Introduction to Agile
Agile is the ability to respond and adapt to change. Software development is done iteratively, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing and cross-functional teams. Agile development enables teams to deliver value faster, with greater focus on quality and predictability. Scrum and Kanban...
Agile estimation using T-Shirt Sizing
High level estimates can be provided using the T-Shirt Sizing Estimation technique. It can be used as an alternative to Planning Poker for estimating Story Points for Agile projects. T-Shirt sizing estimates can still be converted into rough number of days and cost involved. When...
The Waterfall Development Methodology
The Waterfall Development Methodology is a sequential-order life cycle model. The project moves from one phase to the next phase sequentially. It can be considered as the “traditional” development model. It follows a logical pattern – Plan, Build, Test, and Release in sequence. Benefits It...
Effort Estimation using Planning Poker
Planning Poker is a consensus-based estimation technique commonly used in Agile Software Development to estimate effort or relative size of user stories. During a planning session, the Product Owner or Customer reads the User Story or describes the feature to the team. Each team member...
Wrike – Project Management Software
Wrike is high-quality project management software that focuses on ease of use. Wrike is an all-in-one project management and collaboration software that brings thousands of teams around the globe closer to success. It connects tasks, discussions, and emails to your actual project plan. You get...
Changes to Project Management post-COVID
Do you see any changes to Project Management post-COVID? Would it remain the same? Would it change? This article captures some of my ramblings related to this. Short Answer: Project Management will change from what it was pre-COVID! As captured in this article, the only...
Project Sponsor: Roles & Responsibilities
PMI defines a Project Sponsor as an individual (often a manager or executive) with overall accountability for the project. He or she is primarily concerned with ensuring that the project delivers the agreed upon business benefits and acts as the representative of the organization, playing...
Introduction to OGSM
OGSM (Objectives, Goals, Strategies, and Measures) is a way of defining what you want to achieve, and how you will get there. OGSM Is a business-planning framework that can help organizations link their long-term vision and strategies to short and medium term goals. It can...
Estimation Center of Excellence
There are various techniques to conduct an estimation exercise within an organization, but ensuring consistency at the Enterprise level is very important. This is where an Estimation Center of Excellence (CoE) comes into picture. Just like the Project Management Office, this CoE is a team...
What is OKR?
OKR (Objectives & Key Results) is a goal setting framework that was popularized by Google and is in use by many organizations now. It is a simple approach to create alignment and engagement around measurable and ambitious goals. The difference between frameworks like OKR and...
Why do Estimates vary for same scope?
This is a follow-up to the initial article on Software Effort Estimation. We had an interesting feedback from one of our readers in the IT Software Services Industry. The statement was Why do different organizations come up with varied estimates when submitting proposals for the...
Stakeholder Analysis
Who is a Stakeholder? Stakeholders are individuals and organizations that are actively involved in the project, or whose interests may be affected as a result of project execution or project completion. It’s a good idea to practice good stakeholder management and constantly communicate with them...
Work Breakdown Structure
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) looks at splitting deliverables into smaller components and then sizing each of them thereby providing the Project Manager with a way to provide a reasonable estimate for delivering the project. The PMBOK defines Work Breakdown Structure as a deliverable-oriented hierarchical decomposition...
Software Effort Estimation Techniques
Software effort estimation techniques predict a realistic amount of effort required in terms of time (person-hours or person-days) that would be required to develop or maintain software. The estimate is called so since it is typically based on incomplete inputs (requirements). The estimate is used...
Scrum vs Kanban
If you are a Software Professional, you must have come across these terms – Scrum, and Kanban; but it is surprising that many don’t really know the difference between the two. This article on Scrum Vs Kanban will try to explain the difference in the...
The Agile Manifesto
The Agile Manifesto states the following: Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan The Principles In addition to the 4 values above, the Agile Manifesto also captures the...