Agile Project Management For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Agile Project Management For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by Mark C. Layton, Steven J. Ostermiller
Released September 2017
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781119405696

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Book description

Flex your project management muscle

Agile project management is a fast and flexible approach to managing all projects, not just software development. By learning the principles and techniques in this book, you'll be able to create a product roadmap, schedule projects, and prepare for product launches with the ease of Agile software developers. You'll discover how to manage scope, time, and cost, as well as team dynamics, quality, and risk of every project.

As mobile and web technologies continue to evolve rapidly, there is added pressure to develop and implement software projects in weeks instead of months—and Agile Project Management For Dummies can help you do just that. Providing a simple, step-by-step guide to Agile project management approaches, tools, and techniques, it shows product and project managers how to complete and implement projects more quickly than ever.

  • Complete projects in weeks instead of months
  • Reduce risk and leverage core benefits for projects
  • Turn Agile theory into practice for all industries
  • Effectively create an Agile environment

Get ready to grasp and apply Agile principles for faster, more accurate development.

Table of contents

    1. Cover
    2. Introduction
      1. About This Book
      2. Foolish Assumptions
      3. Icons Used in This Book
      4. Beyond the Book
      5. Where to Go from Here
    3. Part 1: Understanding Agile
      1. Chapter 1: Modernizing Project Management
        1. Project Management Needed a Makeover
        2. Introducing Agile Project Management
      2. Chapter 2: Applying the Agile Manifesto and Principles
        1. Understanding the Agile Manifesto
        2. Outlining the Four Values of the Agile Manifesto
        3. Defining the 12 Agile Principles
        4. Adding the Platinum Principles
        5. Changes as a Result of Agile Values
        6. The Agile Litmus Test
      3. Chapter 3: Why Being Agile Works Better
        1. Evaluating Agile Benefits
        2. How Agile Approaches Beat Historical Approaches
        3. Why People Like Being Agile
    4. Part 2: Being Agile
      1. Chapter 4: Agile Approaches
        1. Diving under the Umbrella of Agile Approaches
        2. Reviewing the Big Three: Lean, Scrum, and Extreme Programming
        3. Putting It All Together
      2. Chapter 5: Agile Environments in Action
        1. Creating the Physical Environment
        2. Low-Tech Communicating
        3. High-Tech Communicating
        4. Choosing Tools
      3. Chapter 6: Agile Behaviors in Action
        1. Establishing Agile Roles
        2. Establishing New Values
        3. Changing Team Philosophy
    5. Part 3: Agile Planning and Execution
      1. Chapter 7: Defining the Product Vision and Product Roadmap
        1. Agile Planning
        2. Defining the Product Vision
        3. Creating a Product Roadmap
        4. Completing the Product Backlog
      2. Chapter 8: Planning Releases and Sprints
        1. Refining Requirements and Estimates
        2. Release Planning
        3. Sprint Planning
      3. Chapter 9: Working throughout the Day
        1. Planning Your Day: The Daily Scrum
        2. Tracking Progress
        3. Agile Roles in the Sprint
        4. Creating Shippable Functionality
        5. The End of the Day
      4. Chapter 10: Showcasing Work, Inspecting, and Adapting
        1. The Sprint Review
        2. The Sprint Retrospective
      5. Chapter 11: Preparing for Release
        1. Preparing the Product for Deployment: The Release Sprint
        2. Preparing for Operational Support
        3. Preparing the Organization for Product Deployment
        4. Preparing the Marketplace for Product Deployment
    6. Part 4: Agile Management
      1. Chapter 12: Managing Scope and Procurement
        1. What’s Different about Agile Scope Management?
        2. Managing Agile Scope
        3. What’s Different about Agile Procurement?
        4. Managing Agile Procurement
      2. Chapter 13: Managing Time and Cost
        1. What’s Different about Agile Time Management?
        2. Managing Agile Schedules
        3. What’s Different about Agile Cost Management?
        4. Managing Agile Budgets
      3. Chapter 14: Managing Team Dynamics and Communication
        1. What’s Different about Agile Team Dynamics?
        2. Managing Agile Team Dynamics
        3. What’s Different about Agile Communication?
        4. Managing Agile Communication
      4. Chapter 15: Managing Quality and Risk
        1. What’s Different about Agile Quality?
        2. Managing Agile Quality
        3. What’s Different about Agile Risk Management?
        4. Managing Agile Risk
    7. Part 5: Ensuring Agile Success
      1. Chapter 16: Building a Foundation
        1. Organizational and Individual Commitment
        2. Choosing the Right Pilot Team Members
        3. Creating an Environment That Enables Agility
        4. Support Agility Initially and Over Time
      2. Chapter 17: Scaling across Agile Teams
        1. Multi-Team Agile Projects
        2. Making Work Digestible through Vertical Slicing
        3. Aligning through Roles with Scrum at Scale
        4. Multi-Team Coordination with LeSS
        5. Reducing Dependencies with Nexus
        6. Joint Program Planning with SAFe
        7. Modular Structures with Enterprise Scrum
      3. Chapter 18: Being a Change Agent
        1. Becoming Agile Requires Change
        2. Why Change Doesn’t Happen on Its Own
        3. Strategic Approaches to Implementing and Managing Change
        4. Platinum Edge’s Change Roadmap
        5. Avoiding Pitfalls
        6. Signs Your Changes Are Slipping
    8. Part 6: The Part of Tens
      1. Chapter 19: Ten Key Benefits of Agile Project Management
        1. Better Product Quality
        2. Higher Customer Satisfaction
        3. Reduced Risk
        4. Increased Collaboration and Ownership
        5. More Relevant Metrics
        6. Improved Performance Visibility
        7. Increased Project Control
        8. Improved Project Predictability
        9. Customized Team Structures
        10. Higher Team Morale
      2. Chapter 20: Ten Key Factors for Project Success
        1. Dedicated Team Members
        2. Collocation
        3. Automated Testing
        4. Enforced Definition of Done
        5. Clear Product Vision and Roadmap
        6. Product Owner Empowerment
        7. Developer Versatility
        8. Scrum Master Clout
        9. Management Support for Learning
        10. Transition Support
      3. Chapter 21: Ten Metrics for Agile Organizations
        1. Return on Investment
        2. Satisfaction Surveys
        3. Defects in Production
        4. Sprint Goal Success Rates
        5. Time to Market
        6. Lead and Cycle Times
        7. Cost of Change
        8. Team Member Turnover
        9. Skill Versatility
        10. Manager-to-Creator Ratio
      4. Chapter 22: Ten Valuable Resources for Agile Professionals
        1. Agile Project Management For Dummies Online Cheat Sheet
        2. Scrum For Dummies
        3. The Scrum Alliance
        4. The Agile Alliance
        5. The Project Management Institute Agile Community
        6. International Consortium for Agile (ICAgile)
        7. InfoQ
        8. Lean Enterprise Institute
        9. Extreme Programming
        10. Platinum Edge
    9. About the Authors
    10. Connect with Dummies
    11. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Agile Project Management For Dummies, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Mark C. Layton, Steven J. Ostermiller
  • Release date: September 2017
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781119405696