This post was originally published (p28) as part of my recurring “Agile Project Manager” column in PM Network, PMI’s membership magazine. Other installments can be found here. It drives me crazy. I heard an agile consultant this week say, “We’re trying to force the client to track progress they way we want her to”. Really? Good luck with … Continue reading »
Agile experts tell us fixed price projects are immoral and declare that agility can only be delivered on a slippery schedule and budget. But what about the real world? What about fixed deadlines and fixed budgets? What about projects that are selected based on schedule and cost? How do you agile that? This post contains slides and webinars that will help you learn key principles for achieving agility in a fixed-price environment. Continue reading »
The most dramatic cause of project overruns is that we are doing more work than is absolutely necessary to achieve the high-level scope statement. But you can be the exception. Do not simply accept the project plan handed to you. Facilitate true innovation, which is delivering the most valuable business results from the least amount of work. Continue reading »
One of the stereotypes for agile approaches is that they only work for small projects. Ten or 15 years ago that might have been the case, but things are vastly different today. Agile techniques now are used as part of the day-to-day project operations of major organizations around the world. Here’s how they do it. Continue reading »
I’m excited to announce that I’m writing a book to help agile practitioners earn the new PMI-ACP agile certification. 4 years ago, I started by helping PMI launch the Agile Community of Practice. Then 2 years ago, I worked with some great experts on building the certification program. Now, this book is the next step … Continue reading »
Since PMI announced its Agile certification program a couple months back, there has been a ton of activity. Here are some specifics: Chatter – The PMI Agile Community about the certification has featured some good dialog (PMI Members only link) about what it means. The most interesting is a webinar debate between Alistair Cockburn and … Continue reading »
This post currently appears as the latest installment of my recurring “The Agile Project Manager” column in the January 2011 issue of PM Network magazine. PMI members can view the original printing of the column here: http://www.pmnetwork-digital.com/pmnetwork/201101?folio=17 “How much up-front planning should we do? How many people should we hire? How many meetings, documents and … Continue reading »
I just finished a week of activities at the PMI Leadership Institute Meeting, here in Washington DC. It was an amazing experience that reinforced to me the amazing value of volunteering at PMI. Leadership Masters Class is “High Class” My first 3 days were spent participating in the PMI Leadership Institute Masters Class program. This … Continue reading »
This is a reprint of my column in this month’s PM Network magazine. Click here, and then search for “The Agile Project Manager” I’m growing weary of project managers whining about bad requirements. The truth is, no one can possibly be surprised. From research studies to high-profile disasters, we hear over and over that incorrect … Continue reading »
Check it out: InfoQ has posted the video recording of my Agile 2009 presentation “Growing PMI Using Agile”. The video is 38 minutes long, but tells the story of how a group of PMI volunteers used iterative, incremental techniques to build a new community within PMI dedicated to promoting Agile PM.
