Best practices for managing projects in agile environments--now updated with new techniques for larger projectsToday, the pace of project management moves faster. Project management needs to become more flexible and far more responsive to customers. Using Agile Project Management (APM), project managers can achieve all these goals without compromising value, quality, or business discipline. In Agile Project Management, Second Edition, renowned agile pioneer Jim Highsmith thoroughly updates his classic guide to APM, extending and refining it to support even the largest projects and organizations. Writing for project leaders, managers, and executives at all levels, Highsmith integrates the best project management, product management, and software development practices into an overall framework designed to support unprecedented speed and mobility. The many topics added in this new edition include incorporating agile values, scaling agile projects, release planning, portfolio governance, and enhancing organizational agility. Project and business leaders will especially appreciate Highsmith's new coverage of promoting agility through performance measurements based on value, quality, and constraints. This edition's coverageUnderstanding the agile revolution's impact on product development Recognizing when agile methods will work in project management, and when they won't Setting realistic business objectives for Agile Project Management Promoting agile values and principles across the organization Utilizing a proven Agile Enterprise Framework that encompasses governance, project and iteration management, and technical practices Optimizing all five stages of the agile Envision, Speculate, Explore, Adapt, and Close Organizational and product-related processes for scaling agile to the largest projects and teams Agile project governance solutions for executives and management The "Agile Triangle" measuring performance in ways that encourage agility instead of discouraging it The changing role of the agile project leader
All the ideas in the book could have been recapped in like 25% of the total number of pages, but then the fun of torturing the reader would've evaporated right?!
There is one paragraph that I really loved though and I will copy it here for the honour of resting those poor souls who didn't make it to chapter 9 and still hoping to get with some wisdom to share during empty and boring corporate gatherings... here it is:
"Anyone who still believes that the project leader’s role is to buy pizza and get out of the way ignores the abundant research on successful projects. Conversely, anyone who believes that project management is mainly about prescriptive tasks, schedules, resource charts, and preordained plans will have a rude awakening trying to apply these ideas to volatile product development projects. Agile leadership, executing on project plans, favors those who can lead teams over those who manage tasks"
On a serious note, there is so much to learn from the book yet still my biggest takes on it is the extreme prolongation I found in it
it's definitively one of the most important books about Agile project management. It is oriented to project managers and stakeholders to want to manage project and portfolio of agile projects. notice that only the 2nd version worth the money invested.
My business stakeholders expect to deliver predictably, in order to organize sales and service activities. Let's see if this book can bring some inspiration...