PRINCE2 Agile Foundation cheat sheet

Agile is a set of behaviours, concepts, frameworks and techniques that enables rapid adaptation to change; it is a mindset rather than a single method.

The four Agile Manifesto value pairs (left item preferred) are: 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 characteristic delivery pattern is short cycles, each producing a usable increment, so that feedback is obtained and applied before the next cycle.

Empiricism is the basis of agile decision-making: work is inspected frequently and adapted, rather than executed exactly as a long-range plan predicted.

Agile fits best where requirements are unclear or volatile, change is frequent, early value matters and an engaged customer is available.

Timeboxing fixes the duration and flexes scope; flow-based working fixes work in progress and lets duration vary.

Agile shortens the feedback loop, which reduces the risk of building the wrong product; it does not remove the need for governance, control or documentation.

Agility requires discipline: visible information, frequent collaboration and sound technical practices are preconditions, not optional extras.

PRINCE2 Agile combines PRINCE2 (principles, themes, processes, roles) as the governance framework with agile as the delivery approach; neither replaces the other.

Core messages of PRINCE2 Agile include: be on time and hit deadlines, protect the level of quality, and accept that change happens.

Project-level constraints: time and cost are fixed, quality is protected, and scope is the variable that flexes within agreed tolerances.

Tailoring is driven by three devices: the agile behaviours, the focus areas, and the Agilometer.

Management products are still required but must be 'sufficient' - light enough to be produced and used inside a timebox.

Management by exception is retained: the project board sets tolerances and the team proceeds without seeking approval while inside them.

Prioritisation replaces detailed up-front specification; Must requirements are limited to roughly 60 per cent of effort so contingency remains.

Decision rights are split: the board decides why and how much, the product owner and team decide what next and how.

Roles are mapped, not duplicated: existing PRINCE2 roles are supplemented by product owner and Scrum Master type roles within the team.

Scrum has three roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team), three artefacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment) and five events (Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective).

A Sprint is a timebox of one month or less; the Daily Scrum is a 15-minute event used to inspect progress and adapt the plan for the day.

The Sprint Review inspects the product increment with stakeholders; the Sprint Retrospective inspects the team's way of working.

Kanban core practices: visualise the workflow, limit work in progress, manage flow, make policies explicit, implement feedback loops and improve collaboratively.

Little's Law: average cycle time equals work in progress divided by throughput, so raising WIP without raising throughput lengthens delivery time.

A cumulative flow diagram plots the number of items in each workflow state over time; widening bands reveal bottlenecks and growing queues.

Lean Startup uses a build-measure-learn loop with a minimum viable product to obtain validated learning, then a decision to pivot or persevere.

Timeboxing and flow-based working differ in what is fixed: timeboxing fixes time and varies scope, flow-based working fixes WIP and varies time.

Information radiators such as task boards, burn-up and burn-down charts make progress and impediments visible to everyone.

The seven principles are: continued business justification, learn from experience, defined roles and responsibilities, manage by stages, manage by exception, focus on products, and tailor to suit the project.

Manage by stages: a management stage may cover one or more timeboxes or a release, with stage boundaries aligned to release or sprint boundaries.

Manage by exception: tolerances on time, cost, scope, quality, risk and benefits are set by the board and delegated to the team.

Focus on products: product descriptions define purpose, composition and quality criteria; the definition of done and acceptance criteria apply them at team level.

Business case theme: benefits and value are re-assessed at stage boundaries, and early releases provide evidence for pivot or stop decisions.

Organization theme: the project board (executive, senior user, senior supplier), project manager and team manager work alongside product owner and Scrum Master roles.

Quality theme: acceptance criteria and the definition of done replace heavyweight quality reviews; quality is protected rather than traded against time.

Plans theme: product-based planning is retained, with a release plan at stage level and team or sprint plans covering individual timeboxes.

Change theme: change is expected and absorbed by re-prioritising the backlog and flexing scope within the scope tolerance; progress is reported through highlight and checkpoint reports plus burn charts.

The five agile behaviours are transparency, collaboration, rich communication, self-organisation and exploration.

Transparency means progress, quality and problems are visible and honestly reported, typically through information radiators.

Self-organisation means the team decides how the work is done within agreed boundaries, while management sets the what, the why and the tolerances.

Focus areas direct tailoring: the Agilometer, requirements, rich communication and frequent releases.

Requirements focus area uses MoSCoW prioritisation: Must about 60 per cent of effort or less, Should about 20 per cent, Could about 20 per cent, Won't is out of scope this time.

Rich communication focus area favours face-to-face, visual and frequent communication such as co-location, workshops and information radiators.

Frequent releases focus area delivers usable increments to the customer as early and often as is sensible; each release is a feedback and benefit point.

The Agilometer uses six sliders to assess suitability for agile working; it is completed early and reviewed, and low scores indicate where tailoring or mitigation is required.