IUP4600B Agile Project Management
│LECTURE 6│
Project Life Cycle
Lesson Intended Learning Outcome
Upon completion of the lesson, you are expected to be able to:
Explain the nature of various project life cycle models
Demonstrate various shapes of project life cycle and their relevancy to project
management
Compare the agile project management with plan-driven project management
Apply agile project management on product/service development
1. Project Life Cycle
All projects include a pattern of predictable activities which are regarded as project life cycle.
A generic project life cycle includes a few phases: (1) selecting & initiating, (2) planning, (3)
executing, (4) closing and realizing. The project life cycle models are modified to adjust to
the nature of the project and organization culture. (Kloppenborg, 2019)
1.1 Define Measure Analyze Improve Control (DMAIC) Model
The Six Sigma approach to improve quality uses the DMAIC modle.
Phase Outcome to be reviewed to progress to next phase
Define Problem Statement
Measure Fact gathering defined and facts collected
Analyze Root cause identified and statistically proven
Improve Solution implemented
Control Methods in place to maintain improvements
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IUP4600B Agile Project Management
1.2 R&D Project Life Cycle Model
This model is common in the food, agricultural technology, and pharmaceutical industries
which involve the development of new food and drugs are developed. Some projects take
decades to complete while many projects fail to achieve its goals. Some projects are
discontinued as the outcomes are not satisfactory.
Phase Outcome to be reviewed to progress to next phase
Idea Generation Opportunity analysis
Idea Screening Business case
Concept Development Proven concept
Validation Prototype
Transition First lot and hand off
1.3 Construction Project Life Cycle Model
Phase Outcome to be reviewed to progress to next phase
Pre-Planning Scope definition and execution strategy
Design Procurement and construction documents
Procurement Materials and services
Construction Facilities and processes
Start Up Production attainment
1.4 Agile Project Life Cycle Model
With the use of modernized information system, project life cycle models have got more
flexibility to allow for incremental plans and benefits. Agile project life cycle model emerges,
starting like other project life cycle models, but they provide short bursts of planning and
delivery of benefits in multiple increments during project execution.
Fig. 1 Agile Project Life Cycle Model (Source: Kloppenborg T.J., Anantatmula V., Wells K.N., (2019)
“Contemporary Project Management”, 4th edition, Cengage Learning, Boston MA.)
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IUP4600B Agile Project Management
1.5 Shapes of Project Life Cycle
Fig.2 Project Life Cycle1 Fig. 3 Time distribution of project effort2
The S-shaped life cycle represents the distribution of most project but there are alternative
distributions:
Fig. 4 Alternatives to S-shaped life cycle3
The project manager studies the different patterns of progress, in order to predict the variations
in resource level required at various phases of the project. The project manager does not need
to know the exact shape of these curves but he needs to know the general pattern that his project
falls into so that he will not panic when the project progresses slowly while the level of effort
is high as long as the project fits into the life cycle pattern.
1
Source: The official CIPS course book for professional diploma in procurement and supply - programme and
project management PD5 (PD5).
2
Source: PD5
3
Source: PD5
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IUP4600B Agile Project Management
2. Agile Project Management
Traditionally, under the plan-driven approach, projects are planned in detail at the upfront. Then
the projects are managed according to the plan. This project management approach is detailed
but lacks the flexibility to fine tune the project. Thus, a change-driven approach emerges to
react to what has happened at the early stages of the project. Rather than planning all the
details at the beginning, the project team minimizes documentation at the start of the project
and progressively add the details as the project goes on.
Under the agile project management approach, a project vision is developed and shared early
often as part of a charter. The project team plans in short bursts (usually within one month),
also known as sprints or iterations. The details of the upcoming iteration are planned for the
upcoming iteration with very little change allowed during it. Products are defined and
delivered one iteration at a time to deliver the business value. Then the next iteration is
planned.
Under traditional project management approach, the scope of project and the technology to
achieve the targets are well developed at the beginning. For agile project management, the
scope and the solutions ae discovered as the project progresses. Agile projects evolve rather
than are executed.
Agile project management is a class of methods designed to face the challenge of unpredictable
projects. There a few popular methods: Scrum, Extreme Programming, RUP (Rational
Unified Process), etc.
The iterative development processes has some advantage over the traditional project
management approach:
Continuous integration, verification, and validation of the evolving product
Frequent demonstration of progress to increase the likelihood that the end product will
satisfy customer needs
Early detection of defects and problems
The plan-driven approach works well when environment is stable. An agile approach often
works well when the scope is hard to define early in the project and/or when much change is
expected. To make the agile project management work, the team needs to have proper mindset.
1. Put the customer’s needs at priority and deliver outputs to fulfill them.
2. Engage all participants through empowerment, cooperation, and knowledge sharing.
3. Facilitate that engagement through servant leadership and visible continual
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IUP4600B Agile Project Management
communication.
4. Maintain a sustainable pace and emphasis on process improvement.
2.1 Traditional Project Mangment vs Agile Project Management (Erik W.
Larson, 2018)
Traditional Agile
Design up front Continuous design
Fixed scope Flexible scope
Deliverables Features/requirements
Freeze design as early as possible Freeze design as late as possible
Low uncertainty High uncertainty
Avoid change Embrace change
Low customer interaction High customer interaction
Conventional project teams Self-organized project teams
2.2 Agile Project Management: Scrum (Erik W. Larson, 2018)
Scrum, an agile project management method, uses product features as deliverable because it
believes that as the requirements for a product is evolving, it is a waste of time to have detailed
upfront planning and WBS. A feature is a piece of a product that delivers some useful
functionality to a customer. Features are ranked by their perceived value. The project team
works on the highest feasible priority features first. Priorities are re-evaluated after each
iteration. The goal of each sprint/iternation is to produce fully functional features. The
iteration comes in four phases:
1. Analyze and review the functional requirements needed to complete the feature
2. Develop a design that meets the requirements of the feature
3. Build the feature so that it is functional
4. Test and document the feature
The following diagram shows the Scrum Development Process.
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IUP4600B Agile Project Management
Fig. 5 Scrum Development Process
There are three main roles to the scrum process.
1. The product owner represents the customers/users and work for their interests. The
product owner establishes the initial list of product requirements and prioritize them in the
product feature log. The product owner works with the development team to refine
features and negotiate with the development team on the sprint goals and backlog item.
Once a sprint has started no changes will be allowed. However, the project owner can
change the features and priorities at the end of each sprint. Eventually, it is the product
owner that determine the project is completed. He is the keeper of the product vision and
watchdog of project cost.
2. The development team, consisting of usually a few people of cross-functional skills, who
are responsible for delivering the product. They are a self-organizing team, who decides
what to accomplish and how to achieve them. They are responsible for achieving the
commitment made at the sprint planning and sprint review meeting.
3. The scrum master serves as a coach who has no direct authority on the development team.
He is not the manager of the team as the team is self-organizing. He acts as a buffer
between the team and the outside interference. He take the facilitator role to keep the
team energized and scrum process adhered to. He helps the project owner in planning.
There are five types of scrum meetings.
Release Meeting – The project owner works with the team and scrum master to establish the
goals and general plan for the project so as to meet/exceed the desired customer expectations
and return on investment. The meeting will generate the highest priority product backlog, the
major risks, and the features and functionality that the released product will contain. It
produces a probable delivery date and initial cost estimates which the management may use as
a reference to monitor the progress.
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IUP4600B Agile Project Management
Sprint Planning – At the start of each sprint, the product owner negotiate with the development
team to determine the most important feature which the product team will attempt. The
development team determines if the feature can be completed within 4 weeks. The feature
can be broken down into do-able pieces which are then recorded in the product backlog. The
development team will commit, prioritize, and assign the items to its members.
Partial Product Backlog
Fig. 6 Partial Product Backlog
Daily Scrum Meeting (also known as scrum) – It is the bread and butter of the SCRUM project
management. Everyday, the development team meet for 15 minutes to tell each other (1) what
each member has done since the last Scrum, (2) what each will do between now and the next
Scrum, (3) what the obstacles are. This meeting allows the development team informed of the
status of the project. It gives the team a sense of team identity that encourages openness and
resolution of problems in real time. It improves accountability by having each team member
report what he is planning to do, generating social promises. The scrum master makes sure
the scrum si running correctly, mastering the scrum process rather than the team.
Sprint Review – At the end of each sprint, the team present their work and actual product
increments. The product owner and stakeholders will decide if the items are done. The
unfinished items will be placed in the product backlog and will be further worked. The team
may suggest improvements and new features for the owner to accept or reject. It allows the
product feature refinement to capitalize on the arising opportunities.
Sprint Retrospective – The purpose of the retrospective meeting is show how well the previous
sprint went and discover the specific actions that can improve the sprint in the future and the
changes the team need to take for the next sprint. This shows the scrum’s commitment on
continuous improvement.
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IUP4600B Agile Project Management
Summary
1. Project Life Cycle
1.1 Define Measure Analyze Improve Control (DMAIC) Model
1.2 R&D Project Life Cycle Model
1.3 Construction Project Life Cycle Model
1.4 Agile Project Life Cycle Model
1.5 Shapes of Project Life Cycle
2. Agile Project Management
2.1 Traditional Project Mangment vs Agile Project Management
2.2 Agile Project Management: Scrum
