Re: [AM] AM and Project Mangement

Responding to two of Paul's postings at once.

- Scott

At 07:35 AM 2/18/2004, Paul wrote:
>(responding to Lester)
>
> > I have been through the entire AM web site and read every
> > single essay(twice). I am an ardent supporter and practioner
> > of AM methods. However no where is anytning mentioned
> > about Project Management principles an how its supported
> > by AM. e.g. what are the PM artifacts in AM and how are
> > tasks, resources, time schedules managed in an Agile
> > project.
>
>Agile Modeling is not a full methodology, and does not deal
>directly with Project Management aspects, it specialises
>in Modelling.  Similarly "Appropriate Process" specialises
>in Process and practices, XP specialises in programming
>with some strong overlap into analysis and design, weak
>overlap into management (IMHO).


On the home page (www.agilemodeling.com) I hope that it's clear that the 
scope of AM is modeling and documentation only.  The assumption is that 
there is an underlying process which takes into account other issues such 
as project management, implementation, ...


<snip>


> > I still find myself hauling out MS Project to get the project
> > scope documented and to report back to stakeholders on
> > project schedules. Do other Agile modelers find
> > themesleves in the same situation.
>
>The trouble with using such a tool for planning is that
>somebody may believe what it says.  Beyond the
>first few weeks, I wouldn't want to say very much about
>what I expected to happen.

I've found that I can do significant amounts of planning using simple tools 
such as whiteboards, paper, and string.

I will sometimes transcribe a high-level Gantt chart into MS project if the 
client requires it, and is willing to pay for it, but for the most part I 
find MS project to be a waste of time.  The secret is to use about 5% of 
its features.
<snip>

At 09:35 AM 2/18/2004, Paul wrote:
>(responding to Lester)
>
> > My main concern with AM without PM comes with task
> > commitment and the timing thereof. When a developer
> > is given free reign of his/her time they tend to be overly
> > agile with timely deliverables. So something that could
> > have taken a week could end up taking two weeks,
> > because there is a sense of "what the heck" its agile,
> > we can change schedules without too much fuss. The
> > deliverable artifact is going to change anyway so why
> > must it be delivered this week. This attitude can then
> > add "time wasted" creep into software project schedules
> > which are almost always already under estimated.
>
>'Agile' doesn't have to imply 'Undisciplined'.  You still
>need appropriate management practices.  Agile
>Modeling doesn't say what those practices should be.

Exactly.  They're out of scope.


>I'd be concerned about AM without PM, so I wouldn't
>do AM without PM, I'd add in some PM and any other
>aspects of development that need addressing - some
>coding and testing, perhaps?

Sounds like a good idea to me.


><snip>
>
>There are all sorts of techniques and practices in the
>bag of agile 'tricks', but you will need to look elsewhere
>than Agile Modeling to find them, unless they are about
>modelling.


Or documentation!


>   There's a lot of useful information about
>practices under the Risk Management section on
>www.aptprocess.com but this isn't arranged into a
>methodology, it's really designed as an 'add-on' to
>what you get in a methodology, for where specific
>risks are covered inadequately.  One could build a
>process from scratch from the practices, but it's surely
>better to start from one of the 'off-the-peg' starting
>points such as XP, Crystal, FDD or Scrum.  Agile
>Modeling, Agile Database, Appropriate Process
>and Agile Project Management are all dealing with
>specific aspects of development, rather than being
>full methodologies.

Yes.  Check out 
http://www.sdmagazine.com/documents/s=8958/sdm0312h/sdm0312h.html for an 
interesting discussion of methods.

<snip>
- Scott

For more information about AM, visit the Agile Modeling Home Page at www.agilemodeling.com
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