Podcast day 1
Scene:
Your project management team already uses PRINCE2 to manage projects. However, in an upcoming project, your team will be required to work with one team who want to use Lean Start-up to get a Minimum Viable Product as quick as possible, another team who have said they develop products using Scrum and yet another team who have mentioned that they prefer a Kanban approach.  You realize that your project team could benefit from a PRINCE2 Agile course. The place where PRINCE2 meets Agile. Looks fine on paper but how to do this in real life?

PRINCE2 Agile is an extension module for organizations already using PRINCE2. It provides further guidance on how to apply agile methods to the world’s most recognized project management method.

I deliver PRINCE2 Agile courses to individuals, teams and organizations. After a course you should be able to join in on a project and understand the communication required between the PRINCE2 and Agile teams. The course has a pre-requisite that you already know PRINCE2. The ideal goal is to increase the chances of having a successful project.

Material & links:

https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPab-p6I=/
Sample exam 1

 

After a PRINCE2 Agile course, many teams hire us as consultants to boost their projects. We have helped many teams build up agile methods for projects. Our focus is on inspired people taking 100% responsibility for measurble deliveries, just like Santa Claus does for all the children in the world. More at the bottom of the page.

PRINCE2 Agile links and resources

PRINCE2 Agile takes PRINCE2 and adds agile:

  • Frameworks (Eg. Lean Startup, Kanban, Scrum)
  • Behaviours (Eg. Self-organizing teams)
  • Focus areas (Eg. Agilometer, Contracts)
  • Techniques (Eg. User stories, Timeboxing)
  • Concepts (Eg. Not delivering everything)

The Agile Manifesto

Screen Shot 2015-06-24 at 23.42.30

Moscow prioritization

moscow1

PRINCE2 Agile book – first 3 chapters free at Axelos

p2agilebook

5 PRINCE2 AGILE BEHAVIOURS:
Rank them in order of importance (from 1st to 5th) in your opinion?
Discuss ways of boosting these Agile behaviors in your project.

Transparency

(The more information that is out in the open, the better this is for the agile way of working. It enables speed, clarity and engagement, even if the news is not so good. Essential to understanding this behavior is to realize that there is more to transparency than just visibility. The most important elements of this principle come in the form of the common agile values of honesty, trust, integrity and respect. This openness is an essential ingredient for an agile way of working. Transparency means that everyone knows the situation and there are no surprises.)

Collaboration

(A motivated and respectful team is greater than the sum of its parts if people work together and provide cover for one another. More can be achieved this way than working in silos. Collaboration is not just internal to the team: it involves external collaboration with all stakeholders, especially the customer. Fully engaging with customers and working with them, rather than for them, will create shared understanding and ownership of goals and outputs.)

Rich communication

(People should always use the most effective channel to communicate. Using face-to-face and/or visualization are many times faster and more effective than words on their own. A rich communication environment should be created where information passes freely in a culture of commitment and trust. There is still a need for documentation, but by using other more effective channels, it can be replaced or complemented and greatly reduced.

Self-organization

(The people closest to the work will usually know best how to get the job done. Therefore people should be trusted to do it. If they create a plan, then they own it and buy into it; it is far more likely to happen if they do. Self-organizing creates mutual respect. A project manager can leave a team manager to focus on product delivery where the team manager feels trusted.

Exploration

(Frequent iteration and rapid feedback loops in any form provide an opportunity to learn. Learning helps to improve the products. However, feedback won’t just happen; it needs to be sought out collaboratively – perhaps through experiments and spikes, with people such as the customer, customer representatives, other team members or stakeholders.

 

Contents hide
1 PRINCE2 Agile course and workshop material
1.1 Some of the main concepts in PRINCE2 Agile

PRINCE2 Agile course and workshop material

PRINCE2 Agile course material (large PDF file)

PRINCE2 Agile slides (PDF)

Book summary and PRINCE2 Agile exam tips

PRINCE2_Agile_Process_Model

Diagram showing PRINCE2 Agile process model

  • The diagram shows Scrum at the delivery level but this could be other methods for delivery.
  • The number of stages, releases, sprints and the Exception Plan (stage 3) are just examples for the diagram.
Some of the main concepts in PRINCE2 Agile
  • The Focus Areas (5 of them)
    1. The Agilometer (tool for checking suitability of agility)
    2. Requirements (mostly focusing on scope)
      • User Stories – As a {role}, I want to {function}, [so that {purpose}] 
    3. Rich Communication (preferably face-to-face as much as possible)
      • Information Radiators (a wall radiating information)
      • Daily Stand-ups
        • What did I do since previous stand-up?
        • What I’m going to do until next stand-up?
        • What obstacles are in my way?
      • Review Meetings (To inspect the products, and adapt as necessary)
      • Retrospective Meetings (For inspecting the work process and learning)
    4. Frequent Releases (Keep delivering customer value as early as possible)
    5. Contracts (To improve the project, not holding the customer to ransom)
  • Behaviours
    • Transparency
    • Collaboration
    • Rich communication
    • Self organisation
    • Exploration
  • Health Check
    • Behaviours (10 questions)
    • Environment (18 questions)
    • Process (14 questions)
    • Techniques (15 questions)
  • Cynefin (sense making of Simple, Complicated, Complex, Chaos, Disorder)
  • Targets (5 reasons for flexing)
    1. Be on time and hit deadlines
    2. Ensure the required quality
    3. Embrace change
    4. Keep the team stable
    5. Accept that the user doesn’t need everything
  • 8 Guidance Points (for understanding PRINCE2 Agile)
    1. All references to PRINCE2 refer to the 2009 edition.
    2. PRINCE2 is neutral to the delivery method, and can be used in both predictive and adaptive (Agile) environments.
    3. PRINCE2 Agile doesn’t assume you’re using it for IT development, and can be used in other environments as well.
    4. Some Agile approaches are created only for IT development.
    5. Scrum is only one way of being Agile.
    6. PRINCE2 Agile mostly assumes Scrum and Kanban when talking about Agile delivery methods. They cannot used to manage a project and need something like PRINCE2.
    7. Agile = A general family of bahaviours, concepts, frameworks, and techniques that is widely accepted throughout the Agile community as being part of the Agile way of working.
    8. There are different levels of Agility, and proper level of Agility can be used in any project.
  • Definition of Done
    • A single list of everything that should be done for each Product Backlog Item

 

PRINCE2 Agile presentation at work

https://www.brendanmartin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/prince2agile.pdf

https://www.brendanmartin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/prince2agile.pptx

https://www.brendanmartin.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/prince2agile.key