www.apmg-international.com

APMG-International Webinar

Agile Project Management and Facilitation Skills

Thursday 17 October 2013 / 14:00 GMT (London, UK)

Presented by David Tomlinson, FGI Ltd

www.APMG-International.com

Agenda

• Welcome & introduction– Mark Constable, International Marketing Co-ordinator

APMG-International

• Agile Project Management and Facilitation Skills– David Tomlinson (FGI Ltd)

• Q&A• More Information• Close

About APMG-International

• Global Examination & Accreditation Institute• Official accreditation/qualification body for Best

Management Practice PPM portfolio• Extensive portfolio of professional management qualifications• 350+ Accredit training (ATO) and consulting (ACO) organizations

with 1800+ approved trainers and consultants• Certify examination candidates; 18000+ exams per month• HQ in UK; operational offices or formal representation in 12

countries• Full details at www.APMG-International.com

Your presenter…

• David Tomlinson, FGI Training & Consultancy Ltd• AgilePM® Trainer and Facilitation Skills certified• IT and HM Forces background, including Agile delivery of

management information systems projects and programmes.• In a consultancy role, have assisted organisations in adopting and

adapting best practice methodologies and frameworks, including facilitation d other support such as coaching and mentoring.

• Familiar with a wide variety of the best practice suite of products, as a Prince2® and MSP® trainer, an ITIL® expert and certified in MoP®.

• Linkedin profile http://www.linkedin.com/in/msptrainer

Signposts

• Introduction to Agile• Facilitated Workshops in Agile• Introduction to Facilitation Skills• Sample of an applied technique• How they can work together

Introduction to Agile Project Management

Version 1.1

www.apmg-businessbooks.com

Agile Project Management Source

Agile Project Management is based on DSDM Atern• DSDM - The oldest established Agile approach

– Originally launched in 1995

• Owned by The DSDM Consortium– A not-for-profit collegiate organization– www.dsdm.org

• Established and proven integration between DSDM®Atern® and PRINCE2®

DSDM and Atern are Registered Trade Marks of Dynamic Systems Development Method Limited in the United Kingdom and other countries

What is Agile?

• Generic Description of a style of working– Flexibility– Working closely with customer throughout– Ensuring final solution actually meets

business need– Deferring decisions about detail as late as

possibleA LGI E

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Fuller Approaches (but still agile)

Fuller Approaches (but still agile)

Lightweight ApproachesLightweight Approaches

What is Agile?

• Scrum• Lean• Extreme Programming (XP)

• DSDM Atern• Agile Unified Process

(AUP)

A LG I E

Agile Project Management - The Basics

Agile Principles

• Focus on the business need

• Deliver on time

• Collaborate

• Never compromise quality

• Build incrementally from firm foundations

• Develop iteratively

• Communicate continuously and clearly

• Demonstrate control

• Collaborate– Requires team to:

• Involve the right stakeholders at the right time, throughout project

• Team members are empowered to make decisions• Actively involve business representatives• Build one-team culture

• Communicate continuously and clearly– Requires team to:

• Use facilitated workshops• Use ‘Rich Communication’ –modelling, prototyping• Present iterations of evolving solution early and

often• Encourage informal, face-to-face communication at

all levels• Manage stakeholder expectations• Keep documentation lean and timely

Communication – Facilitated Workshops

• One of Atern’s 5 key techniques

“A structured approach to ensure that a group of people can reach a predetermined objective in a compressed timeframe,

supported by an impartial facilitator.”• Enables principles

– Rich Communication, Collaborative working, Clear continuous communication

• High quality team decisions in short timescales• High level of buy-in and ownership, achieving consensus• Used throughout lifecycle• Need to be planned in (and budgeted for)

Types of Workshop within Agile projects

• Role terms of reference

• Risk capture and analysis

• Gathering requirements

• Prioritisation

• Planning

• Problem solving

• Issues

• Retrospectives

• Timebox reviews

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Roles and ResponsibilitiesWorkshop Facilitator

• Manages workshop process

• Catalyst for workshop preparation and communication

• Responsible for context of workshop, NOT the content

• Independent of workshop outcome

Asking or telling?

Strategy workshop

The way forward?

My idea

My idea

My idea

Asking or telling?

Strategy workshop

The way forward?

My idea

My idea

My idea

Differences between Functions

Consultant(gives answers)

Facilitator(works with group)

Coach(tends to work‘one-to-one’)

Trainer(uses participativemethods)

Low Process High

High

SubjectKnowledge

Agile Workshop Facilitation - Success Factors

• An effective trained, independent Workshop Facilitator (emphasis mine)

• Flexibility in format, but clearly defined objectives• Thorough preparation before the workshop by Facilitator, Co-

facilitator and Participants• Decisions and agreements should not be forced but if agreement

cannot be reached the appropriate activity should be elicited from the group

• Participants should ideally receive a report within 48 hours detailing decisions, actions and the product of the workshop

Source of Facilitation

• Facilitation – an art science, skill or all three?• Facilitation – a Manual of Models, Tools and Techniques for

Effective Group Working by Tony Mann• Process IcebergTM by Resource Developing Business

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Value of Facilitation

• identify issues• resolve problems• encourage productive interaction• develop accurate objectives• define the scope of change projects• encourage and empower contributions in a safe, non-threatening

environment• engage stakeholders.

Understanding Task and Process

TASK = What we do

PROCESS = How we do it

Therefore there are “Task issues”and

“Process/Format methods”

OBJECTIVE

Tasks

Activities

MODEL

Tools

Techniques

Link Between Task And Process

Approaches

• Models• Tools• Techniques

Used to help groups take appropriate decisions for different levels of:• Uncertainty• Emotional disruption• Urgency• Need for buy-in• Organizational maturity

All – Each person works on their own (quietly) doing the activity, using the technique

Group

All to One

– A group works together doing the activity, using the technique

– Everyone does the activity out loud), directed to one person or one place (e.g. flip chart)

Application in the Use of Techniques

One to All – One person does the activity, on behalf of everyone

Dysfunctional Transitional Process Aware

Certainty Complexity Uncertainty

Coping with Different Degrees of Uncertainty

Facilitation Triangle

TIME

TASKGROUPMATURITY

Size & Complexity of the Task/ObjectivesHow much does the Individual/Manager want to achieve? How important/urgent is the task?

Maturity of the Group/IndividualHow mature is the Group/Individual?How much does the group/ Individual want to mature in terms of process skills using this task? How does the Manager see their role in the task?

Time AvailableHow much time is the Group able toallocate to this task? Will this include time on process reviews?

Facilitator’s responsibility

The Facilitator’s responsibility is to help the client to understand the significance of the ‘Triangle’. Each element of the Triangle must be in balance if the group is to succeed.

Process Iceberg Meeting Model

ResourceStrategic Change Facilitators

Planning a Meeting/Event

Buy-in Neutral Emotions

Team Roles

Inter-Personal Interactions

Process -Format & Tools

Objectives& Tasks

80%

20%

Feedback Model

4 321

1 - Misunderstanding or misinterpreting what was said2 - Missing out some important points or details3 - Feeding back accurately and fully what was said4 - Getting behind the words to the “hidden” message

Summarise ( the background/context)

Propose (Format, technique(s))

Outcome/Output (what will result)

Six Sigma

Hosting

BrainStorm

BrainDump

World Cafe

Rich Picture

Four Box

AI

Dots

Convergent Type of Thinking Divergent

Degree of Uncertainty

Certainty

RIG

SCA

Animal Kingdom

Debate

Open-ended

Scope

Narrow

Uncertainty

Applying the ‘right’ Model, Tool or Technique

Brain dumping

It is desirable to draw out from the group all theinformation that is known about a particularsituation, action or event.“There are a number of factors/issues which weneed to explore”

Groups

Here two groups have dots.One group goes first -followed by the other group.

They can put Large dotson the green Post Its™ and up to 5 smaller dots

on the yellow & blue Post Its™

‘Voting’ with ‘Dots’

All

Here everyone (‘All’) have dots – each person can put 1 largeDot up to 3 dots on the smallerPost Its™ .

One to All

Here the group’s dots – are placed by one person on behalf of them.

Essential & DesirableEssential Desirable

1

2

0

3

What makes you choose a particular retailer?Reasons for using a supermarket

Plenty of boot space

Top Speed

Low Fuel consumption

Safety features

n x (n – 1)2

4 x 32

= 6

Complete the grid

Score the grid

Check the total

Relative Importance Grid ISSUE ……………………………………………….. CRITERIA ……………………………………………. 1. …………………………………………….. 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 6 1 7 1 8 1 9 1 10 1 11 1 12 2. …………………………………………….. 2 3 2 4 2 5 2 6 2 7 2 8 2 9 2 10 2 11 2 12 3. ………….…………………………………. 3 4 3 5 3 6 3 7 3 8 3 9 3 10 3 11 3 12 4. ……………………………………………. 4 5 4 6 4 7 4 8 4 9 4 10 4 11 4 12 5. ……………………………………………. 5 6 5 7 5 8 5 9 5 10 5 11 5 12 6. ……………………………………………. 6 7 6 8 6 9 6 10 6 11 6 12 7. ……………………………………………. 7 8 7 9 7 10 7 11 7 12 8. ……………………………………………. 8 9 8 10 8 11 8 12 9. ……………………………………………. 9 10 9 11 9 12 10. ……………………………………………. 10 11 10 12 11. …………………………………………… 11 12 12. …………………………………………… Consider each of the pairs of statements above. Work horizontally - from each pair select the one which is most important to you in terms of the criteria set and put a circle around the appropriate number on the scale alongside each statement. For example: take the first pairing “1 2” , if you think that the most important statement is number ‘1’ then you would put a circle around ‘1’ on the first line of numbers e.g. 1 2. Do this for all pairings until you have completed the scoring grid. Thank you.

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE SCORE SHEET

Name: ………………………………. Position: ……………………………… Department: …………………………… Organisation: …………………………..

For office use: Project Name: File: Entered: ID Code:

Well stocked shelves

Plenty of choice

Cafe

Quick check-outs

MoSCoW

Must Should Could

No workarounds Workarounds possible

Qualifications – Agile Project Management®

Foundation – 3 days culminating in

•Multiple choice format

•60 questions per paper

•30 marks required to pass (out of 60 available) - 50%

•60 minutes duration

•Closed-book.

Practitioner – 1 additional day

•Objective testing

•4 questions per paper, 15 marks available per question

•30 marks required to pass (out of 60 available) - 50%

•Two hours duration

•Open book (restricted to the manual only) examination.

Qualifications – Facilitation®

Foundation – 3 days culminating in

•Multiple choice format

•50 questions per paper

•25 mark or more required to pass (out of 50 available) - 50%

•40 minute duration

•Closed book.

Practitioner – 1 additional day

•Objective testing

•8 questions per paper, with 10 marks available per question

•40 marks or more required to pass (out of 80 available) - 50%

•2 ½ hours duration

•Open book exam (Facilitation book and manual only).

•Please Note: available from the beginning of November 2013

Summary

• One of Agile’s 5 key techniques

“A structured approach to ensure that a group of people can reach a predetermined objective in a compressed

timeframe, supported by an impartial facilitator.”• Process Iceberg® delineates between Task and Process

and gives Models, Techniques and Tools and allows effective support of groups from dysfunctional to process aware.

• An effective trained, independent Workshop Facilitator is a success factor for AgilePM®

• Facilitation training and qualification supports this critical role, and assist other functions in addition.

More Information

• APMG-International:– www.APMG-International.com

• APMG-International Agile Project Management Scheme– www.apmg-international.com/AgilePM

• APMG-International Facilitation Scheme– www.apmg-international.com/Facilitation

• FGI Training & Consultancy– www.fgiltd.co.uk – Email David at David.Tomlinson@fgiltd.co.uk

http://www.linkedin.com/company/apmg-international @APMG_Inter

Thank you for attending!