Be more agile

2. INTRODUCTION
Agile is gaining in popularity because:
 Business operational drivers mean projects must adapt as often changes can’t
wait until the end of the project, and there is a need to avoid rework and wasted
effort
 An Agile approach of frequent small deliveries coupled with a more continuous
conversation with the customer allows much greater flexibility and delivers
results, and therefore benefits, much more quickly.
 The whole point of Agile is that customers can decide what they want to have
delivered
 Teams achieve by ‘learning by doing,’ allowing teams to reflect on their
experiences as they go along and adapt accordingly.

3. PRESTO MANIFESTO
PUBLISHED BY DON MCGREAL ON JUNE 25TH, 2009
Timing: 30 mins
Aim:
Take it back to basics - show how thinking agile can help crate successful
projects
Activity:
Define what success on a project means, e.g. is it only about being on time and
on budget? What about customer satisfaction?

4. THE AGILE MANIFESTO
Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the
customer’s competitive advantage.
Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the
shorter timescale.
Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust
them to get the job done.
The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-
face conversation.
Working software is the primary measure of progress.
Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to
maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
Simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of work not done — is essential.
The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior
accordingly.

5. ACTIVITY:
HOW COULD YOU MAKE YOUR PROJECT MORE
AGILE?
Consider the following as a starter:
 Environment
 Team
 Ceremonies
 Tools
 Techniques

6. SOME PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
Culture
– Customer need to really understand their requirements
– JFDI, finish what you start
– Personal not e-mail
– Knowledge not position
Clear Vision
– Focus on the why, not the how
Getting better at estimating is vital
– Constant feedback
– Real, not over, commitments : keep promises
Go iterative for everyone, not just the delivery team
Get a great Key user Sell outcomes, not outputs
PM is a rolling process, in short bursts
Think about who is in the team and who supports outside it
Full time team is best!
6

7. SUMMARY
I hope we have understood alignment to the agile manifesto and explored
some elements for project success:
Self-Organizing Teams
 By moving away from silo working, team members are encouraged to use their overlapping skills
and work together, which in turn gives them much greater empowerment and satisfaction.
 This is much more motivational than the classic 'command and control' approaches
Time-Boxing and Requirements Management
 Emphasis is on fixing the time and cost but also allowing the plan to evolve
 Requirements can be prioritized, with frequent input from a customer representative
 Scope creep is controlled easier as the product owner defines the deliverables in a sprint
 Estimating gets better…
People Engagement
 All the different stakeholders within a team work closer together and are empowered to have
more say in both what they do and the order of the work..
 Have fun!

8. AND FINALLY……..
Don’t assume that Agile is only relevant to software development, hopefully
we have shown that it’s a way of thinking that can be used on any
project
There is no one right way of organizing and managing an Agile project –
take the concept and do what works for your circumstances
Just give it a try!