Intriguing Project Management Concepts and Topics

I. AGILE APPROACHES
- Focuses on delivering maximum value against business priorities in the time and
budget allowed, especially when the drive to deliver is greater than the risk
- Agile is a project management approach based on delivering requirements
iteratively and incrementally throughout the life cycle
- More than fifty known and less known agile approaches, frameworks or
methods available

A.COMMON AGILE METHODOLOGIES

1) Kanban

- a Japanese word translated as “visual board or signboard” and connected to the

concept of “just in time”
- Uses visual methods for developing and managing projects. 
- This helps in increasing visibility teams as the teams can see the progress
through every stage of development and prepare for the upcoming tasks to
deliver the product “just in time”!
- this method requires thorough interaction and transparency to enable the team
members to be equipped with the right stage of the development at any time
and have a cohesive flow of work at all times.

2) Scrum
- One of the most popular agile methodologies which is depicted by various cycles
of development called sprints
- development time for each sprint is maximized and dedicated, thereby
managing only one sprint at a time.
- Scrum and agile methodologies focus on continuous deliverables, and thus this
method lets designers adjust priorities to ensure that any incomplete or overdue
sprints get more attention.
- Scrum Team has exclusive project roles such as a scrum master and a product
owner with constant communications on the daily scrum where the activities are
harmonized to devise the best way to implement the sprint.

3) Extreme Programming (XP)

- emphasizes teamwork, communication, and feedback.
- It focuses on constant development and customer satisfaction
- uses sprints or short development cycles
- developed by a team to create a productive and highly efficient environment. 
- very supportive in a situation of constant and varying demands from the
customers.
- It motivates the developers to accept changes in the customer’s demands, even
if they pop-up in an advanced phase of the development process. 
 - In Extreme Programming, the project is tested from the initial stages by
collecting feedback that progresses the output of the system. This also presents
a spot check to implement easily any customer requirements. 

4) Crystal
- Crystal is a group of smaller agile development methodologies comprising of
Crystal Yellow, Crystal Clear, Crystal Red, Crystal Orange, and more.
- Each has its peculiar and exclusive framework that is characterized by factors
such as system criticality, team size, and project priorities.
- Depending on the nature of the project or system criticality the kind of crystal
agile methodology is chosen.
- addresses prompt delivery of software, regularity, less administration with high
involvement of users, and customer satisfaction.
- advocates that each system or project is inimitable and necessitates the
solicitation of diverse practices, processes, and policies to achieve the best
results
- most lightweight methods of agile methodology.

5) Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)

- To address the need for a standard industry charter for the swift delivery of
software,
- gives a comprehensive structure that is defined and modified to create a plan,
execute, manage, and scale the procedure of software development.
- DSDM believes that modifications to the project are always expected, and
quality with timely delivery must never be negotiated. 

CONCLUSION
- A dynamic approach is required in choosing the right agile methodology among
the different types of agile methodology.
- The advantages and disadvantages of agile methodology must always be
considered to choose the framework for one’s business to entice talent and
convey remarkable digital experiences in this aggressively competitive market.

Resources: [ CITATION Aja20 \l 1033 ] [ CITATION Hen19 \l 1033 ]

https://www.apm.org.uk/resources/find-a-resource/agile-project-management/

II. PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICES

- is an office or department within an organization that defines and maintains
standards for project management.
- provides guidance and standards in the execution of projects.

Resources: https://www.planisware.com/hub/blog/5-major-roles-project-management-office-
plays-within-company
 TYPES OF PMO
A Supportive PMO is “the kumbaya” kind of PMO, says Fritsch, where a
PMO provides help if it’s needed. “Come on in, we’ll give you ideas,
give you best practices and you can ignore us completely and we won’t
say a thing.”

A Controlling PMO isn’t entirely hands off but it’s not a task master
either. “It puts in some measure of control of the projects,” said Fritsch.
It gives the company templates, procedures and reporting. It’s “that
mid-point sweet spot of enforcing some standards, providing all that
support, but the PMO is not in charge of everything,” he said, adding
that this is the most common type of PMO.

A Directive PMO is where the PMO directs project management of the

work, support and controls the world, and leaves no space for wiggle
room about following the templates, procedures and reporting
requirements outlined by the PMO. These are most common in highly
regulated, high risk environments.

https://www.cio.com/article/2441862/what-is-a-project-management-
office-pmo-and-do-you-need-one.html
III. PORTFOLIO PROJECT MANAGEMENT
-A portfolio is a collection of projects and programs that are managed as a group to
achieve strategic objectives. An organization may have one portfolio, which would then
consist of all projects, programs, and operational work within the company.

What Does a Portfolio Manager Do?

Portfolio management is the centralized management of one or more portfolios to

achieve an organization’s strategic objectives.

Within organizations, the reality is often that resources are limited, whether it’s dollars,
people, space, or equipment. Based on the organization’s strategy, there are several
projects and programs that could be done; it just needs to be decided which are the
right ones and in what order they should be completed.

Beyond prioritizing and selecting projects and programs, portfolio management is

balancing the portfolio so that the right projects and programs are selected and
implemented.

This is done to ensure projects align with an organization’s strategies, goals, and
objectives.

Portfolio managers, coordinate between various programs in order to ensure that

things stay on track and that the organization is meeting its overarching strategic
initiatives. Resourrces: [ CITATION Sha201 \l 1033 ]
IV. GOVERNANCE PROCESSES
Process Governance may include the activities of formulating, introducing,
controlling and reviewing policies, guidelines, rules, procedures, instruments and
technologies that guide process management practices within the organization.

Role of Process Governance

 -to guide Process Management
-to fill the gap between strategy and execution
-to help align the two and,
-consequently to increase productivity & generate value.
SOURCE: PDF
V. CRITICAL CHAIN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) strives to identify the critical set of tasks, and the
timeline needed to complete a project. However, CCPM takes it one step further, by taking
into consideration the resources (people, equipment, physical space, materials) needed to
complete the project.

The goal of CCPM is to identify the steps, timelines, and resources required to
complete a project — to give you a roadmap that you can follow to ensure you
complete more jobs on-time and on-budget.

A major problem with Critical Path Project Management is that while it works in theory it
fails to consider that in the real-world you do not have unlimited resources on your shop
floor — you only have so many workstations, staff members, etc. — and you also have
real-life constraints (i.e. bottlenecks) that exist in your shop, which determine how much
work can be completed. SOURCE: [CITATION Ann21 \l 1033 ]

VI. Web-based Project Management Software

-Web based project management software is the collection of programs, processes
and information that is used to manage various phases of a project and that is
accessible on the Internet.
-Project management entails processes such as scheduling, calculating a critical path,
building timelines, creating task lists, managing resources, controlling documents
and providing audit trails. Each of these processes can be controlled and sometimes
automated through project management software solutions.

Web based solutions are coded in a browser supported language such as HTML,
ASP or PHP so they can be accessed by clients through a web browser. One main
software version is installed and maintained on a server so that more than one client
can access this version.

One disadvantage to using Web-based software is that the program is usually slower
to respond than a typical desktop or client application; Web-based applications are
limited by the speed of one's Internet connection, while client applications operate
as quickly as the client's processor speed. (If you can think of a better way to phrase
this, by all means go ahead.) In addition, most information in Web-based
applications is not accessible when a user is offline.

SOURCE: [ CITATION Tec21 \l 1033 ] https://www.thebalancesmb.com/best-project-

management-software-4175032
 INTRIGUING PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS AND TOPICS

QUESTIONS:
1. Enumerate 5 common Agile Methods (Kanban, Crystal, DSDM, Scrum & Excessive
Programming)

2. Which type Project Management Offices that establishes control on projects, gives
company templates, procedures and reporting? (Controlling PMO)

3. This process includes activities of formulating, introducing, controlling and reviewing

policies, guidelines, rules procedures, instruments and technologies? (Governance
Processes)

4. What are the three types of PMO? (Supportive PMO, Controlling PMO, and Directive
PMO)

5. It is the centralized management of one or more portfolios to achieve an

organization’s strategic objectives. (Portfolio Management)

6. An agile methodology that focuses on constant development and customer

satisfaction. (Extreme Programming)

7. Enumerate a disadvantage of using Web-based Project Management Software.

(Information is not available offline)

8. It strives to identify critical set of tasks and timeline needed to complete a project.
(CCPM)

9. Kanban is a Japanese word translated as _________? ("visual board or signboard")

10. What are the six project management concepts and topics? (Agile Methodologies,
Project Management Offices, Portfolio Project Management, Governance Processes,
Critical Chain Project Management & Web-based Project Management Software)

11. It is a software of collection of programs, processes and information that is used to

manage various phases of a project? (Web-based Project Management Software)

12. It is a agile methodology with the acronym DSDM. (Dynamic Systems Development
Method)

13. It addresses prompt delivery of software. It is one of the common agile

methodologies. (Crystal)