Thu, 20 October 2011
Agile project management? Or is it agile project management? Method or philosophy? SCRUM or DSDM Atern? And can someone tell me which one the APM Group's certification is tailored after? These are some of the questions we've been asking about Agile from the project management community. There's plenty of confusion about what Agile means to practitioners in project management - just take a look yourself by performing a Google search! We got really interested in March 2011 when the UK Government launched its new ICT strategy mandating all projects become smaller in scope and more Agile in method. Was it just a new buzzword for government project departments? Can the PRINCE2 ingrained ways of the ICT personnel translate easily to an Agile way? And again - which kind of Agile method is the Cabinet Office talking about, anyway? We've enlisted the help of the Agile guru Keith Richards, who lays out for project managers what Agile can do, what it can't do, and also tackle that "method or philosophy" question. Our next author is Arras' John Thorpe, who tackles that same question and also applies the emergency brake to what sometimes feels like a runaway train bound for widespread Agile adoption without a true understanding of what we're getting ourselves into. Finally, Dan Strayer talked to Agile's advocates (agilistas and PMs), sorting through the benefits Agile can bring to certain projects while also getting a better appreciation for how Agile PM can be applied improperly. We also take a look at the professional bodies response to Agile and project management with courses and accreditations. |
