What obstacles does the notion of agile project delivery present for PRINCE2 practitioners and their employers?

The largest issue is that the phrase “agile” is frequently misinterpreted. People may mistakenly think that it just means being “quick,” that it is only applicable to IT-based projects, that it only refers to Scrum, or that it is prohibited by legal and regulatory requirements.

The Agile Approach

Agile is a mindset; this means acknowledging your project will not always produce all that was described at the beginning and that the users don’t always require everything they requested. Agile projects usually result in faster delivery, but Agile is a mindset.

You must focus on what the actual priorities are when your timeframes are set. Rushing to complete everything can result in a lower-quality end product, which will usually come back to haunt you. If anything is not up to the required standard, an agile project would prefer not to offer it, but everything about the method is set up to make sure that the customer will value what is supplied.

In non-IT projects, agile delivery methodologies are being employed more and more successfully. Agile was recently used by an events management company you’ve been working with to plan and run a large conference. This was very helpful for this project because it had a set timeline and fixed costs.

Agile is viewed as a very beneficial tool by more experienced PRINCE2 organizations and practitioners, who successfully handle this technique. As a result, they will apply specific strategies including co-locating the project team and collaborating often with users and customers.

Therefore, what makes PRINCE2 Agile successful in a PRINCE2 organization?

1. A common approach and language

You already possess a certain level of control and terminology, and experienced PRINCE2 organizations are skilled at adapting PRINCE2 to different projects.

2. Flexibility with agile methods

Agile comes in a variety of flavors, and while Scrum is undoubtedly the most well-known, it is not the only agile development methodology. When it comes to project delivery, PRINCE2 has never been prescriptive, and PRINCE2 Agile can be used in conjunction with any number of agile methodologies, including Scrum, Kanban, and DevOps. This makes sure that the project management team is familiar with how to work with agile delivery.

It’s important to understand that PRINCE2 Agile is still primarily concerned with project management and that the delivery team will still require training in whatever particular agile delivery strategy they decide to implement.

3. Having a business perspective

In PRINCE2, the CEO promotes the business’s interests; adapting this to the agile environment is a successful strategy as long as the overall business perspective is maintained. By doing this, users are prevented from making excessive requests, and what is supplied is required to satisfy company needs. This makes sense in the context of agile development because value is a key factor in determining what should be produced next.

4. The Agilometer

In essence, this is a risk assessment tool to determine whether agile is a good fit for a particular project. The Agilometer enables organizations to evaluate the effects of applying some agile principles even in waterfall projects.

Additionally, it offers a special technique for resolving potential problems with the introduction of agile methods within the PRINCE2 Agile guidelines. For instance, examining presumptions about what needs to be described at the beginning of a project, overcoming opposition to larger levels of collaboration, and considering workshops or training to promote the adoption of agile in project management are just a few examples.

Why should PRINCE2 practitioners embrace agile at all?

In a high-tech world, user demands and expectations are rising, and individuals are less willing to put up with outdated systems or goods or to wait months or even years for replacements.

We are all growing extremely accustomed to the collaborative, iterative, and incremental manner of delivery that agile fosters because of the widespread usage of mobile phone apps.

The ability to respond to change considerably more quickly and with better adaptability to changing markets is supported by the combination of agile knowledge and capabilities with PRINCE2 project management controls.

Here at CourseMonster, we know how hard it may be to find the right time and funds for training. We provide effective training programs that enable you to select the training option that best meets the demands of your company.

For more information, please get in touch with one of our course advisers today or contact us at training@coursemonster.com

Agile delivery method users are highly interactive, self-organizing, and capable of taking independent actions. They usually work in a setting where they continuously receive needs, which they then deliver in an agile manner that is consistent with the priorities established by the product owner.

Projects, on the other hand, are not continuing; they have a set time limit and budget, as well as strategic motivations and the requirement for the business to produce a result. Decisions are usually made above the agile development team and usually include reporting to extremely senior members of the organization.

It is obvious that these seemingly incompatible strategies can make agile professionals resistant to such controls. However, PRINCE2® is created primarily for delivering projects, whereas agile is typically used to upgrade existing systems; understanding this enables those adopting agile methodologies to see the significance of additional constraints and control in projects.

The project environment and the agile practitioner

When using Scrum as an example of agile, you have a self-organizing team where the product owner establishes the priorities and the developers adhere to them. The Scrum Master protects the team from outside influences and makes sure the Scrum process is being used correctly. The Scrum team is informed that since they are a self-organizing, independent team, they do not require a project manager. This might be true for small, low-risk, and low-budget sets of needs.

However, larger and more intricate projects will always require an extra level of collaboration. A project manager will come in extremely handy in this situation. Individual teams naturally concentrate on the task at hand rather than the issues affecting everyone else. Therefore, expecting teams to self-organize without a separate directing function is usually unrealistic. There may also be project dependencies and non-agile work components that don’t follow the pace set by the Scrum teams.

PRINCE2 Agile for agile professionals

PRINCE2 Agile® can fill the gap for agile practitioners who are transitioning into a more project management-focused role.

Beginning with the realization that there may be several work parts in the project, not all of which will be agile, PRINCE2 Agile assists the agile professional in understanding that they are concerned with more than just their unique requirements.

They must be aware of the many project contexts, both agile and non-agile, that require some level of control. In order to assist them in doing this, PRINCE2 Agile combines a well-accepted project management technique with a realistic understanding of agile delivery techniques. Additionally, because flexibility is emphasized, the advice is not aligned with any one agile delivery technique.

Instead, it offers the agile practitioner a stepping stone into the realm of project management, but with the guarantee that they will already be comfortable with agile language and vocabulary.

The Hexagon method of project management

The “Hexagon” is a feature that is exclusive to PRINCE2 Agile. This illustrates the six project-related factors that PRINCE2 assists in managing: time, money, quality, scope, benefits, and risk. The Hexagon is intended to bridge the gap between agile and project management for the agile professional.

The most often used tolerances, according to PRINCE2, are time and money.

Time and cost are fixed in agile projects, and no variance is anticipated. Here, any deviation is really serious. Scope and quality variations are acceptable. But that does not imply that we compromise on quality, which has allowed limits. Any scope adjustments must fit within the allowed limitation, and risk tolerance must also be taken into account.

Bringing agile and PRINCE2 together for project management

When employed in projects, PRINCE2 adds a level of control to agile methodologies that not all agile approaches do naturally.

The PRINCE2 Agile methodology enables professionals with an agile background to recognize and comprehend the benefit of applying controls to meet the increasingly demanding requirements of projects in companies. Projects usually need to be managed and regulated at a higher level.

Here at CourseMonster, we know how hard it may be to find the right time and funds for training. We provide effective training programs that enable you to select the training option that best meets the demands of your company.

For more information, please get in touch with one of our course advisers today or contact us at training@coursemonster.com

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How can PRINCE2 Agile® benefit a project manager who focuses entirely on experience rather than education and certification?

Project management is still not a recognized profession in many organizations. Instead, those who take on project management duties usually advance from technical specialists or product managers.

Their lack of management experience comes into play when they are thrust into the role of project manager and must manage and influence people, build relationships, understand how to negotiate, build and lead a team, work under pressure, and make decisions without all the information available. They may have subject knowledge and skills and a desire to expand an organization’s product line.

Not all product managers are effective administrators of teams and projects. Therefore, they would benefit more from receiving training and certification to obtain a deeper understanding of what a project entails.

The job market might be challenging during unpredictable economic times, but project management job seekers can get a competitive edge by earning a certification.

Similar language spoken

Uncertified project managers working with teams of individuals educated in PRINCE2® or agile delivery methodologies will struggle to communicate effectively and understand the strategies teams are using.

For instance, agile delivery teams can assert that the project manager doesn’t need to be informed of their progress, but without the requisite knowledge, the project manager won’t be aware that this goes against the agile method!

Therefore, to be knowledgeable and transparent enough to manage well, the project manager needs to know more about the techniques being used.

PRINCE2 Agile – training and certification for the uncertified project manager

Even though it is still early, there is significant interest in employing agile outside of the IT/software context. Agile delivery methodologies are expected to become more and more popular in the next years.

As a result, PRINCE2 Agile, especially at the Foundation level, offers training and advice that is specially customized to the agile context for project managers who are not yet qualified.

Studying and earning a certification in this field would allow project managers to return to their workplace with a basic understanding of PRINCE2, an appreciation of what a project manager should be doing, as well as an understanding of the agile delivery methods; how they can be incorporated into a project; and how a project manager can collaborate with people in standard agile roles.

This is extremely important for the project manager in today’s changing organizations that are turning more to agile methods: in an agile setting, agile teams usually think that because they are self-organizing, they don’t need a project manager. In these situations, the project manager needs to be aware that while this strategy works well for routine product development, it is inappropriate for use in a project setting.

Here at CourseMonster, we know how hard it may be to find the right time and funds for training. We provide effective training programs that enable you to select the training option that best meets the demands of your company.

For more information, please get in touch with one of our course advisers today or contact us at training@coursemonster.com