PMI-ACP Course

Domain VII. Continuous Improvement

9% of the exam (11 questions)

Eng. Mahmoud Nassar YouTube channel

IBM Agile Coach, Kanban Agile Coach
PMP®, PMI-ACP®, CSM®, 6Sigma yellow belt
Domain VII. Outline
1. Domain VII. Tasks (6 Tasks)
2. Lesson Learned
3. Kaizen
4. Continuous Process Improvement
5. System Thinking
6. Value Stream Mapping
7. Project Pre-Mortem
8. Continuous Improvement - Product
9. Others
10. Questions
 Domain VII. Continuous Improvement (6 Tasks)

Continuously improve the quality, effectiveness, and value of the product, the process, and the team.

1. Periodically review and tailor the process

2. Improve team processes through retrospectives
3. Seek product feedback via frequent demonstrations
4. Create an environment for continued learning
5. Used values dream analysis to improve processes
6. Spread improvements to other groups in the organization
 Lessons Learned

• Lessons learned are captured in each iteration.

• Allows lessons to be applied in next iterations.
• The purpose of documenting lessons learned is to share
and use knowledge derived from experience.
 Kaizen

• Japanese word stands for ‘continuous improvement’

• Small incremental improvement
Continuous Process
Improvement
 Process Tailoring

• Adapting agile to better fit in project environment

• There is some risk with tailoring

 Hybrid Models

• Combination of two different types of things

• Scrum-XP & Scrumban

 Process Analysis

• Often done after process tailoring

• Reviewing and diagnosing issues with agile methods
 Value Stream Mapping

• Lean manufacturing technique adopted by agile

• A visual map of a process flow to identify delays waste and constraints
• Used to optimize the flow
 Value Stream Mapping Steps

1. Identify the product or service to be analyzed.

2. Create VSM for current process, identify steps, queues, delays and information.
3. Calculate the process cycle efficiency.
4. Review the map to find delays, waste and constraints which can be removed.
5. Create a new VSM and check the new process cycle efficiency.
6. Revisit the process in the future to continually refine and optimize it.
Value Stream Mapping
 Value Stream Mapping

Value Added Time

Process Cycle Efficiency = * 100
Lead Time
 Project Pre-Mortem

- A technique aims to identify possible failures before they happen.

- A product owner participation is a key
- Include four steps
1. Imagine the failure
2. Generate the reasons for the failure
3. Consolidate the list
4. Revisit the plan
 Continuous
Product
Improvement
• Product Reviews
• Product feedback & Retrospective
 Continuous
People
Improvement
• Retrospectives
• Team self-assessments
 Retrospective

• What worked / went well?

• What could be improved? / What caused problems?
• What can be done differently?
 Retrospective Steps

2 hours meeting

6 mins 40 mins 25 mins 20 mins 20 mins

 Set the stage

• Check-in
• Focus on/off
• ESVP (Explorer, Shopper, Vacationer & Prisoner)
• Working Agreement
Gather Data

• Time Line
• Triple nickels
• Mad sad or glad
• Locate Strengths
• Team Radar
• Like to Like
Generate Insights

• Brain Storming
• Prioritize with dots
• Five Whys
• Fishbone Analysis
Five Whys

• Exercise to discover the Cause and effect of a problem

• Ask why five times
• The goal is to find root cause
5 WHys
 Fishbone Analysis

• Also known as a cause and effect diagram

• Also known as an Ishikawa diagram
Retrospective Steps
Team Self Assessments
5 Questions on
Domain VII

© 2015 IBM Corporation 29

 Question 1

You are an agile Practitioner and you are encouraging your team to focus on small improvements.
What is this called:

A. Progressive elaboration
B. Agile discovery
C. Value stream analysis
D. Kaizen

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 Question 2

Your team is looking for ways to show the customer what they have built. Which tool you
recommend:

A. Retrospective
B. Simulation
C. Story map
D. Wireframe

© 2015 IBM Corporation 31

 Question 3

Your team is doing an analyze for the causes of a technical problem. Which tool could they use:

A. Fishbone Analysis
B. Value stream mapping
C. Prioritize with Dots
D. Brainstorming

© 2015 IBM Corporation 32

 Question 4

An agile team is having difficulty optimizing the flow of information and materials required to
complete a process. Which of the following tools help the team to optimize the flow:

A) Fast flexible design

B) Just in time
C) Build quality into the product
D) Value stream mapping

© 2015 IBM Corporation 33

 Question 5

A project has not been started yet, but the project stakeholders are discussing its failure. Which of
the following collaboration games are the stakeholders engaged in:

A) Project Pre-Mortem
B) Project post-mortem
C) Remember the future
D) Back to the future

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