Turning Projects into Products (and Back Again) Adam Light - - PDF document

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Turning Projects into Products

(and Back Again) Adam Light

Principal, SoTech Advisors

Imagine a flight from New York to London… First class of course!

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London radios to report congestion.... EXPENSIVE!

The plane could ‘circle’ over London…

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The plane could slow down en route… …Or the plane could remain in New York

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Differential Cost of Delay

Overview

• 1. Agile methods focus on the product
• 2. You still need project management
• 3. Air Traffic Control
• 4. Combining Product-centric & Project-based
• 5. Explaining all this to your boss

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Definition of a Project:

A project is a temporary group activity designed to produce a unique product, service or result.

http://www.pmi.org/About-Us/About-Us-What-is-Project-Management.aspx

Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.

…Agile Methods are Product-Centric

http://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html

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Agile Process Framework

Scrum Team Working software Product Owner Product Backlog

You (May) Still Need Projects

• 1. Relationships between companies are

formed around projects.

• 2. Project-based concepts often deeply

embedded in organizational systems for selecting, funding, and monitoring work.

• 3. You work with project managers.

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Air Traffic Control

Center Ground Local Departure Approach Ground Local

Air Traffic Control

• Crews in flight are self-directed,

Center Controllers communicate.

• Ground, Local, and Departure

Controllers direct.

• Planning and producing

profitable flights remains complex!

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Defining the boundary between Project… …and Product

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Project-based

• Start and finish
• Fix scope
• Cross-departmental

Product-centric

• Deliver continuously
• Vary scope
• Team based

The focus of Project Management skills and techniques moves from here…

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…and here To here…

Leadership Required

• Establish process vision…
• Build coalitions…
• Define roles…

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…Redeploy resources

Form the Agile “Core”

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Define and Manage a Pipeline A Single Set of Decision Makers

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Define and Manage a Pipeline Define and Manage a Pipeline

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Explicit Processes at Interfaces

Project Management Specialization…

• Release Manager
• Release Train Engineer
• Value Stream Manager

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…Moving Upstream

Standardize & Automate

Guidelines Summary

• Begin with a “core” of cross-functional teams
• Define a process pipeline through the core
• Decide (at least) as quickly as you deliver
• Flow work in flight through a single set of

decision-makers

• Define explicit roles at take-off and landing
• Specialize, standardize, and automate project

activities

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Mapping to Popular Frameworks

• Scrum – “Core” Agile Work System
• Kanban – Explicit Pipeline (Value Stream)
• Scaled Agile Framework – Project Managers

as Specialists

Explaining this to your boss…

• 1. Project-based approaches fix and control

scope, product-centric methods vary scope.

• 2. Agile frameworks typically don’t define a

project management role, yet your

• rganization has project managers…
• 3. Creating the container or framework for self-
• rganization requires leadership.

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• Air-traffic control
• Product-centric vs.

Project-based

• Integration Guidelines
• Framework Mapping
• Leadership Needed!

adam@sotechadvisors.com www.sotechadvisors.com

Thank You!