From the course: Agile Project Management with Microsoft Project

Review of agile project management

Agile approaches are great when an organization wants to obtain benefits sooner or business needs change frequently. You can work based on what you currently know about the business's needs. If those needs change, no problem. You simply add them to the backlog of work or the next iteration. Agile project management is the process you use to manage and implement agile projects. Two popular approaches to agile are Scrum and Kanban. In Scrum projects, work is performed in short spurts called iterations or sprints. The idea is to deliver value earlier in frequent small chunks and to accommodate changes more easily. All the sprints in a project are the same length which you define at the beginning of the project. Sprint durations are often set at two weeks long, although some organizations run sprints up to 12 weeks long. Unlike in traditional projects, the length of a sprint doesn't expand if the work in that sprint takes longer than estimated. Instead, the unfinished work is moved to the backlog or next sprint. Agile projects focus on delivering business value, not documentation. That's why team members are dedicated to the project. They work in close proximity and use face-to-face communication or robust collaboration tools. The product owner works closely with the team to decide which features will be delivered in each sprint. Documentation that might be produced in an agile project includes design documents, user stories, and a list of the prioritized features called the backlog. Documentation that is part of the project deliverables, like a user guide, might also be included. Documentation that doesn't support the project isn't created just to check a box. Kanban manages project work like an assembly line, which makes sense because Toyota created Kanban to streamline manufacturing. Kanban focuses on maintaining a steady workflow pace. In IT projects, Kanban is great for managing ongoing software maintenance or a steady delivery of new features, like the ones released frequently in cloud-based software products. A Kanban board makes it easy to visually track work as it progresses through the workflow. Teams focus on the work in progress, which reduces multitasking and increases productivity. Behind the scenes, the product owner can reprioritize work at any time. That way, when the team finishes one item, it simply picks the next item in the backlog. The goal is to optimize cycle time, that is, the time for work to get through the workflow. Roles within Kanban teams are flexible so everyone can pitch in to eliminate bottlenecks. There's some commonality between Scrum, Kanban, and traditional projects. You still spend time in the beginning to develop a vision for the project. You also develop requirements for deliverables, just not at the same time as in a traditional project. Although some agile methods differ from traditional ones, the team uses agreed-upon processes during the life of the project. Finally, communication with stakeholders is still critical to success.

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