PMI-ACP Lesson 03 Nugget 2 Agile Planning, Monitoring and Adopting

Copyright 2014, Simplilearn, All rights reserved.1
PMI® & ACP are the registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc. Copyright 2014, Simplilearn, All rights reserved.
Agile Planning, Monitoring, and Adopting: Part 2
PMI®—Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)®

● Explain the concepts of velocity and iteration planning
● Identify the processes involved in iteration planning
● Use burnup charts, burndown charts, and cumulative flow diagrams to
monitor the release plan
After completing
this lesson, you will
be able to:
Objectives

Velocity is a measure of a team’s rate of progress per iteration. It is calculated by adding the number
of story points assigned to each user story that the team has completed during the iteration.
Velocity
The project team completes four stories in one iteration. The story points are as Story A—5,
Story B—3, Story C—7, Story D—5. Calculate the velocity.
Q
Adding the story points assigned to each user story gives the velocity.
Hence, velocity = 5+3+7+5 = 20
A

Based on an expected velocity of 14, allocate user stories to iterations.
Velocity (contd.)

An iteration plan is a low level view of
the product where the team takes a
more focused, and detailed look at
what will be necessary to implement,
i.e., only those user stories, that have
been selected for the iteration. Each
iteration follows the same consistent
pattern.
Iteration Plan

In this example, the major activities of a three week iteration are shown.
Iteration—Example
Story Development
● Build the tests
● Fail the tests
● Develop the stories
● Pass the tests
Iteration Planning
● Review the stories
● Map out the tasks
● Forecast the work
● Work the plan
Demo Preparation
● Compare what is done to
what was planned
● Ensure everything works
● Develop a demo script
Retrospective
● Review the plan
● Check the numbers
● Get Feedback
● Document improvements
Iteration Preparation
● Set the goals
● Identify the value
● Assess the architecture
● Agree on the tests
Demo
● Demonstrate the solution to the
stakeholders
● Get Feedback
● Capture new requirements to be
considered for future sprints

An iteration plan is created during the iteration planning session. It can be as simple as a spreadsheet
or a set of note cards with one task handwritten on each card.
Iteration Planning
Identifiesthemesorgoalsthatshould
beachieved.
Positionstheteamtostartworkingon
theiteration.Identifiesthemesor
goalsthatshouldbeachieved.
Positionstheteamtostartworkingo
Identifiesthemesorgoalsthatshould
beachieved.
Positionstheteamtostartworkingon
theiteration.
ntheiteration.Iteration Plan Meeting Iteration Plan
The participants of this meeting
are:
● Product Owner
● Analysts
● Programmers
● Testers
● Database Engineers
● UI Designers
Iteration plan could be a
spreadsheet or a post-it note.
Identifies themes or goals that
should be achieved.
Positions the team to start working
on the iteration.

Following factors are considered while selecting an iteration length:
● The length of the release being worked on
● The amount of uncertainty
● The ease of getting feedback
● The duration in which priorities can remain unchanged
● Willingness to go without feedback
● The overhead of iteration
● A feeling of urgency is maintained, the shorter the iteration duration the greater the sense of
project urgency
Iteration Length Selection

The following graph represents the average length of the iteration in Agile projects. 82% have
iterations between 1 and 4 weeks in length.
Length of Iterations

When the team is aware of the velocity, the following processes are undertaken to plan an iteration:
Velocity-Driven Iteration Planning
Determine the
target velocity
Select the user
stories
Split the user
stories into
tasks
Estimate tasksIdentify an
iteration goal
Adjust priority

In commitment-driven iteration planning, the team is asked to add stories to the iteration one-by-one
until they cannot commit anymore.
Commitment-Driven Iteration Planning
Adjust
priorities
Remove a user
story
Select a story to
add
Expand the
story into tasks
Estimate tasksIdentify an
iteration goal
Iteration
planning is done
Ask team for
commitment
Can commit in full
Cannot
commit
Can commit, but not
in full

While working on a release, iterations allow mid-course corrections.
Iteration—Mid-course Corrections
As knowledge increases, leaders use iterations to guide the project towards enhanced goal.!

The release plan looks forward through the release of the product while the iteration plan looks
ahead only the length of one iteration. The differences between a release plan and an iteration plan
are as follows:
Release Plan vs. Iteration Plan
Release Plan Iteration Plan
Planning horizon is three to nine (3 – 9) months. Planning horizon is one to four (1 – 4) weeks.
Release plan is based on user stories. Iteration plan is based on tasks.
Estimations are done in story points or ideal
days.
Estimations are done in ideal hours.

The project team tracks its progress against a release plan by updating a release burndown chart at
the end of each iteration. The graph shows a hypothetical burn down chart for a project across
several iterations. When the graph reaches zero there are no more story points in the project and it is
ready for release.
Release Burndown Chart
The vertical axis shows the
number of story points
remaining in the project.
Iterations are shown
across the horizontal
axis.

Burndown charts can also be tracked against the expected velocity based on a velocity driven
iteration plan. This provides visibility on how the team will complete the stories and tasks within an
iteration.
Burndown Charts

In addition to the rate at which work is completed, the burndown bar chart helps to visualize the
work that gets added or removed from the scope for a particular release or iteration.
Burndown Bar Charts
The movement at the top of
the bar indicates completion of
work by the team.
The movement at the bottom
of the bar indicates work
getting added or removed from
the release.
The length of the bar
indicates the overall
work remaining in the
project.

In addition to showing how much work is completed, the burnup chart also shows the work in the
project scope. This chart is also known as ‘Feature Complete Graph’ in Feature Driven Development
(FDD).
Burnup Charts
This shows the increase in scope,
around the iteration 5.

Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) was
introduced by Lean thought leaders, Don
Reinertsen and David Anderson.
● CFD is an important tool for tracking and
forecasting Agile projects.
● It shows work in different states, that is
‘Completed’ and ‘In Progress’.
● One report can provide insight to Burn-up,
Cycle Time, WIP, and Bottlenecks all at
once.
Cumulative Flow Diagrams

An example of a cumulative flow diagram is given below:
Cumulative Flow Diagrams (contd.)
The area in red shows
total planned features to
be built which have
increased from June to
August.
The area in yellow shows
the work in progress.
The area in green shows
the total number of
features completed.

Cumulative Flow Diagram helps us to determine the amount of inventory in the system. Little’s law
states that at a given WIP level, the ratio of WIP to cycle time (CT) equals throughput (T).
CFD—Little’s Law
T = WIP/CT
If there are ten user stories in progress and it takes 6 hours to complete a user story, the throughput will be 10/6 or 1.6 stories per hour.
Given that it takes 1.6 hours to complete a story, if a story enters the In Progress queue and it is the tenth story in the queue, it will take
10*1.6hrs or 16 hours.
The time taken by the items to
complete can be determined by
examining the horizontal (X)
distance; known as cycle time.
Number of items in the queue
can be determined by looking
at the vertical (Y) distance.

The CFD can be modified to get more detailed Work-In-Progress (WIP) information. The WIP area
(yellow) has been broken out by activity, like ‘Started’, ‘Designed’, and ‘Coded’.
Work-in-Progress—Detailed

Detailed CFD chart can help in identifying the bottlenecks in a process.
CFD with Bottleneck
Widening area is created above an
activity that is progressing at a
slower rate.
Bottleneck is the activity below
the widening band.
In the image, ‘Analysis’ is going OK, but ‘DB Process’ is below the widening band, indicating a slower
rate of progress and a warning that it is a bottleneck in the system.

Quiz

QUIZ
a.
b.
c.
d.
In your project, the sum of all the stories is 85 story points. Based on past experience, it
is known that the team’s velocity is 10 story points per one-week iteration. How many
iterations does the project need to complete the user stories?1
10
8.5
85
8

QUIZ
a.
b.
c.
d.
In your project, the sum of all the stories is 85 story points. Based on past experience, it
is known that the team’s velocity is 10 story points per one-week iteration. How many
iterations does the project need to complete the user stories?1
Answer: c.
Explanation: Iterations = 85/10 = 8.5
10
8.5
85
8

QUIZ
a.
b.
c.
d.
Which of the following is not a criteria for evaluating the iteration length?
2
Exploration factor
Release timeframe
Management’s acceptance of the stories
Building and testing the stories

QUIZ
a.
b.
c.
d.
2
Answer: d.
Explanation: Three criteria should be looked at when setting iteration length; delivering chunks (stories) of
user valued functionality, building and testing the stories (working software), and product team acceptance
of the stories. Additional factors are release timeframe, exploration factor, overhead, and learning needs.
Which of the following is not a criteria for evaluating the iteration length?
Exploration factor
Release timeframe
Management’s acceptance of the stories
Building and testing the stories

QUIZ
a.
b.
c.
d.
Which of the following chart shows the total work in a project?
3
Burndown chart
Iteration graph
Task board
Burnup chart

QUIZ
a.
b.
c.
d.
3
Answer: a.
Explanation: In addition to showing how much work is completed, the burnup chart also
shows the work in the project.
Which of the following chart shows the total work in a project?
Burndown chart
Iteration graph
Task board
Burnup chart

QUIZ
a.
b.
c.
d.
What does Little’s Law state?
4
Projects deliver little in the last two days of an iteration.
Inventory in a process is the multiplication of throughput and the flow-time.
Project throughput diminishes with larger user stories.
The amount of work expands to fit the available time.

QUIZ
a.
b.
c.
d.
4
Answer: c.
Explanation: Little’s law states that at a given WIP level, the ratio of WIP to cycle time (CT)
equals throughput (T). T = WIP/CT, we can then determine that WIP = T * CT
What does Little’s Law state?
Projects deliver little in the last two days of an iteration.
Inventory in a process is the multiplication of throughput and the flow-time.
Project throughput diminishes with larger user stories.
The amount of work expands to fit the available time.

QUIZ
a.
b.
c.
d.
In a CFD diagram, how can a bottleneck be determined?
5
The value points for the release start to increase.
Project velocity starts to decrease.
The team starts experiencing negative velocity.
A large colored area appears in one of the process areas.

QUIZ
a.
b.
c.
d.
In a CFD diagram, how can a bottleneck be determined?
5
Answer: a.
Explanation: The CFD will start showing a growing colored area in a process that is
experiencing a bottleneck.
The value points for the release start to increase.
Project velocity starts to decrease.
The team starts experiencing negative velocity.
A large colored area appears in one of the process areas.

● Velocity is a measure of team’s rate of progress per iteration. It is calculated
by adding the number of story points assigned to each user story that the
team has completed during the iteration.
● Iteration plan is a low level plan used by the teams to identify and allocate
the work for a given iteration. Iterations also support mid-course corrections
in a release.
● Burndown chart tracks the rate at which the team is ‘burning down’
(completing) the work. The burnup chart indicates the amount of work
completed during a release or iteration.
● In addition to the rate at which the work is burnt down, the burndown bar
chart also helps visualize the work that gets added or removed from the
scope for a particular release or iteration.
● Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) helps to track work at different stages, the
amount of work that is completed and the amount of work in the in-progress
state.
Summary
Here is a quick
recap of what was
covered in this
lesson:

PMI-ACP Lesson 03 Nugget 2 Agile Planning, Monitoring and Adopting

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