The Agile PMO. How the traditional project management office fits into the Agile landscape

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1 The Agile PMO How the traditional project management office fits into the Agile landscape

2 Diana Getman linkedin.com/in/dianagetman Chief of Staff Ascendle

3 Strategy Business Innovation Support Building

4 35+ years Software development experience 200+ Software and quality assurance engineers 5 Development centers (US and Eastern Europe) 3,000 hours Typical project effort 7 months Typical project duration $500,000 Typical project value 480% 3 year revenue growth 114% 1 year revenue growth +20% Net income

5 A Brief History of Agile

6 1940 s Toyota hires American W. Edwards Deming He helps beginning development of the Toyota Production System (TPS) The start of lean thinking... And the roots of agile Araya, H., When was Agile born? [Online]. Available at

1940 s Lockheed Skunk Works Designs and builds the XP-80, the first U.S. jet fighter, in 143 days Dedicated, cross-functional team Trial and error Parallel activities Frequent inspection Araya, H.

7 1940 s Lockheed Skunk Works Designs and builds the XP-80, the first U.S. jet fighter, in 143 days Dedicated, cross-functional team Trial and error Parallel activities Frequent inspection Araya, H., When was Agile born? [Online]. Available at

8 1940 s The Manhattan Project Dedicated, crossfunctional team Trial and error Parallel trials Lenfle, S. & Loch, C., 2010, Lost Roots: How Project Management Came to Emphasize Control Over Flexibility and Novelty [Online]. Available at

1950 s X-15 Dedicated, crossfunctional team Iterative development Araya, H., 2016.

9 1950 s X-15 Dedicated, crossfunctional team Iterative development Araya, H., When was Agile born? [Online]. Available at

10 1950 s Project Mercury Dedicated, crossfunctional team Incremental software development Half-day iterations Test-driven development Araya, H., When was Agile born? [Online]. Available at Lenfle, S. & Loch, C., 2010, Lost Roots: How Project Management Came to Emphasize Control Over Flexibility and Novelty [Online]. Available at

1950 s Atlas/Titan Separate, dedicated organization Cross-functional team Major overlap between research, development, construction Parallel work on both Atlas and its backup, Titan Lenfle, S.

11 1950 s Atlas/Titan Separate, dedicated organization Cross-functional team Major overlap between research, development, construction Parallel work on both Atlas and its backup, Titan Lenfle, S. & Loch, C., 2010, Lost Roots: How Project Management Came to Emphasize Control Over Flexibility and Novelty [Online]. Available at

12 Then something happened

13 1960 s Lenfle, S. & Loch, C., 2010, Lost Roots: How Project Management Came to Emphasize Control Over Flexibility and Novelty [Online]. Available at

org/wiki/canon_ae-1#/media/file:canon_ae-1_with_50mm_f1.8_s.c._ii.jpg https://en.wikipedia.

14 Late 1970 s Early 1980 s Some bucked the waterfall trend Canon Fuji-Xerox Honda IBM Dedicated, cross-functional team of 12 engineers Converted warehouse in Boca Raton, FL Developed the IBM PC in 13 months Takeuchi, H. & Nonaka, I., The New New Product Development Game. Harvard Business Review, January-February, pp

15 1986: What s Old is New Again The traditional sequential or relay race approach to product development may conflict with the goals of maximum speed and flexibility. Instead, a holistic or rugby approach where a team tries to go the distance as a unit, passing the ball back and forth may better serve today s competitive requirements. Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka The New New Product Development Game Harvard Business Review, January-February 1986

16 1995: Scrum is Born Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber Schwaber, K., SCRUM Development Process. Business Object Design and Implementation: OOPSLA 95 Workshop Proceedings, pp

17 Agile Manifesto We value Over Individuals and Interactions Working Software Customer Collaboration Responding to Change Processes and Tools Comprehensive Documentation Contract Negotiation Following a Plan Beck, K. et al., Manifesto for Agile Software Development. [Online]. Available at:

11th Annual State of Agile Report. [Online].

18 Top 3 Agile Benefits Ability to Manage Changing Priorities Increased Team Productivity Improved Project Visibility VersionOne, th Annual State of Agile Report. [Online]. Available at:

19 Agile Processes 68% Scrum or Scrum/XP Scrum Scrum & XP Custom Hybrid Scrumban Kanban Other Iterative Don't Know Lean

20 Characteristics of Scrum Scrum is one of the agile processes, focused on delivering the highest business value in the shortest amount of time. The business sets the priorities and teams self-organize to decide the best way to deliver the highest-priority features. Progress is made in an iterative and incremental fashion via fixed-length production cycles called sprints of one week to one month. At the end of each sprint, the product is usable and the business can decide to release it as-is or continue enhancing it.

21 Which Projects Should be Agile? Routine Execution Novel or Strategic Project Requirements Defined and given from above General vision and direction, but detailed goals not known and partially emergent Activities Can be articulated and derived from experience Partially emergent Capabilities Existent or identified Don t necessarily exist, not necessarily understood Uncertainty Variation and risks that can be anticipated Unforeseeable uncertainty: new variables, new effects, new actions, which could not be anticipated at the outset Characteristics Known markets and customer reactions Known performance drivers of the developed system Known environmental parameters New markets and unknown customer reactions New performance drivers of the developed system Unknown technology Complexity with unforeseeable interactions among drivers and variables New geographies with unforeseeable regulatory challenges New stakeholders with emergent demands Waterfall Agile Lenfle, S. & Loch, C., 2010, Lost Roots: How Project Management Came to Emphasize Control Over Flexibility and Novelty [Online]. Available at

22 Requirements Well-defined Undefined Noise Level Complex Chaotic Agile is a good fit for complicated and complex projects Emerging requirements Uncertain technology and methods Waterfall Complicated Simple Certain Agile Technology Uncertain Waterfall is appropriate for simple projects Well-defined requirements Known technology and methods Schwaber, K. & Beedle, M., Agile Software Development With Scrum. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR.

23 Scrum Sprint Daily Scrum 1 Week to 1 Month 24 Hrs Product Backlog Sprint Backlog Product Increment

24 The Sprint Fixed duration production cycle 1 week to a calendar month at most All work is done during the sprint Design Build Test Accept

25 Sprint Duration No change allowed during a sprint Select the longest you can go without changes Sweet spot: 2 weeks Enough time to get momentum Short enough to change direction

26 10 Things in Scrum Roles Product Owner ScrumMaster Development Team Ceremonies Sprint Planning Daily Scrum Sprint Review Retrospective Artifacts Product Backlog Sprint Backlog Product Increment

27 It may appear to be a leap of faith Typical PM responsibilities are shared with Scrum teams PMs may wonder How do I fit in? Scrum literature is quiet about the role of the PMO

28 Two Outcomes Negative Positive

29 Traditional PM Responsibilities Are Split Product Owner Business Goals Traditional Project Manager ScrumMaster Facilitating the Process Development Team Determines How to Execute PMO

30 PMO can make huge contributions People Projects Process

People Develop Training Program Provide Coaching Select/Train Coaches Challenge Existing Behaviors PMO facilitates creation Select outside trainers Or deliver themselves Training is first step Needs

31 People Develop Training Program Provide Coaching Select/Train Coaches Challenge Existing Behaviors PMO facilitates creation Select outside trainers Or deliver themselves Training is first step Needs follow-up with hands-on guidance PMO may not initially have skills, but can get trained Needs outstrip PMO as Scrum grows Develop internal coaches to help scale Coaches keep current job ~5 hours/week helping a team Watch out for old habits creeping back in Remind teams of need for continuous improvement

32 Projects Assist With Reporting Assist With Compliance Manage Flow of New Projects Help Establish and Collect Metrics Satisfy reporting requirements that can t be abandoned Communicate status information about projects Example: Prepare weekly report Example: Facilitate weekly status meeting ISO 9001, Sarbanes- Oxley, HIPAA, PCI, etc. Or organizationspecific Help teams with awareness How to comply Central source of information Limit work flowing into teams Prevent overloading teams Help organization resist tendency to start projects too quickly Warning: Scrum teams are leery of metrics programs Determine how well teams are doing at delivering business value Measurements: team velocity, projected release timeframe, meeting projections

33 Process Reduce Waste Communities of Practice Consistency Across Teams Provide/Maintain Tools Avoid introducing extra stuff unless absolutely necessary Documents Meetings Approvals Help teams aggressively eliminate what s not adding value Group of like-minded or like-skilled individuals Examples: Architects Front-end developers Product owners Supports Sharing of ideas Best practices PMO can help with formation and support PMO helps spread best practices among teams Caution: Avoid mandates dictated to teams Best result: All or most teams agree on practices Communicated via communities of practice and shared coaches Tool selection should be left up to individual teams But some universal tools make sense Example: JIRA PMO can help teams acquire tools and help configure them

34 Process (Continued) Coordinate Teams PMO has cross-team view and can identify problems early Can raise a red flag if work of multiple teams begins to diverge or overlap Model the use of Scrum Many PMOs adopt Scrum for their own internal management Plan sprints, conduct daily standups, etc. Work With Other Groups Help teams coordinate with other groups such as HR and facilities Example: Explain why teams should be colocated Adjust performance reviews to eliminate questions that discourage teamwork

35 Renaming the PMO A new name may better match the revised role Examples Scrum Center of Excellence Scrum Competence Center Scrum Office Development Support Product Center of Excellence Agile Center of Excellence Agile Project Office

36 Recommended Reading

37 Live Session for Your Team

38 Thank You! Diana Getman linkedin.com/in/dianagetman Ascendle.com Ascendle.com/blog

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