The document outlines an unconference discussion on adopting agile practices. It introduces the unconference format and poses questions about experiences implementing agile. Common challenges are discussed, such as whether scrum eliminates the need for a project manager. The tensions between project management and software engineering aspects of agile are also examined. The discussion suggests both considering organizational readiness and marrying traditional project frameworks with scrum. Finally, it encourages an agile mindset and continuous improvement.

1. 1
Project Management
–
“May The Agility Be With You”
COMIT (Senior), CITPM (Senior), PMP®, PMI-ACP®, BPMm

2. Unconference Outline
• Introduction
• Set the stage
• Discussion & sharing
• Closing Thoughts
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Unconference
• Participants gets to decide on the agenda
• Open discussion
• Facilitates peer-to-peer learning, collaborations and creativity

3. Attack of the Clones
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4. Setting the Stage
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From Manifesto to the Reality of Implementation Practice >>>From Manifesto to the Reality of Implementation Practice >>>
The Agile Manifesto

5. Realities of Agile Practice from the
Trenches
• Does Agile practice works for you?
• What challenges do you face in implementing
Agile in your team? In Your organisation?
• Is the notion in SCRUM that there is no need for a
Project Manager real?
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2383977/Lord-Kitcheners-
iconic-Your-country-needs-image-used-recruitment-posters-First-
World-War.html
What are your experiences
and thoughts from the
trenches of adopting and
practicing Agile?
What are your experiences
and thoughts from the
trenches of adopting and
practicing Agile?

6. Frequently Asked Questions?
• How do I decide what projects are more suited for SCRUM?
Is there a selection criteria that one can use?
• What happened to my UAT?
• Can Public Sector projects ever adopt Agile?
• Project Budget. How do I tell my user?
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7. Should We Consider Readiness
First?
• …
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8. Introducing SCRUM into an Organisation
Source: Goldberry.eu

9. Practice Tips
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10. Common Problems with Introducing SCRUM
into Organisations
Source: Goldberry.eu

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12. The Anti Agile Manifesto
http://antiagilemanifesto.com/
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• We have suffered through countless consultants and hours of
meetings. Through this we discovered that Agile is simply the
obfuscation of common sense – the bewitchment of the mind
through language. We have learned that:
That is, while the concepts on the left are often presented as groundbreaking or
unique, they are merely weakly defined versions of those on the right.

13. Why the disconnect?
- Maybe some answers are found here …
• “The biggest problem with Agile in my opinion:
focusing on Project Management and forgetting
about Software Engineering” - Hayim Makabee
• http://effectivesoftwaredesign.com/2014/01/20/attention-agile-programmers-
project-management-is-not-software-engineering/
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Progress Tracking ≠ Technical Design
Estimating ≠ Technical Complexity
Daily scrum & Retrospective ≠ Design & Code Review

14. Drawing Burn-down Charts vs. Drawing
UML Diagram
• Burn-down charts help us track the progress being done. They present
clearly how much work has been completed, and how much work is left
until the end of an iteration. By taking a look at the chart, it’s easy to
know if the project is behind or ahead of schedule. But the burn-down
chart tells us nothing about the quality of the software being produced,
and neither has it any value after the iteration has been completed.
Burn-down charts are a project management artifact, they are not a
deliverable of the software development process.
• UML diagrams are an essential part of the software development
process. They are required by the person doing the design to conceive
and compare several alternatives. They are needed to present these
alternatives and allow design reviews. They serve as part of the
documentation of the code that is actually implemented. Drawing UML
diagrams is a software engineering activity, and these diagrams are
part of the deliverables of the software development process.
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15. Estimating User Stories vs. Computing
Algorithms Complexity
• In an Agile project the User Stories are the basic unit of work, and it is very important to
estimate the effort that will be required to implement these stories. Techniques such as
the Planning Poker were invented to make this estimation process as accurate as
possible, since iterations are very short and there is not much margin for errors.
However, the time spent in effort estimation does not affect the quality of the
software. Effort estimation is a project management activity.
• Professional software developers must be able to compute the complexity of the
algorithms they are adopting in their systems. Actually, they should base their design
decisions on the different time and space complexities of diverse algorithms and data
structures. They should understand the differences between best, worst, and average
case complexities. Computing algorithm complexity is a software engineering activity,
essential to assure the quality of the systems being developed.
• However, it seems that some Agile programmers don’t ask themselves many questions
about the complexity of the algorithms they are using. They just go to the library and
choose the Collection with the most convenient API. Or they always choose the
simplest possible solution, because of KISS and YAGNI. But if you spend more time
estimating user stories than computing time and space complexity, then you are
doing more project management than software engineering.
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16. Meetings and Retrospectives vs. Design
and Code Reviews
• Agile projects normally have daily meetings to discuss how the team is making progress:
What have been done, what will be done, are there any obstacles. These meetings do not
include any technical discussion. Projects may also have retrospective meetings after
each iteration, with the goal to improve the process itself. These meetings are project
management activities, they do not address software quality issues.
• Design and code reviews focus on software quality. In a design review, an alternative should
be chosen based on non-functional quality attributes such as extensibility and maintainability.
Code reviews are an opportunity to improve the quality of code that should be already
correct. Code reviews should also be used to share technical knowledge and make sure that
the team members are really familiar with each other’s work. These kinds of reviews are
software engineering activities, with a direct effect on the deliverables of the software
development process.
• However, it seems that some Agile programmers focus too much on the process and not
enough on the product. Successful software development is much more than having a team
managing itself and constantly improving its processes. If the quality of the software is
decaying, if technical debt is accumulating, if there is too much coupling among modules and
if the classes are not cohesive, then the team is not performing its goal, no matter how
efficient the process seems to be. If you are spending more time in stand-up and
retrospective meetings than on design and code reviews, then you are doing more
project management than software engineering.
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“Not say I want to say you, why you always say me.”
不是說我要說你，為什麼你總是說我

18. Back to “What Happened to my
UAT”
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"As a <role>, I want to <goal/desire/capability> so that
<benefit/business value>“
"As a System Owner/Sponsor, I want to conduct a full-fledge
UAT so that the FULLY integrated system capabilities can be
validated as a Whole and a successful rollout to production
for the business is assured“

19. How About Marrying Project Mgt
Framework Like PRINCE2 with SCRUM?
• Command & Control vs Collaboration
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Reference: White paper “Wrapping PRINCE2® around Agile. You can, but should you?” by
Roger Fance, UXC consulting, a partner of ISS in PRINCE2 training

20. Marrying Project Mgt Framework Like
PRINCE2 with SCRUM - cont’d
• Management by Exception vs Management by Rhythm
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Reference: White paper “Wrapping PRINCE2® around Agile. You can, but should you?” by
Roger Fance, UXC consulting, a partner of ISS in PRINCE2 training

21. Closing Thoughts
• Agile is here to stay
• Ride the wave or by wash away
• Start somewhere and experiment
(fail early, fail fast)
• Refine and Make adjustments
• It is not about Agile vs Traditional methods
• It is not about Scrum Master vs Project Mgr
• It is about thinking with an agile mindset and
doing with agile as a way of life
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The Force Awakens…

22. THANK YOU 
Tan Liong Choon
ISSTLC@nus.edu.sg
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