Sometimes you come across one of those very simple, yet amazingly effective tools that most people who have adopted it wonder how they ever did without. Today is one of those days. Kanban is a task scheduling method originally developed by the Toyota Production System in the 1960's to track inventory levels. Although it is being still used in some manufacturing … [Read more...]
In project management, the project team is the component of the project organizational chart that carries out the project's technical work. The project team reports to the project manager. For small projects, the project team and the project manager can be the same person. But this does not mean the distinctly separate roles are not present. The main project … [Read more...]
In the scrum development framework (part of the Agile project management methodology) the scrum master is the servant leader for the scrum team. They are not the boss nor the project manager. Rather, they promote scrum practices and facilitate scrum meetings. They are the resident scrum expert within the team and attempt to maximize the productivity of the … [Read more...]
In project management, efficiency is everything. Projects that run like well oiled machines create high quality products and delighted stakeholders, especially the product owner. Fortunately, the Agile roles and responsibilities make it easy to create just such a project. But let's get some semantics out of the way first. Agile does not have roles as such. It is … [Read more...]
The 12 Agile Principles, which were developed at the same time as the Agile Manifesto, provide a little bit more detail from the Agile founders relating to vision and implementation of the Agile project management methodology. In the 12 Principles, the founders expand on the four points in the Manifesto and provide a more detailed working explanation. The Agile … [Read more...]
The agile project management revolution has transformed project management. Instead of the fully planned and predictive methods of the past, the world now recognizes that an iterative, cyclical process is significantly faster and cheaper, even if you can't promise everything up front. The origins of this revolution trace back to the creation of the Agile … [Read more...]
By now most people have heard about the disaster of the OceanGate Titan, the underwater submersible that imploded on its way down to the Titanic wreck site carrying five billionaires on a tourist mission. I'm genuinely surprised about how little the project management community is talking about this, because the lessons appear to be vast. Although the cause is not … [Read more...]
One of the elements of Agile project management that makes it truly high performance is the Sprint Retrospective meeting. It takes place at the end of a sprint (project iteration) and its goal is to improve the processes being used by the project. Sprint Retrospectives are the secret that makes the agile project management system so effective in increasing productivity … [Read more...]
Sprint Review meetings represent the finish line of the sprint. It's a great feeling to finish a project iteration. In a sprint review meeting, finished product is presented to the product owner and the stage is set for the next iteration. In agile project management, a sprint review meeting is conducted at the conclusion of each 1-4 week long "sprint" … [Read more...]
The universe of Agile project management certifications is truly mind blowing. There are at least 27 different designations, with different letters after your name, from three major certifying bodies. In contrast, doctors, lawyers, and engineers only have one certification body in any location, and you can perform your education and practical requirements anywhere, … [Read more...]
