Project Management Cheatsheet

Apr 7, 2022 . 4 min read . 135 views

Agile, Kanban, and Scrum aren't three different project management styles.

Agile is a project management philosophy.
Kanban is a project management tool.
Scrum is a project management methodology.

Waterfall Project Management

• Traditionally used in Project management
• Tasks are executed in a sequential manner
• Limitations include project-wide delays due to delays in one phase.
• More suitable for manufacturing industries
• Tools: Gantt Charts

Agile Project Management

• A philosophy(iterative & fast shipping) for project management
• Split projects into smaller projects and ship each one as a step towards reaching the end goal.

• Suitable for the software industry
• Tools: Jira, Trello

Kanban

• A tool for managing projects
• Developed in 1940s by Toyota executives
• Used to visualize project status via Kanban boards

• Key Principles
  • Visualize work
  • Limit work in the process
  • Focus on Flow
  • Continuously Improve
• Tools: Trello

Scrum

• A methodology for managing projects.
• Structure of a Scrum Project
  • Project Manager or Scrum Master
    • Works with the team to identify tasks to be accomplished
    • Populates the product backlog
    • From the product, backlog populates the sprint backlog
  • Sprint
    • A finite period b/wn 2-4 weeks to complete the tasks in the sprint backlog
    • No predefined map or order of priority to complete tasks
  • Standups
    • Daily quick meetings led by Scrum Master
    • Objective To report progress and discuss task needs
  • Sprint Reviews & Retrospective
    • At the end of the sprint, all the tasks are reviewed collectively.

• Key Principles
  • Transparency: Entire process visible to all the stakeholders
  • Inspection: Frequent checkpoints to review progress
  • Adaptation: Quick adjustments wherever required to reduce delays
• Tools: Jira, Monday.com

Frequently used terms in Project Management

User Story

• As a [persona], I want to [goal], so I can [motivation].
• Used to ensure design & development are focussed on user needs

Story Sizing

• Total effort required to complete a story
• Assigned using the Fibonacci sequence (1,2,3,5,8,13…)
• 1 story should equal 1 point for 1 day of work
• Epic -> Journey -> Story
  • Large stories are called Epics
  • Epics are made up of smaller journeys
  • Journeys are made up of many stories

Agile Sprints

• 2-4 week phases to focus on specific tasks

Sprint Planning

• Used to help product teams determine which stories should be targeted for completion in the upcoming sprint

Backlog Grooming

• Session where the product team along with business stakeholders prioritize, add or remove user stories.

Sprint Retrospective

• An opportunity for the Product Team to inspect itself and create a plan for improvements to be enacted during the next Sprint.

Scrum Huddle

• Daily 15 min standup meeting led by the scrum master
• The team’s updates touch on three points:
  • What stories did you complete yesterday?
  • What stories will you focus on completing today?
  • Are there any impediments preventing you from completing anything?

Velocity

• At the end of the sprint, the team compares estimated effort vs actual time taken to complete a story to calculate velocity.

Product Story Map

• Simple way to visually tell the product story
• The maps should help understand:
  • Why we are building the product
  • What are the product user goals and requirements

Horizontal Slices

• Used to divide sprints.
• In the above diagram the first row of stories denotes the features required to create an MVP.

Acceptance Criteria(AC)

• Conditions that a software product must satisfy to be accepted by a user
• Minimum tasks to be completed to fulfil a given story

That's all folks! 🐰

References:

Product Design Playbook

Agile vs. Scrum vs. Kanban: What's the difference?