Agile has many different methodologies. Scrum is by far the most widely adopted, but others such as Crystal, Extreme Programming (XP), FDD, and others exist as options for project managers. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of at least some of them will make you a better Agile project manager.
The Agile approach tends to be descriptive, but not proscriptive. That means it asks you to identify what has to be done, but not how to do it. As a result, there are a variety of different “flavors” of Agile methodology. Scrum is usually considered to be the most popular, but XP, Crystal, Feature-Driven Development (FDD), Kanban, and others all have proponents. These different approaches all adhere to the Agile Manifesto and the Twelve Guiding Principles, and all have been used successfully in different environments.
Scrum is a very “lightweight” Agile approach (which may help explain its popularity) and is expressed in the “Three Pillars” of Transparency, Inspection, and Adaptation. Transparency provides all team members with the same information and helps ensure that all stakeholders agree on what must be accomplished. An example of transparency is when a team needs to create a common understanding of the definition of “done” for a project. Inspection refers to frequent checks on how the project is progressing. An example would be the daily Sprint stand-up meeting. Adaptation refers to frequent actions taken in order to minimize any problems identified by an inspection. Problems can be addressed quickly as they arise.
While Scrum is not designed for any particular type of project, XP is designed specifically for software development. The “extreme” part of XP comes from its attempt to take any good software development practice to its extreme. For instance, if one programmer working on a computer is good, two programmers working together on the same computer would be better, with each developer constantly checking the other’s work. This is the reason why “pair programming” is one of the standard practices of XP.
Agile has many different methodologies. Scrum is by far the most widely adopted, but others such as Crystal, XP, and FDD exist as options. Understanding the strengths and weakness of at least some of them will make you a better Agile project manager. This assignment asks you to compare Scrum and XP.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Create a 5–6 page comparison of Scrum and XP for company leadership. It should:
Analyze how each represents the values and principles detailed in the Agile Manifesto, including identifying which principles are most important to each methodology.
Explain what project or product characteristics should dictate which method is appropriate.
Compare the essential practices or processes of each method (for example, assessment, planning, execution, review).
Compare how personnel are utilized.
Length: 5–6 pages double-spaced.
Font: 12 point Times New Roman.
References: Minimum of 4 references, using current APA style and formatting when citing and referencing your sources.
Please use the attached sources for this assignment (the last source is a website so please copay & paste the link to view the content):
Cobb, C. G. (2015). The project manager’s guide to mastering agile: Principles and practices for an adaptive approach. Wiley.
Chapter 3, “Scrum Overview,” pages 33–56.
Tilk, D. (2016). 5 Steps to agile project success. Internal Auditor, 73(2), 57–61.
This article considers how five standard concepts can help an organization achieve success with different Agile methodologies.
Cusumano, M. A. (2007). Extreme programming compared with Microsoft-style iterative development. Communications of the ACM, 50(10), 15–18.
This article discusses some of the benefits of an XP approach, and how Microsoft has successfully used XP concepts.
Stott, W. (2003). Extreme programming. Computing & Control Engineering, 14(3), 18–23.
The author explains how XP is radically different from traditional methods, and how that difference makes XP so successful.
Cohn, M. (2007). Differences between scrum and extreme programming. Mountain Goat Software. https://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/blog/differences-between-scrum-and-extreme-programming
This article discusses some of the differences between Scrum and XP. Those differences may be subtle, but they are nonetheless important.
