Project Management the Agile Way, Second Edition

“…a well written and content rich book. From a teacher's perspective, using this book in an advanced project management seminar challenges students to understand the application of these concepts.” 
—Alexander Walton, PMP, IT consultant to the University of California at Berkeley

“…a readable treat. It clarifies and presents a common-sense approach to agile for those who are interested in understanding how agile and traditional project management stack up.”
—Paul Shaltry, PMP, Principal, Catalyst Management Consulting

Widely acclaimed as one of the top agile books in its first edition, Project Management the Agile Way has now been updated and redesigned by popular demand. This second edition is in a modular format to facilitate training and advanced course instruction, and provides new coverage of agile, such as hybrid agile methods, the latest public sector practices, and a chapter dedicated to transitioning to agile. It discusses the “grand bargain” between project management and business; the shift in dominance from plans to product and from input to output; and introduces new concepts such as return on benefit.

Experienced practitioners and students that want to learn how to make agile work effectively in the enterprise should read this book.

Individuals preparing for the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)^® examination, and training providers developing courses, will find this second edition quite helpful.

John C. Goodpasture, PMP, is a leading expert and program management practitioner, coach, author, and consulting manager for technology projects. Mr. Goodpasture is an accomplished quantitative risk manager, expert in cost/schedule estimating, and contract and sub-contract management. He is an experienced instructor of Agile methods, risk management, PMP prep, and quantitative methods. John is a skilled speaker, and published author of several books, and numerous magazine and journal articles and papers. He has engineering degrees from both Georgia Tech University and the University of Maryland. He is currently the Managing Principal at Square Peg Project Management Consulting and he gained his previous practitioner experience as a strategic project office director and systems engineering program director for Harris Corporation, as a program manager for the U.S. Department of Defense, and as vice president of a large document imaging company.

CHAPTER 1: A QUICK READ

Module 1: History, Background, and the Manifesto

Module 2: Traditional Lifecycle

Module 3—Objectives

Module 4: Scaling for Enterprise Agile

Module 5: Four Agile Methodologies

CHAPTER 2: THE AGILE BUSINESS CASE

Module 1: The Business Case

Module 1—Objectives

Module 2: Business Value Models

Module 3: Project Balance Sheet

Module 4: Building the Business Case by Levels

CHAPTER 3: QUALITY IN THE AGILE SPACE

Module 1: Quality Values and Principles

Module 2: Thought Leaders and Agile Quality

Module 3—Objectives

CHAPTER 4: AGILE IN THE WATERFALL

Module 1: First Principles and Requisite Conditions

Module 2: The Black Box, Interfaces, and Connectivity

Module 3: Governing

CHAPTER 5: DEVELOPING THE SCOPE AND REQUIREMENTS

Module 1: Agile Scope

Module 2: Envisioning

Module 3: Requirements

Module 4: Planning at a Distance

CHAPTER 6: PLANNING AND SCHEDULING

Module 1: Planning in the Enterprise Context

Module 2: Scheduling

Module 3: Other Plans in the Enterprise Agile Project

CHAPTER 7: ESTIMATING COST AND SCHEDULE

Module 1: The Nature of Estimates

Module 2: Drivers on Cost and Schedule

Module 3: Building Estimates

CHAPTER 8: TEAMS ARE EVERYTHING

Module 1: The Social Unit

Module 2: Principle and Values Guide Teams

Module 3: Teams Are Building Blocks

Module 4: Some Teams Work; Others Do Not

Module 5: Matrix Management in the Agile Space

CHAPTER 9: GOVERNANCE

Module 1: Governance Is Built on Quality Principles

Module 2: Governance Verifies Compliance

CHAPTER 10: MANAGING VALUE

Module 1: Defining and Accounting for Value

Module 2: Burn-down Charts and Value Scorecards

CHAPTER 11: SCALING UP AND CONTRACTING

Module 1: Scale Amplifies Every Problem

Module 2: Networks Enable Large Scale

Module 3: Virtual Teams Expand Throughput

Module 4: Agile-by-contract Enables Scale

CHAPTER 12 TRANSITIONING TO AGILE

Module 1: Business Leadership Transition

Module 1—Discussion for Critical Thinking

Module 2: Customer Relationship Transition

Module 3: Project Management Transition

Module 4: Portfolio Management Transition

Module 5: Agile Transition in the Public Sector

Appendix I: Methodologies

Appendix II: Glossary