PRINCE2 and Agile

PRINCE2 and Agile

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  PRINCE2® & takea walk on the Agile side! (Release 1.2) The training and consultancy team at Attra Partners writes: The recent economic crisis has lead to increasing cost and delivery pressures. Although from a governance perspective PRINCE2 is one of the project management methodologies, there is an (incorrect) impression that PRINCE2 is expensive, heavy handed and inflexible. The latest edition of PRINCE2 (released June 2009) does facilitate the use of an Agile delivery approach. PRINCE2 defined six aspects of project‟s performance that must be agreed and monitored: PRINCE2 also recommends that tolerances are specified for Time each of these six aspects. Benefits Cost Let‟s see how the SCOPE aspect can be used to “go Agile” – diagrams on the next pages summarise the fusion of these. (knowledge of PRINCE2 & Agile concepts are assumed.) If you have any questions or comments please email Risk Quality sales@attrapartners.com Scope Copyright © 2009 Attra Partners Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Attra Partners Ltd is prohibited Attra Partners Limited is an affiliate of Rovsing Management A/S. PRINCE2® is a Registered Trademark of the Rovsing Management A/S is an accredited ATO by the APMG on Office of Government Commerce in the behalf of the OGC (Office of Government Commerce U.K.). United Kingdom and other countries.
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  PRINCE2 PRINCE2® in an Agile mode (Processes) Agile Agile Agile Stage #1 Stage #2 Stage #3 Stage n Starting-up a Initiation Project Project Measure Delivery Delivery Delivery Mandate Pre-project Stage Directing DP Give ad-hoc Direction Authorize Project Closure Executive Authorize Authorize the Authorize a Stage Senior Supplier(s) Initiation Project or Exception Plan Senior User(s) ... Managing SU SB SB SB ... CP Project Manager IP CS CS ... CS Delivering Team Manager Scrum Master MP MP ... MP SU – Staring MP – Managing IP – Initiating SB – Stage DP – Directing CS – Controlling CP – Closing PRINCE2 up a Project Product Delivery a Project Boundaries a Project a Stage a Project Attra Partners Limited is an affiliate of Rovsing Management A/S. PRINCE2® is a Registered Trademark of the Rovsing Management A/S is an accredited ATO by the APMG on Office of Government Commerce in the behalf of the OGC (Office of Government Commerce U.K.). United Kingdom and other countries.
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  PRINCE2 PRINCE2® in an Agile mode (Notes) NOTES:  Agile mode can be adopted within a Stage to deliver products based on a priority order (such as the MOSCOW principle). SCOPE tolerance can be used to remain within the PRINCE2 philosophy.  The Managing a Stage Boundary (SB) process includes the “Plan the Next Stage” activity. It is here where we would create or refine all Product Descriptions (Specifications) for the next stage. In Agile mode and using SCOPE tolerance we can get Board Agreement to deliver as many of the important Products as possible within a Scrum Cycle (typically 4 weeks).  If the Product Breakdown Structure is not granular enough, then one can adapt the Product Description „s themselves indicating that some f the product‟s features are optional and will only be delivered if there is sufficient time within the Scrum cycle. If this is the case, then the same Product gets worked upon in the following Stage(s) or Scrum Cycles.  One difference between PRINCE2 and Agile is that in the later, the Users are heavily engaged as part of iterative development (equivalent of the MP – Managing Product Delivery process in PRINCE2). This would be acceptable as long as a reasonable agreement is reached before the beginning of the Stage (or Scrum cycle) on the key deliverables (even though not all features may be known). This is where a compromise needs to be reached as PRINCE2 needs the possible features/Scope tolerance to be determined, while pure Agile would entail developing potentially new features (or fine tuning them) during a Scrum cycle. Project Product Description PD1 PD2 PD3 Must have Nice to have Attra Partners Limited is an affiliate of Rovsing Management A/S. PRINCE2® is a Registered Trademark of the Rovsing Management A/S is an accredited ATO by the APMG on Office of Government Commerce in the behalf of the OGC (Office of Government Commerce U.K.). United Kingdom and other countries.
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  PRINCE2 (Organization) PRINCE2® in an Agile mode Corporate or programme management Project Board Senior Supplier(s) 1 Senior User(s) Executive (inc Design Authority) Business, User & Supplier Change Authority 4 Project Assurance Emphasis on Documentation Project Manager Project Support Team Manager 2 (Scrum Master) 3 Team members 1 It is important to include a Design Authority/Architects as 2 Scrum Mater takes the role of the Team Manager part of the Senior Supplier representation. This is to address 3 User involvement working within the product one of the pitfalls of Agile where iterative development may development team(s) lead to solutions that does not conform to design blue-prints leading to products that are very difficult to subsequently 4 Project Assurance should make special provision to upgrade/enhance to meet future business need. ensure the Products are properly documented (frequently a downside of Agile - “abuse of the Agile method”) Attra Partners Limited is an affiliate of Rovsing Management A/S. PRINCE2® is a Registered Trademark of the Rovsing Management A/S is an accredited ATO by the APMG on Office of Government Commerce in the behalf of the OGC (Office of Government Commerce U.K.). United Kingdom and other countries.