Valuable Project Management Tools and Techniques Why I Do What I Do the Way I Do It – an Introduction to the Mind of Shannon Shannon Bradley – September 1, 2017

Techniques No Project Manager Should Do Without Quality Communication It has to be regular Actions speak louder than words - and in business repeated actions are what shape our reputation Regular communication should relay both good and bad news With bad news – the earlier the better Twice is best – First when you know there is an issue and second when you know the details Confirm preferred individual communication preference at the beginning of the project Phone, Email, Chat, or In-Person Beginning and Ending Project Summaries are important Project Charter/Scope – so there is no question about what is being delivered Closing Documents – so project completion is verified and it can be referenced in the future Documented Changes should not be optional

Shannon’s View on Agile Project Management Provide new development in a highly flexible and interactive manner Requires capable individuals from the relevant involved parties, openness to consistent customer input throughout the process, and openness to non- hierarchical forms of leadership Designed to avoid various obstacles that develop in more sequential forms of project organization Method can be Fully agile where team completes small portions of the project deliverables in each delivery cycle; some can be completed before the end of project Or iterative where team progresses on the entire set of deliverables over time; completing them near the end of the project Unlike Waterfall where a stage must finish before the next can begin End result is a project that best meets current customer needs and is delivered with minimal costs, waste, and time, enabling companies to successfully complete a project earlier than via traditional approaches https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_management

Scrum Think of it as a framework for managing processes surrounding a project Scrum relies on a self-organizing, cross-functional team there is no overall team leader who decides which person will do which task or how a problem will be solved issues are decided by the team as a whole each person contributes in whatever way they can to complete the work of each sprint Scrum processes define a specific method for planning, updates, reviewing and feedback that allows for deliverables to be completed during each project timeframe subset This allows the team to have incremental delivery of features or segments of the project which allows speedy utilization rather than a big release in the future when everything is completed Immediate gratification rather than realizing all value at the end https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/agile/scrum

Agile Methodologies “All Over the Place” in Addition to Scrum Adaptive software development (ASD) Agile modeling Agile Unified Process (AUP) Crystal Clear methods Disciplined agile delivery Dynamic systems development method (DSDM) Extreme programming (XP) Feature-driven development (FDD) Lean software development RAD (Rapid Application Development)

What Programmers Like? At the core a programmer dislikes and distrusts micromanagement. They are the best person to know their own capabilities and what is best to work on during a particular programming day or time frame. Micromanagement of a programmer leads to lack of ownership and lack of vesting in the success of a project and you basically turn them into a Code Monkey instead of a Developer. The most typical cause of failed agile implementations is insufficient training. Teams assume that there are no real set processes for development (unlike Waterfall) and there are no actual rules because of the need to move quickly and adapt. Each type of Agile development does have a prescribed set of methodologies which all team members should be familiar with and follow.

Better than any Methodology: Listen to One Another Acknowledging input from other team members and stakeholders does not mean forming judgments about it When we listen we are exposed to and have the opportunity to recognize additional facts from multiple viewpoints so that we can make a wise choice based on how things are for all involved — not how we think they are or want them to be