PRINCE2 Agile Foundation flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Agile Manifesto values

Four value pairs preferring the left item: individuals and interactions over processes and tools; working software over comprehensive documentation; customer collaboration over contract negotiation; responding to change over following a plan.

Empiricism

The agile principle that decisions rest on observation and experience: work is inspected frequently and adapted, rather than executed exactly as a long-term plan predicted.

Iterative and incremental delivery

Delivering a product in repeated cycles, each producing a usable increment that builds on the previous one, so feedback can be applied before the next cycle begins.

Timebox

A fixed period of time that is not extended; if the work cannot be completed within it, scope is reduced instead of the deadline being moved.

Push versus pull

In a push system work is released according to a forecast; in a pull system new work starts only when downstream capacity is free, controlled by WIP limits.

When agile is appropriate

Situations with unclear or changing requirements, a high rate of change, a need for early value and an available, engaged customer who can give frequent feedback.

PRINCE2 Agile blend

PRINCE2 supplies governance through principles, themes, processes and roles; agile supplies delivery behaviours and techniques. Neither is discarded; both are tailored together.

Fixed time, cost, flexible scope

At project level PRINCE2 Agile fixes time and cost, protects the level of quality, and treats scope as the variable that flexes within agreed tolerances.

Be on time, hit deadlines

A core PRINCE2 Agile message: timeboxes and deadlines are protected, quality is protected, and it is scope that is reduced to fit the fixed time.

Sufficient documentation

PRINCE2 Agile still requires management products but tailors them to be as light as possible, just enough to support decisions within the timebox.

Management by exception in agile

The project board sets tolerances; the team and product owner then make day-to-day decisions and escalate only when a tolerance is forecast to be breached.

MoSCoW prioritisation

Requirements are ranked Must, Should, Could and Won't have this time. Musts are limited to about 60 per cent of effort so contingency remains for lower priorities.

Scrum framework

Three roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team), three artefacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment) and five events built around Sprints of one month or less.

Sprint Review

A Scrum event at the end of a Sprint where the team demonstrates the completed increment to stakeholders and collects feedback that feeds the product backlog.

Sprint Retrospective

A Scrum event held after the Sprint Review where the team inspects its own way of working and agrees improvements to apply in the following Sprint.

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; increasing WIP without increasing throughput makes each item take longer to finish.

Cumulative flow diagram

A chart showing how many items sit in each workflow state over time; widening bands expose where work is piling up and where the bottleneck lies.

Lean Startup cycle

Build a minimum viable product, measure the real customer response to it, learn from that evidence, then decide whether to pivot or persevere.

Minimum viable product

The smallest version of a product that allows a team to run the build-measure-learn loop and gain validated learning with the least possible effort.

Seven PRINCE2 principles

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 in agile

A management stage may cover one or more timeboxes or a release; stage boundaries are aligned with release or sprint boundaries and planned accordingly.

Definition of done

An agreed checklist that an increment must satisfy before it is considered complete; it applies the PRINCE2 quality theme at team level and protects quality.

Focus on products with agile

Product descriptions state purpose, composition and quality criteria; in agile they are written at a high level and supplemented by acceptance criteria and the definition of done.

Business case theme in agile

Value and benefits are reviewed at stage boundaries; early releases deliver benefit sooner and provide evidence to support a decision to pivot or stop.

Highlight report in agile

A progress-theme report sent to the project board at the end of each timebox or stage, summarising achievement, forecast, issues and the status of tolerances.

Five agile behaviours

Transparency, collaboration, rich communication, self-organisation and exploration are the behaviours PRINCE2 Agile expects from everyone involved in the project.

Self-organisation

The team decides how the work is done within agreed boundaries, while management sets what is needed, why it is needed and the tolerances.

Rich communication focus area

Favour face-to-face, visual and frequent communication such as co-location, workshops and information radiators, rather than lengthy written reports.

Frequent releases focus area

Deliver usable increments to the customer as early and often as is sensible, because each release provides a point for feedback and benefit realisation.

Agilometer

A tool with six sliders assessing how suitable a project is for agile working, covering factors such as flexibility, customer involvement, frequent delivery, acceptance of agile and collaboration.

Agilometer usage

It is completed during start-up and reviewed at stage boundaries; a low score on any slider shows where tailoring or mitigation is required.