MOOC – Agile Project Management
Topic 1 – Introduction & Definition
Subject Mentor: Brenton Burchmore
Session Contents





Housekeeping
Masters Program Overview
Charles Sturt University
MOOC Outline & Topics
Topic 1
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Planning or Reacting?
Appeasing Stereotypes
Empirical Projects
Agile Sub-methods
Context & Content
Software Development
Running Agile
Housekeeping






The questions box
Online course portal
Forums
Webinar recording
Study guide
Pre-recorded lectures
http://learn.itmasters.edu.au
Agile Short Course
Part of subject
ITE518: Agile Project Management
Part of the
- Master of Project Management
- Master of Management (IT)
Master of Project Management
Core Subjects (7 Subjects):
University Electives (choose 3):
MGI511 Project Management Fundamentals
MGI512 The Project Lifecycle
MGI513 Enterprise Project Management
MGI517 Project Management Communications
HRM571 Managing People in the Information Age
MGT571 Contemporary Management Practice
MGT589 Managing Risk
FIN571 Managerial Finance
MGT572 Managing Organisational Change
MGT573 Strategic Practice
MKT571 Marketing for IT Managers
•
•
•
•
Industry Electives (choose 3):
MGI514 Project Management
Professional*
MGI518 Program Management
MGI522 Developing Solutions
ITE518 Agile software Development
PMI PMP certification = credit for 2 subjects
PRINCE2 certification = credit for 1 subject
To find out additional credit, fill out Eligibility Form at www.itmasters.edu.au
To contact Charles Sturt University Course Director: jhowarth@csu.edu.au
SW
ni
SA
N
ew
sh
St
ur
t
en
sl
an
d
ea
ki
n
gl
an
d
D
En
on
a
ha
rle
s
Q
ue
C
So
ut
he
rn
N
M
C
ow
So
an
ut
he
C
rn
en
Cr
tr
os
al
s
Q
ue
en
sl
an
d
Ed
ith
U
U
Market Leader: Distance Ed
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
Source: DEET
Market leader – IT, PG, Domestic
600
504
500
400
377
338
315
300
257
200
200
182
100
0
Charles Sturt
University
University of
Technology,
Sydney
RMIT
Monash
University
QUT
Swinburne
Curtin
University of
Technology
Course Outline
1. Definition
• Foundation
• Agile vs Chaos
• Relevance
2. Principles
• Value over Constraints
• Teams over Tasks
• Adapting over Conforming
3. Agile Model
• Agile Mindset
• Enterprise Framework
• Delivery Framework
4. Implementation
• Agile Phases
• Agile Planning
• Agile Scaling
Plannists or Reactivists?
 What are plannists?
 Why do we want planning?
 Expectations, surprises and chaos
 Joining the dots avoids stress
 Acuity, alacrity, celerity
 What stresses you?
 Agility requires audacity
Fortune favours the audacious
Desiderius Erasmus circa 1500
Plannists or Reactivists?
 Who are the Reactivists?
 I don’t exactly remember the plan…
 Decisions come from foundations of
understanding, wisdom and context
 Planning and plans are not the same
 Agility requires preparedness
Fortune favours the prepared mind
Louis Pasteur (late 1800s)
Appeasing Stereotypes
To the
Plannists:
To the
Reactivists:
Our best decisions will be based
on the most current information
which we don’t yet have
We need a strong source of
alignment for the team to
contextually contribute together
along the way
Our most important objectives
are only as stable as the
predictive certainty of our
client/customer
The journey may be flexible, but
the fundamental outcomes can
(and must) be defined,
understood and shared
The same important decisions
but in a different order
The same important decisions
but in a different order
Empirical Project Challenges
1. The client doesn’t know what they want
2. The client thinks they know what they want but are wrong
3. We don’t understand what the client wants
4. We think we understand but we are wrong
5. We don’t know how to do it
6. We thought we knew how but we were wrong
7. Changes to external factors alter the objectives
8. The client has learned along the way that they now want something different
9. We have learned along the way that we can offer something different
10. The budget (and therefore scope) has changed
Strictly Agile
Sub-methods developed
to bring some process
and even rigidity to Agile
An artificial strictness to
a fundamentally flexible
philosophy
Before we can pick and
choose we need to know
what they offer and why
Before we can apply we
need to understand and
engage the team
How does any method
affect the decisions?
How does any method
affect the team?
Content & Context for Decisions
Content is
King
Context is
Queen
Alignment
is our
Castle
Alignment
is not
agreement
A brief introduction
 Around 15 years experience as a software
development professional
 More than 20 software development projects, both
web based and desktop software in a range of
different organisations
 Currently working on an Agile project using the
scrum methodology and in the product owner role
 Working in the context of a small company which
has a larger non-Agile parent company
Software development is difficult!
 Software development is inherently difficult
– Software development projects do not have a high
success rate
– Evidence suggests that Agile software development
projects (change driven), fail less often than plan
driven projects and can offer reduced risk.
 Agile as a solution?
– Possibly, but not an easy one, for reasons which
may be surprising
So you want to run an Agile project
 Getting started
– Software governance structures
– PMO’s
 In Flight
– Organisational planning
– Reporting
– Software development practitioners
 Delivery
– Dev-Ops
– Maintenance
Summary
 Check out the online portal
 Tune in to the forums
 Listen to the recordings
 Drop in next week