Lecture 14 : Agile Project Planning, Project Charter

Summary

This lecture introduces project charters and contrasts agile project planning with traditional waterfall methods. It outlines the elements of a project charter, such as purpose, scope, stakeholders, and budget. The lecture highlights agile's adaptive planning, customer involvement, and iterative approach, emphasizing flexibility and frequent feedback over the rigid, upfront planning of the waterfall model. Scrum, a popular agile framework, is detailed with its artifacts like product backlog and sprints, and events including daily scrums and sprint reviews, showcasing a project management style that embraces change and prioritizes customer value.

Takeaways

• 📜 **Project Charter**: It's a high-level document defining the scope of a project and is used to get approval to develop a project plan.
• 🎯 **Purpose and Goals**: The charter includes a clear statement of the project's purpose and objectives.
• 🚀 **Project Scope**: It outlines what is included and excluded from the project.
• 👥 **Stakeholders**: Lists all individuals and organizations involved in the project with their roles and responsibilities.
• 📅 **Timeline**: Includes a schedule of project milestones, including start and end dates.
• 💵 **Budget**: Provides an estimate of the project's cost and resources.
• 🔍 **Risk Assessment**: Identifies potential challenges and obstacles that may arise during the project.
• 📚 **Deliverables**: Lists the expected outcomes and results of the project.
• 🌟 **Agile Project Planning**: A method that embraces change and is adaptive, unlike the traditional waterfall approach which resists change.
• 🔄 **Adaptive Planning**: Agile project management updates the project plan as circumstances change, suitable for projects with uncertain requirements.
• 🏃 **Scrum Methodology**: A popular agile approach with defined roles, artifacts, and events to facilitate project planning and transparency.
• 🔄 **Scrum Artifacts**: Include the product backlog, sprint backlog, and product increment, which support project planning.
• 📈 **Sprint Planning**: A key scrum event where the team plans the work for the upcoming sprint, focusing on delivering value.

Q & A

What is a project charter?

A project charter is a high-level document that defines the scope of the project and is typically submitted to get project approval to move on to develop a project plan.

What are the typical elements of a project charter?

The typical elements of a project charter include project purpose and goals, project scope, project stakeholders, project timeline, project budget, project risk, and project deliverables.

What is the main difference between traditional project planning and agile project planning?

Traditional project planning follows a waterfall approach, which is linear and resistant to change. Agile project planning, on the other hand, embraces change and uses adaptive planning, which is particularly valuable for projects with uncertainty, varying requirements, and short deadlines.

How does Scrum support project planning?

Scrum supports project planning through a flexible and iterative approach, focusing on just-in-time planning where planning is done as late as possible and when the most is known about the project.

What are the key artifacts in Scrum that facilitate project planning?

The key artifacts in Scrum that facilitate project planning include the product backlog, which contains a complete list of requirements for developing or improving the product, and the sprint backlog, which is derived from the product backlog for each sprint.

What are the Scrum events for project planning?

The Scrum events for project planning include the sprint planning meeting, daily scrum, sprint review, and sprint retrospective. These events are designed to facilitate project planning and enhance the transparency of the project status.

Why is the sprint duration in Scrum limited to less than one month?

The sprint duration in Scrum is limited to less than one month to make the project's critical aspects more predictable with shorter planning horizons and to allow for more frequent feedback and adaptation.

How does the daily scrum meeting contribute to project planning?

The daily scrum meeting contributes to project planning by enhancing team communication and coordination, allowing the team to address challenges and adjust plans on a daily basis to meet the sprint goal.

What is the purpose of the sprint review in Scrum?

The sprint review in Scrum is a meeting held at the end of the sprint where the Scrum team and stakeholders review the work completed during the sprint, ensuring transparency and providing feedback for future planning.

How does the traditional waterfall approach differ from agile project management in terms of client involvement?

In the traditional waterfall approach, client involvement is typically at the beginning and end of the project. In contrast, agile project management involves the client throughout the project, encouraging continuous feedback and adaptation.

Can elements of agile project management be incorporated into traditional project management?

Yes, elements of agile project management such as increased customer involvement, greater experimentation, and adaptive planning can be incorporated into traditional project management to improve its effectiveness.