder success over traditional approaches
Hybrid approaches were found to be similar in effectiveness to
fully agile approaches
Adoption of hybrid approaches is unlikely to disappear, and the
usage will be significant in the foreseeable future
Gemino, A., Reich, B. H., & Serrador, P. M. (2021). Agile, Traditional, and Hybrid Approaches to Project Success: Is Hybrid a Poor Second Choice? Project Management Journal, 52(2), 161–175.
https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/methodology-project-success-12977

19. Survey 2
I Read PMIBOK Guide 7th Edition
Yes
No

20. Predictable and Unpredictable Project
Elements

21. Project Elements / Variables by Category
Product / Service / Result
(8)
Project
(3)
Organization
(4)
Source: PMBoK Guide 7th Edition Pg. 39

22. Project Elements: Product/Service/Result
Requirements
Certainty
Ease of
Change
Risk
Delivery
Options
Scope
Stability
Degree of
Innovation
Regulations
Safety
Source: PMBoK Guide 7th Edition Pg. 39
A high degree of
Innovation/Team
does not have
experience
Vs
Scope and
Requirements
well understood
The project team
has worked
before
Volatile,
complex,
uncertain
Vs
Well known easy
to define
Many changes
Vs
Stable and not
likely to change
Easy to Change
Vs
Deliverables
difficult to
manage and
change
Multiple,
Periodic
deliveries
Vs
Single
Reduce risk
based on
incremental
delivery
Vs
High Risk
Less / No Safety
Requirements
Vs
Rigorous Safety
Requirements
Limited / No
Regulations
Vs
Significant
Regulatory
Oversight

23. Project Elements: Project
Stakeholders
Significant
Stakeholder
Involvement
Vs
Limited involvement
Schedule
Constraints
Deliver Early even if it
is not a finished
product
Vs
Final Working Product
Source: PMBoK Guide 7th Edition Pg. 40
FundAvailability
Fund Uncertainty
Vs
Dedicated funds to
deliver the final
product

24. Project Elements: Organization
OrgStructure
Flat structure, self
organizing teams
Vs
Many levels and
rigid reporting
structure
Culture
Empowered teams,
self-management
Vs
Command and
Control Culture
Source: PMBoK Guide 7th Edition – Pg.41
TeamSize and
Location
Each Team of 7+/- 2
Co-located
Vs
Large team size
distributed
Capability
Agile Mindset
change at all levels
of the organization
and alignment
Vs
Not aligned at all
levels

25. Case Study

26. Strategic Objective
Move all applications to the Cloud
Decommission Data Center
by Dec 2023

27. Project Challenges
LARGE NUMBER OF
STAKEHOLDERS BOTH
INTERNAL AND
EXTERNAL
TARGET DATE IS
FIXED
HIGH RISK AND HIGH
BUSINESS IMPACT
ALL ERP MODULES
NEEDS TO BE
MIGRATED IN ONE
RELEASE
COMPLEX INTERNAL
INTEGRATIONS WITH
OTHER DATA
SOURCES
EXTERNAL AND
THIRD-PARTY
INTEGRATIONS
SECURITY ACCESS
AND DATA EXCHANGE
FROM ON-PREM TO
CLOUD
NETWORK AND
PERFORMANCE
ISSUES

28. Project Elements / Variables by Order
1. Product / Service / Result
2. Project
3.Organization
Source: PMBoK Guide 7th Edition – Pg.41

29. Product / Service / Result
Requirements
Certainty
Ease of
Change
Risk
Delivery
Options
ScopeStability
Degree of
Innovation
A high degree of
Innovation/Team
does not have
experience
Vs
Scope and
Requirements well
understood
The project team has
worked before
Volatile, complex,
uncertain
Vs
Well known easy to
define
Many changes
Vs
Stable and not likely
to change
Easy to Change
Vs
Deliverables difficult
to manage and
change
Multiple, Periodic
deliveries
Vs
Single
Reduce risk based on
incremental delivery
Vs
High Risk
Regulations
Safety
Limited / No Safety
Requirements
Vs
Rigorous Safety
Requirements
Limited / No
Regulations
Vs
Significant Regulatory
Oversight
Cloud Vendor Evaluation /
Recommendations
Dev POC
Network Design
and Configurations
Storage /
Data Transfer
Infra and App Security
Dev Infra Build
and Testing
Stage and Prod
Env Build and Test
Dev App Migration
and Test
Stage App
Migration and Test
Regression Testing
(Automated/Manual)
User Acceptance
Testing
Pre-Cutover
Shutdown and
Migration of Apps
Post-Cutover
Smoke Test /
Go -NoGo
Change Management
Agile Waterfall

30. Project Elements
Stakeholders
Significant
Stakeholder
Involvement
Vs
Limited
involvement
Schedule
Constraints
Deliver Early even
if it is not a
finished product
Vs
Final Working
Product
Fund
Availability
Fund Uncertainty
Vs
Dedicated funds
to deliver the
final product
Cloud Vendor Evaluation /
Recommendations
Dev POC
Network Design
and Configurations
Storage /
Data Transfer
Infra and App Security
Dev Infra Build
and Testing
Stage and Prod
Env Build and Test
Dev App Migration
and Test
Stage App
Migration and Test
Regression Testing
(Automated/Manual)
User Acceptance
Testing
Pre-Cutover
Shutdown and
Migration of Apps
Post-Cutover
Smoke Test /
Go -NoGo
Change Management
Agile Waterfall

31. Cloud Vendor Evaluation /
Recommendations
Dev POC
Network Design
and Configurations
Storage /
Data Transfer
Infra and App Security
Dev Infra Build
and Testing
Stage and Prod
Env Build and Test
Dev App Migration
and Test
Stage App
Migration and Test
Regression Testing
(Automated/Manual)
User Acceptance
Testing
Pre-Cutover
Shutdown and
Migration of Apps
Post-Cutover
Smoke Test /
Go -NoGo
Change Management
Org Structure
Flat structure,
self organizing
teams
Vs
Many levels
and rigid
reporting
structure
Culture
Empowered
teams, self-
management
Vs
Command and
Control Culture
Team Size and
Location
Each Team of
7+/- 2
Co-located
Vs
Large team size
Distributed and
Not Dedicated
Teams
Capability
Agile Mindset
change at all
levels of the
organization
and alignment
Vs
Not aligned at
all levels
Organization
Agile Waterfall

32. Result
Delivery Method
Hybrid
Combine Agile and predictive approaches simultaneously
Agile Agile Agile
Predictive Predictive Predictive

33. Key
Takeaways
There No One-size-fits_all
Understand Product / Project / Org
Landscape
Choose The Right Delivery Strategy

34. grazie
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35. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaalidass
@kdass kdass@cisco.com