The PMI-ACP® certification is the fastest growing certification in PMI history! The Certified P Scrum Professional is the next step for serious Scrum Masters. This book helps students pass both exams on the first try…100% money-back guaranteed! No other reference offers a better M guarantee, so why gamble your time and money?!? After you pass your exam this book also serves as a comprehensive desk reference for I PMI-ACP® and Certified handling everyday agile project management challenges. No other reference has everything in - one place for you! A Scrum Professional C P Exam Prep and Desk Reference ® • GR8PM is a thought-leader in agile project management and systemic Includes In-Depth Coverage and a enterprise innovation. At GR8PM Best Practices For: Comprehensive Resource for Project Management’s Top Certifications n (pronounced, “Great PM”) we believe • Scrum that successful outcomes maximize • eXtreme Programming (XP) d customer value for both the end-user • Lean Software Development customer and the organizational (LSD) C customer! • Feature Driven Development S • We view Traditional, Agile, (FDD) and Hybrid project • Agile Unified Process (AUP) P management frameworks Also Includes Best Practices For: as complementary tools D that every professional • Crystal project leader must • Dynamic Systems e John Stenbeck, PMP, PMI-ACP, CSM, CSP know. Selecting and Development Method s using the right (DSDM) k framework is a significant first step to delivering successful results. • Test Driven Development (TDD) • GR8PM knows that passing exams does not make a successful R project leader…but we also know that exams demonstrate • Agile Modeling proficiency with core concepts, generally accepted standards, and e Book Includes: the industry’s lexicon. In the absence of a better approach many Exam Preparation Aids Include: f • Everything needed to pass the e employers and clients look to certifications for assurance that they • Chapter Practice Tests PMI-ACP® Exam are being served by well-trained professionals. • Terminology Matching r • Everything needed to pass the CSP Exam e • Crossword Puzzles • This world-class reference serves students pursuing designations as • Practice Tests with 425 Questions and n a PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®) or a Scrum • Word Searches Answers Alliance Certified Scrum Professional or both. If you choose to c • Access to FREE TRIAL of GR8PM Online take them, this book guarantees you pass both exams. And even e Photo:Federal Highway Administration, Exam Simulator more importantly, assures your success using agile methods as a Central Federal Lands Highway Division (FHWA/CFLHD) professional project leader! S t John Stenbeck, PMP, PMI-ACP, CSM, CSP e n b e www.gr8pm.com c k PMI-ACP and Certified Scrum Professional Exam Prep and Desk Reference Comprehensive Resource for Project Management’s Top Certifications John G. Stenbeck, PMP, PMI-ACP, CSM, CSP First Edition La Mesa, CA PMI-ACP® and Certified Scrum Professional Exam Prep and Desk Reference John G. Stenbeck, PMP, PMI-ACP, CSM, CSP Published by: GR8PM, Inc. 7918 El Cajon Blvd. #N-326 La Mesa, CA 91942 USA (619) 890-5807 [email protected]; http://www.gr8pm.com All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission by the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. Copyright© 2013 by GR8PM, Inc. 1st edition. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN Edition: 978-0-9846693-2-5 This book includes material based on the Project Management Institute, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (PMBOK® Guide) – Fifth Edition, Project Management Institute, Inc. 2012.”PMBOK is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc. PMP, PgMP, CAPM, PMI-ACP, PMI-SP, and PMI-RMP are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners This book expresses the views and opinions of its author. The information contained in this book is provided without any express, statutory, or implied warranties. Neither the author, GR8PM, Inc., nor its resellers, or distributors accept liability for any damages caused or alleged to be caused either directly or indirectly by this book. ii PMI-ACP Exam Prep PLUS Desk Reference iv PMI-ACP Exam Prep PLUS Desk Reference Acknowledgements To my sons, JT and Michael, who inspire me, thank you! To my Cursillo brothers who have cheered me on, please keep praying for me. We would also like to acknowledge and thank: • Kensington Type & Graphics’ Tamara Parsons for her creative genius and diligent follow-through. • Lauren Mix for her tireless editing, over and over again… • JT and Lindsey for the endless task of keeping GR8PM running so this edition could actually be done! Your contributions were invaluable in making this project a reality. 100% Money-back Guarantee At GR8PM we believe you have the right to know that the information resources you trust are the very best. We also believe that the truest and simplest way to demonstrate our expertise in helping you prepare for either the PMI-ACP® or the CSP exam is to offer you a 100% Money-back, 1st Time Pass, Guarantee!No other author, company or resource demonstrates the same confidence in their product. We know this book contains everything you need to pass. We believe you will use it to adequately prepare and we trust you! So if you don’t pass the exam the first time – for any reason – within 180 days of purchasing it, just send us the original notice from Prometric showing you did not pass, and your purchase receipt, and we will send you a refund…no questions asked! Simply the best guarantee available! v Acknowledgements Contents at a Glance CHAPTER 1 Agile Project Management Value Proposition . . . . . . 3 CHAPTER 2 Introducing Agile Project Management . . . . . . . . . 15 CHAPTER 3 Initiating Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 CHAPTER 4 Planning Projects – Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 CHAPTER 5 Agile Estimating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 CHAPTER 6 Planning Projects – Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 CHAPTER 7 Iterating Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 CHAPTER 8 Controlling Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 CHAPTER 9 Contracting and Accounting Control . . . . . . . . . . 235 CHAPTER 10 Closing Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 CHAPTER 11 How to Pass the Exam…The First Try!. . . . . . . . . . 279 CHAPTER 12 Comprehensive Exams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385 vi PMI-ACP Exam Prep PLUS Desk Reference Table of Contents CHAPTER Agile Project Management Value Proposition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1 Agile Value Proposition… in a Nutshell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Ethos of Agile Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Agile Manifesto and the 12 Principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 What’s In It For You?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Should You Pursue the PMI-ACP® and Scrum Alliance CSP? . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Why THIS Book?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 What the Exams Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Conventions & Standards Used in this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Introducing Agile Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 CHAPTER 2 Chapter Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Overview of the Agile Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Is Agile Really Needed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Mapping Agile to the PMBOK® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Agile Planning and Estimating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Agile Execution and Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The Origins of Agile Project Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Application of Lean thinking to Project Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Summary of Agile Frameworks & Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 1. Scrum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 2. Extreme Programming (XP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 3. Lean Software Development. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 4. Other Frameworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 5. Test Driven Development (TDD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 6. Agile Modeling (AM). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 The Agile Process Map™ & Agile PM Processes Grid™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Chapter Close-Out and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Initiating Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 CHAPTER 3 Chapter Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Overview of Agile Project Initiation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Identify Stakeholders and Build Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Identify Stakeholders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Build Stakeholder Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Value-Driven Delivery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Document the Business Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Write Contracts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 vii Table of Contents Adaptive Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Acquire the Right Team. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Project Kickoff Meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Apply Incremental Delivery Cycles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Create Team Performance Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Recruit Coaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Understanding Agile Leadership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Clarify Risk Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Organizational Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Regulatory Discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Defining Quality Standards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Provide Communication Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Colocated and Distributed Teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Participatory Decision Models. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Invest in Continuous Improvement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Define Required Ceremonies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Chapter Close-Out and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 CHAPTER 4 Planning Projects – Part 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Chapter Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Understanding Agile Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 External Stakeholders Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Designing the Product Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Identifying Minimal Marketable Features (MMF). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Prioritizing Stories for the Project Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Value-Driven Delivery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Release/Iteration Plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Planning Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Decomposition and Progressive Elaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Story Maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Adaptive Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 User Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Iteration Backlog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Definition of Done . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Chapter Close-Out and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 CHAPTER 5 Agile Estimating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Chapter Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 Estimation and Sizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Estimation and Sizing Risks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Wideband Delphi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Planning Poker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Affinity Estimates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Chapter Close-Out and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 viii PMI-ACP Exam Prep PLUS Desk Reference Planning Projects – Part 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 CHAPTER 6 Chapter Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Team Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Coaching/Facilitation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Collaboration/Negotiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Motivation/Empowerment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Risk Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Risk-Adjusted Backlog and Regulatory Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Communication Protocols. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Information Radiators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Team Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Agile Tooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 Continuous Improvement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Value Stream Mapping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 Cross-Functional Team Formation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Metrics Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Chapter Close-Out and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 Iterating Projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 CHAPTER Chapter Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 7 Overview of Execution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Product Backlog Grooming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Improve Value-Driven Deliverables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Measuring and Using Cycle Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 Measuring and Using Work-in-Process (WIP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Using Cumulative Flow Diagrams (CFDs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Facilitate Adaptive Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Create Visual Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 Apply Test-driven Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Agile Modeling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Wireframes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Nurture Team Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Enhance Risk Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Simplify Problem Solving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Incorporate Continuous Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Risk-based Spike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Risk Burn-down Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Verification and Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Adapt Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Daily Stand-up, IterationReview, & Team Retrospective Meetings. . . 199 Osmotic Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Implement Continuous Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 ix Table of Contents Track Metrics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Chapter Close-Out and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 Controlling Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 CHAPTER 8 Chapter Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 External Stakeholders Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Value-Driven Delivery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216 Adaptive Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Team Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217 Risk Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 Communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Continuous Improvement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 Chapter Close-Out and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 Contracting and Accounting Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 CHAPTER 9 Chapter Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Contracting Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Accounting Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Earned Value Management (EVM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 EVM Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Agile Earned Value Management (A-EVM). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 Chapter Close-Out and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Closing Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 CHAPTER 10 Chapter Highlights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257 External Stakeholders Engagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Value-Driven Delivery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Team Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258 Communication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Keys to Facilitating a Retrospective. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Release and Project Retrospectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Continuous Improvement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Chapter Close-Out and Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268 x PMI-ACP Exam Prep PLUS Desk Reference