September 2006 – Leading Answers

September 29, 2006Agile Project Management

Visualizing Methodology Scope

When introducing agile methods we need to consider factors such as lifecycle coverage, roles, and activities. Methodology Scope Diagrams provide a way of illustrate these characteristics and quickly highlight gaps in coverage for further consideration. For example, many agile methods don’t really start until a candidate list of features has been identified. So while they may offer great ways to develop software, they may not provide much in the way of project feasibility guidance. Before discarding existing practices, we need to determine if they are really required and if so, if they need to be replaced or retained.

September 27, 2006Leadership

Leading Teams – First Comes Credibility

When leading teams, credibility is a prerequisite for support from the group. This does not mean that you have to be an expert in the project domain, or have a stellar record of leading teams on complex projects (although these help). Instead in means that people trust you as a person, they believe that you are looking towards the right end goal, have a fair idea of how to get there, and can generate enthusiasm for the work. James Kouzes and Barry Posner, authors of the best selling book “The Leadership Challenge” have undertaken extensive studies that ask company employees “What values do you look for in a leader?” Over a 10 year period they have amassed answers from over […]

September 25, 2006Agile Project Management, Events

Agile and “Traditional PMI” Methods

On November 7-9 the Agile Business Conference and Leadership Summit will be taking place in London featuring agile and leadership presentations and workshops. I will be presenting on “Utilising Agile Methods alongside the PMBOK Guide”. This is the same title as a presentation I gave at the PMI Global Congress conference in Anaheim in 2004. I will of course be updating the material and tailoring it for the audience, but how the title came about is an interesting story. For a number of years I had been submitting outlines for the PMI’s annual Global Congress conference and despite, what I considered, good content they were all rejected. The titles were a bit controversial, like “Agile Methods as a Replacement to […]

September 22, 2006Agile Project Management, Estimating, Events, Planning

Next Calgary APLN Meeting Sold Out

The next Calgary Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN) meeting on Thursday October 12th is full. However we are currently putting names on a wait list in case of cancellations, so if you would still like to attend this event send an email with your contact details to register@calgaryapln.org and we will see if we can get you in. For those of you already signed up, I’m sure the presentation will be very interesting. Rob Morris from CDL Systems will be talking about “Estimating and Planning Agile projects” and I had a chance to review Rob’s material earlier this week. It looks really good and draws from Rob’s deep experience along with materials from Mike Cohn and Steve McConnell. Event: […]

September 21, 2006Leadership

Leading Teams in a Flat World – Part 2

I listened to the Tenrox “Managing People in a Flat World” webinar earlier this week, the title of which inspired my first “Leading Teams in a Flat World” post a week ago. The webinar did not elaborate on Flat World needs much, but launched very quickly into the sales pitch for their project management tool. This was OK and really all I expected from a vendor company, kudos to them for at least tying the webinar into a timely, relevant best-seller. However, it did get me thinking into how companies should be preparing to harness Flat World forces. When new tools became available during previous work revolutions, organizations were slow and clumsy to adopt them. When electricity replaced steam-power, companies […]

September 19, 2006Agile Project Management, Metrics, Risk Management

Creating Risk Profile Graphs

Risk management is an important activity on both traditional and agile projects. This article will introduce a method for quickly visualizing the risk status of a project and identifying risk trends. A widely accepted definition of a risk is: “A discreet occurrence that may affect the project for good or bad” However, I prefer the less comprehensive, but higher impact statement: “Today’s risks could be tomorrow’s problems” We need to actively attack risks before they become problems on the project. Unfortunately, all too often risk analysis and risk management steps are conducted alongside the regular project tasks rather than being drivers for work scheduling. Risk management plans and risk lists are created, but their findings do not influence task selection […]

September 17, 2006Agile Project Management, Leadership

Five Myths of Leadership

“In no other area of management education is the concept of myth as prevailing as in leadership.” – Jeffery Pinto, Project Leadership: from Theory to Practice. Agile project management is more closely aligned to leadership best practice than traditional project management best practice. However, the domain of leadership is rife with myths and misconceptions. It also has an “elitist” reputation which puts most people off wanting to learn more about it since our sense of humility guides us away from pursuing such egotistical goals. This produces a vicious circle, we have these misconceptions about leadership, but because it seems egocentric we leave it alone and do not overcome them. This is a shame because when you strip away the myths; […]

September 14, 2006October 26, 2025Agile Project Management, Metrics

Creating and Interpreting Cumulative Flow Diagrams

Cumulative Flow Diagrams (CFDs) are valuable tools for tracking and forecasting agile projects. Today we will look at creating CFDs and using them to gain insights into project issues, cycle times, and likely completion dates. In Microsoft Excel a CFD can be created using the “Area Graph” option. The attached file “Example CFD.XLS” contains the data used to create the CFDs in this article, including the one shown below. Figure 1 – Sample Cumulative Flow Diagram Download CFD_Example.xls Interpreting CFDs Figure 1 shows the features completed verses the features remaining for a fictional project that is still in progress. The red area represents all the planned features to be built, this number has risen from 400 to 450 in June […]

September 13, 2006Leadership

Leading Teams in a Flat World – Part 1

I recently received an invite for a webinar entitled “Managing People and Projects in a Flat World” that occurs next week. I’m not keen on the term “managing people” as I believe “We manage property and lead people. If you try to manage people they feel like property.” However the general topic is interesting and so I thought a more appropriate theme for a post might be “Leading Teams in a Flat World” First, we should define what a “Flat World” is. The term comes from the best selling book “The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas L. Friedman. In the book Friedman builds a compelling argument for an impending globalization we are just […]

September 12, 2006Estimating, Events, Planning

Calgary APLN Meeting: “Estimating and Planning Agile Projects”

The next Calgary Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN) meeting will be on Thursday October 12th when Rob Morris from CDL Systems will be talking about “Estimating and Planning Agile projects”. Here are the details: Event: Calgary APLN: “Agile Estimation and Planning” Presenter: Rob Morris, Principle Software Engineer, CDL Software Date: Thursday October 12, 2006 Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (registration will commence at 11:30 AM) Light beverages to be provided Location: 5th Avenue Place – Conference Room Suite 202, 420 – 2nd Street SW Topic: “Agile Estimation and Planning” Rob’s presentation will explore Agile estimation and how it can be used in determining what can be accomplished within an iteration and how to estimate multi-iteration release plans. He will […]