Going beyond the waterfall : managing scope effectively across the project life cycle

281 Pages·2014·3.11 MB·English

by  Davis

Going Beyond
The Waterfall
Managing Scope Effectively
Across the Project Life Cycle
Barbara Davis
Darren Radford
J. Ross Publishing; All Rights Reserved
Copyright © 2014 by Barbara A. Davis and Darren Radford
ISBN-13: 978-1-60427-090-7
Printed and bound in the U.S.A. Printed on acid-free paper.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Davis, Barbara, 1969-
Going beyond the waterfall : managing scope effectively across the project life
cycle / by Barbara Davis and Darren Radford.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60427-090-7 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Project management. 2. Business planning. I. Radford, Darren, 1972-
II. Title.
HD69.P75D384 2014
658.4’04--dc23
2014011202
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DeDication
On behalf of Barbara, this book is dedicated to:
My husband Robert, for bringing out the best in me and inspiring me to reach
higher every single day.
Amy Ruddell, for bringing together great and passionate experts at confer-
ences across North America and helping me to be a part of that.
On behalf of Darren, this book is dedicated to:
My wonderful wife Sunny, for her kindness, devotion, endless support, and
proving that behind every great man is indeed a better woman! Here’s to
kicking up the Autumn leaves with the children…
iii
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table of contents
Foreword by Vincent Serpico .......................................................................ix
Preface ...........................................................................................................xi
About the Authors .....................................................................................xvii
SECTION 1: DISCOVERY, SCOPE AND DEFINING BUSINESS
SOLUTIONS ...............................................................................................1
Chapter 1 Identifying Scope and Solutions: Are We Doing the
Right Things? ....................................................................................................3
Change: Portfolio, Program, and Project Management ............................4
The Decision Case ...................................................................................12
Establishing Return on Investment ..........................................................23
Using Discovery Projects to Identify Scope ...........................................24
Validating Scope ......................................................................................30
References ...............................................................................................31
Chapter 2 The Evolution of Scope on a Project ..........................................33
What Is Scope? ........................................................................................34
How and Why Scope Changes ................................................................35
Embracing Fluctuations and Changes in Scope ......................................39
Inherent Risks with Scope .......................................................................40
Chapter 3 Stakeholder Engagement and Involvement ................................43
Stakeholder Engagement .........................................................................43
Communication Architecture...................................................................44
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vi Beyond the Waterfall: Managing Scope across the Project Life Cycle
Expectation Management ........................................................................57
Getting Sponsors, Business Owners, and User Groups Involved ...........62
References ...............................................................................................68
Chapter 4 Implications of Business Architecture .......................................69
Overview of Business Architecture Elements .........................................69
Relationship between Scope and Business Architecture .........................75
Impacts of Business Architecture on Scope ............................................77
Useful Techniques for Exploring Business Architecture ........................81
References ...............................................................................................82
SECTION 2: MID-FLIGHT CHANGE CONTROL ................................83
Chapter 5 Requirements Development Life Cycle ......................................85
Relationship between Scope and Requirements .....................................86
Impacts of Requirements on Scope .........................................................88
Overview of Requirements Steps and Stages ..........................................92
Elicitation.................................................................................................93
Analysis ...................................................................................................94
Specification ............................................................................................98
Validation ...............................................................................................100
References .............................................................................................101
Chapter 6 Governance ................................................................................103
What Is Governance? ............................................................................103
Decision Management and the Steering Group ....................................108
Reasons for Scope Change ....................................................................116
Managing Scope Changes .....................................................................117
The MoSCoW Rules .............................................................................118
SECTION 3: APPLYING PROJECT AND ARCHITECTURE
METHODOLOGIES ...............................................................................125
Chapter 7 Implications of Agile on Scope .................................................127
What Is Agile? .......................................................................................127
Misconceptions about Agile ..................................................................131
Impacts of Agile on Scope ....................................................................134
Impacts of Agile on Requirements ........................................................135
Using Agile to Manage Scope Change .................................................137
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Table of Contents vii
Governance of Agile Projects ................................................................138
Strengths of Agile ..................................................................................140
Risks of the Agile Approach .................................................................142
References .............................................................................................143
Chapter 8 Waterfall ....................................................................................145
What Is Waterfall? .................................................................................145
Misconceptions about Waterfall ............................................................150
Impacts of Waterfall on Scope ..............................................................151
Impacts of Waterfall on Requirements ..................................................153
Using Waterfall to Manage Scope Change............................................154
Risks of the Waterfall Development Life Cycle ...................................156
The Hybrid—Agile and Waterfall—Take the Best of Both
Worlds ...............................................................................................157
Water-Scrum-Fall...................................................................................157
References .............................................................................................160
Chapter 9 Enterprise Architecture ............................................................161
What Is Enterprise Architecture? ..........................................................161
Relationship between Business and Enterprise Architecture ................169
References .............................................................................................179
SECTION 4: IMPLEMENTATION AND BEYOND .............................181
Chapter 10 Roll-out: Marketing and Socializing the Solution .................183
Change Management .............................................................................183
Lessons Learned ....................................................................................190
Implications for Delivering Scope ........................................................191
References .............................................................................................192
Chapter 11 Handing Over to Operations (BAU) ......................................193
Transition and Operational Acceptance ................................................195
Business Readiness ................................................................................204
Benefits and Benefit Realization ...........................................................206
Ownership, Responsibility, and Accountability ....................................209
Sustaining the Changes .........................................................................211
Observing and Monitoring Implementation Progress ...........................216
Escalating Lessons Learned and Transferring Ownership ....................217
References .............................................................................................218
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viii Beyond the Waterfall: Managing Scope across the Project Life Cycle
Chapter 12 Decommissioning and Sun-Setting ........................................219
What Is Decommissioning?...................................................................219
Implications for Scope...........................................................................220
Product Life Cycle.................................................................................223
Planning Decommissioning ...................................................................227
APPENDIX A Sample Document Templates ...............................................231
INDEX ...........................................................................................................251
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foreworD
“i’m water-gile!”
I have been building software for over 15 years. I’ve been on the front line
as a programmer, led teams as a Vice President, engaged clients as a busi-
ness owner, and am currently creating best-of-class software for distributed
workforces as an entrepreneur. Over the years, I have honed a process that
helps ensure quality development and timely deliveries. A good portion of
that process is the topic of this book.
Back in the days when I was a programmer, I had the privilege of working
on a large, Vice Chairman-backed project that led to my eventual promotion
to Vice President. The company was a start-up and needed to move fast. In
those days the conventional wisdom was that Agile, practiced to the letter, was
the most efficient way of delivering software. Waterfall was a bad word . . . and
watch out if you even hinted at a waterfall method.
When the project started, I followed Agile methodically. I delivered in
bi-weekly sprints, and demoed my progress to a team of stakeholders for
feedback. Post feedback, I would prepare the next sprint. This was Agile, and
I was good at “Agile.” But something was bugging me. We knew where we
wanted to go long term . . . we knew the long-term vision of the software.
We knew where we were going short term . . . the bi-weekly sprints defined
our short-term deliverables. But we didn’t know what we wanted to do for
the mid-term. In other words, we knew where we wanted to be one year from
now and where we wanted to be two weeks from now, but nobody could say
where we wanted to be six months from now.
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