Introduction to Agility for Project Managers

What is Agile:

Agile is a set of principles for building a business soluƟon in which requirements and soluƟons evolve through collaboraƟon between self‐organizing, cross‐funcƟonal teams. It promotes adapƟve planning, evoluƟonary development, early delivery, and conƟnuous improvement, and it encourages rapid and flexible response to emerge. Agile itself has never defined any specific methods to achieve this, but many have grown up as a result and have been recognized as being 'Agile'.

What is Project Management: Project management is the way a person organizes and manages resources that are necessary to complete a project.

Now let’s re‐read these 2 definiƟons together. Agile is a methodology and Project Management is applying the methodology to deliver business benefits through Projects.

Agility is now the buzz word across all Industries, but its adopƟons has been highest in IT Service Delivery OrganizaƟons. Moving to an Agile OperaƟng Model is a challenge many organizaƟons are facing specially the large corporaƟons for the reasons very well known to this community of Project Managers.

A project is not one funcƟon or one team approach. Many funcƟons of the organizaƟon must work together at the same pace to build a stronger business soluƟon and “Deliver Business Value faster”. A comprehensive transformaƟon model must touch mulƟple facets of the organizaƟon.

In an endeavor to support the Project Managers and OrganizaƟons to adapt to the Agile methodology is called “Agile TransformaƟon”. There are many models available to help OrganizaƟons to smoothen their transformaƟon journey. One of such models is “Disciplined Agile”.

Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) is a people‐first, learning‐

oriented hybrid agile approach to IT soluƟon delivery. It has a risk‐value delivery

lifecycle, is goal‐driven, is enterprise aware, and is scalable. DAD provides a carefully

constructed mechanism that not only streamlines IT work, but more importantly,

enables scaling

( hƩps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCDCKDScmHg)

The Project Management InsƟtute (PMI®) is advocaƟng DAD Model as DAD Framework helps us Be Agile and not Do Agile. The DAD framework helps the organizaƟon focus on cross funcƟonal approach and enable Agility at the enterprise level. PMI® is the pioneering body for enabling enterprise soluƟons.