Mikegriffith SlidesManaging Agile Projects

Inside the PMI-ACP Exam
PMI-SAC PDC Conference

November 20, 2012
Mike Griffiths, PMP, PMI-ACP

Leading Answers Inc.
www.LeadingAnswers.com
Mike Griffiths
Project Manager and Trainer
>25 years IT experience on oil and gas, utilities, defense, & finance
10 years PMO Agile-to-Traditional Integration
Agile Project Management
Helped create Agile method DSDM in 1994
18 years agile project experience (XP, Scrum, FDD)
Board director of Agile Alliance and APLN
Author, trainer, and presenter Agile Conference 2001-12
Author PMI-ACP Exam Prep book by RMC
Traditional Project Management
PMP, PRINCE2 certifications
PMBOK v3, v4 and v5 contributor and reviewer
Trainer for PMI SeminarsWorld 2005-2012
Presenter PMI Global Congress 2004-2012
PMI-ACP Certification Steering Committee member
PMI Agile Community of Practice Co-Founder
Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved

Presentation Objectives
Explain the PMI and its Certifications
Introduce the new PMI-ACP Certification
Provide insights into the PMI-ACP Exam
Explore the content
Look at some sample materials and questions
Provide some exam taking tips
Agenda

As a Product Manager of Credentials at the Project Management Institute (PMI), Ms.

Sethuraman is responsible for PMIs Specialty Certification offerings which include the
Project Management Institute Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP), Project
Management Institute Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP) and PMIs newest
certification: the PMI-Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)SM.
Immediately prior to working in the Certification Department with PMI, Priya worked in
PMIs Human Resources department responsible for all domestic and global
Employment activity as well as providing Human Resources Generalist support to the
Global Business Units including PMIs China and India offices. Prior to joining the
Institute, she served as a Director of Human Resources and Organizational
development to a local non-profit organization.
Priya graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology,
with a specialization in Industrial Organizational Psychology. She also received a
Masters degree in Organizational Leadership from Cabrini College.
About PMI
- 375,000+ members
- 475,000+ credential holders
- 13 standards
- 262 chapters
- 38 communities of practice
- 1000s+ research papers,
case studies, articles
The Value of Project,

Program and Portfolio
Management

Certifications
Lead and direct project teams to deliver results within the
PMP constraints of budget, time, and scope
Demonstrates understanding of knowledge, processes, and

CAPM terminology of the PMBOK Guide
Oversee the success of the program and oversee multiple

PgMP projects, advancing strategic and business objectives
Define and initiate projects and assign project managers
Understand and apply agile tools, principles and practices

PMI-ACP on basic projects
Assess and identify project risks while mitigating threats

PMI-RMP and capitalizing on opportunities
Develops and maintains and communicates the project

PMI-SP schedule
Certification Holders Worldwide

Certification Type Active Certification Holders
PMP 493,918
CAPM 19,460
PgMP 816
PMI-ACP 1,668
PMI-RMP 1,706
PMI-SP 761
Total Certification
Holders 518,329
As of 9 November 2012

Demand for Agile

Gartner (2011):
Agile development methods will be

utilized in 80% of all software
development projects by the end of 2012
PMIs History with Agile

PMIs History with Agile

Congress presentations since 2004
Dedicated Agile track North America Congress 2011
SeminarsWorld sessions since 2005
Agile Community of Practice established 2009
PMBOK Guide 3rd & 4th edition references to iterative

development
Agile reference sources in PMI Marketplace
PMIs Agile Community of Practice
Open to all PMI members
Has over 14,000 subscribers
Explores topics such as the benefits of

implementing agile techniques, the principles of
agile practices and the variety of agile frameworks
and tools
Networking within the specialty

What benefits do subscribers have

access to?
Community of Practice Subscriber Benefits

Newsletters Networking
Mentoring Industry News
Webinars Wikis
Blogs Knowledge Center
Ask the Shared Documents

Community
OVERVIEW OF PMI-ACP

PMI-ACP Overview
Intended for practitioners who work on Agile project
teams
o Not just project managers
Measures a practitioners knowledge and skill in

Agile principles, practices, tools, and techniques
Covers multiple Agile methodologies
Intended to cover use of Agile both in Information

and Communications Technology (ICT) and outside
ICT
The Value of PMI-ACP

For practitioners, PMI-ACP helps:
o Demonstrate a level of professionalism in Agile

principles, practices, tools and techniques
o Increase professional versatility in project

management
For organizations, PMI-ACP demonstrates a

practitioners:
o Knowledge of Agile practices, which shows the

practitioner has greater breadth and depth as a
PM

PMI-ACP Eligibility Requirements

Requirement Description
Educational Level Secondary degree (high school or equivalent) or higher
General Project 2,000 hours working on project teams. These hours must be earned within
Experience the last 5 years. Note: a PMP will be accepted to fulfill these requirements.
1,500 hours working on Agile project teams. These hours are in addition to
Agile Experience the 2,000 gen. practice hours. These hours must be earned within the last 3
years.
Agile Training 21 contact hours; hours must be earned in Agile project management topics
Examination Tests knowledge of Agile fundamentals and ability to apply to basic projects
30 PDUs/3 CEUs every 3 years in Agile project management Note: hours
Maintenance
would count toward PMP
Cost $435 member; $495 non-member
Market Reaction
Over 12,000 individuals have opened a PMI-ACP
application, expressing interest
Over 550 individuals participated in the PMI-ACP

pilot (15 Sept 30 Nov 2011)
Over 3,000 individuals have submitted a PMI-

ACP application
As of November 2012, 1,668 PMI-ACP credential

holders

Certification Process
Complete certification application
Submit certification application /

Initial review of application
Pay certification fee
Audit (if selected) of education

and experience documentation
Take examination / assessments
Once you pass

CCR Requirements
The number of PDUs required varies by
credential:
When you have: No. of
PMP/PgMP: 60 PDUs Credential PDUs
per three yrs PMP 60
PMP/PMI-RMP
PgMP 60
or PMI-SP: 60 PDUs
per three yrs (30 in
PMI-ACP 30
specialty area) PMI-RMP 30
PMI-SP 30
Agenda

Agile, From The PMI?

The PMI is what
The PMI has no
agile is rebelling
experience or
against!
credibility in agile!
Research:
65% of PMI members are engaged on IT projects
(PMI Membership Survey 2011)
85% of software projects will use Agile approaches

(Gartner Research 2011)
The PMI Recruits Agile Experts
Alistair Cockburn Mike Griffiths

Mike Cottmeyer Ahmed Sidkey
Jim Cundiff Michele Sliger
Jesse Fewell, Dennis Stevens

Exam Design Objectives

Test Agile project knowledge and application:
Most projects
Most of the time
Some remote team members
Not another Scrum (or XP, FDD) exam

Combines Agile, Lean, and Kanban
Meet Agile Alliance Exam Guidance

employers should have confidence only in
certifications that are skill-based and difficult to
achieve.
Agenda

Exam Content Outline
Tools & Knowledge

Techniques & Skills
(50%) (50%)
Tools & Techniques Knowledge & Skills

Things you should be able Things you should know.
to do. The exam tests your The exam tests your
ability to apply them, often understanding and recall of
through do, calculate, or them through questions that
identify what happens assess the how and why
next type questions of the topics being tested

The Tools &Techniques
and Knowledge &Skills
Are split into 6 Domains
1) Value Driven Delivery
2) Stakeholder Engagement
3) Boosting Team Performance
4) Adaptive Planning
5) Problem Detection & Resolution
6) Continuous Improvement


Exam Mark Breakdown

Exam Mark Breakdown
Recommended Reading List

1. Agile Manifesto and Principles, Various
2. Agile Estimating and Planning, by Mike Cohn
3. Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products, 2nd ed., by Jim
Highsmith
4. Agile Project Management with Scrum, by Ken Schwaber
5. Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great, by Esther Derby and Diana
Larsen
6. Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game, 2nd ed., by Alistair
Cockburn
7. Becoming Agile...in an Imperfect World, by Greg Smith and Ahmed Sidky
8. Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and
Project Managers in Transition, by Lyssa Adkins
9. Lean-Agile Software Development: Achieving Enterprise Agility, by Alan
Shalloway, Guy Beaver, and James R. Trott
10. The Software Project Managers Bridge to Agility, by Michele Sliger and Stacia
Broderick
11. The Art of Agile Development, by James Shore and Shane Warden
12. User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development, by Mike Cohn


Exam Details
3 hour computer based multiple choice exam
offered at authorized Prometric Test Centres
120 multiple choice questions (4 choices, 1 correct answer)

(100 scoring questions, 20 test questions)
Question Types
Questions fall into:
1. Application of Tools and Techniques
2. Recall of Knowledge and Skills
3. Situational questions
Q: An agile team is planning the tools they will use for

the project. They are debating how they should show
what work is in progress. Of the following options,
which tool are they most likely to select?
A) User story backlog
B) Product roadmap
C) Task board
D) Work breakdown structure

Agenda
A Different Philosophy
People
Focus Team Decision Making
Agile
Management
Focus
PMBOK
Process Create WBS

Focus Rollout Microsoft Project Build a customer
Server and Train staff self-service portal
Fully Defined / Undefined /

Able to Define Hard to Define
Project Uncertainty

A Different Philosophy
Traditional: Agile:
Plan what you expect to Plan what you expect to
happen happen with detail
appropriate to the horizon
Enforce that what happens Control is through inspection
is the same as what is and adaptation
planned Reviews and Retrospectives
Directive management Self-Organizing Teams
Control, control, control Use Agile practices to
Use change control to manage change:
manage change Continuous feedback loops
Change Control Board Iterative and incremental
Defect Management development
Prioritized backlogs
Sample Questions
1) The Agile Manifesto value customer collaboration over contract negotiation means
that:
A) Agile approaches encourage you not to focus too much on negotiating contracts,
since most vendors are just out for themselves anyway.
B) Agile approaches focus on what we are trying to build with our vendors, rather
than debating the details of contract terms.
C) Agile approaches prefer not to use contracts, unless absolutely necessary, because
they hamper our ability to respond to change requests.
D) Agile approaches recommend that you only collaborate with vendors who are
using agile processes themselves.
Explanation: Valuing customer collaboration over contract negotiation means we

look for mutual understanding and agreement, rather than spend our time debating
the fine details of the agreement.

Sample Questions
2) Which of the following items is not a benefit associated with product
demonstrations?
A) Learn about feature suitability
B) Learn about feature usability
C) Learn about feature estimates
D) Learn about new requirements
Explanation: Product demonstrations provide the benefits of learning about feature

suitability and usability, and they can prompt discussions of new requirements. They
are not typically used to learn about feature estimates, however, since estimating is
done during estimation sessions, rather than during demonstrations.
Sample Questions
3) An agile team is planning the tools they will use for the project. They are debating
how they should show what work is in progress. Of the following options, which
tool are they most likely to select?
A) User story backlog
B) Product roadmap
C) Task board
D) Work breakdown structure
Explanation: Of the options presented, the best tool to show work in progress is a
task board. The user story backlog shows what work is still remaining to be done on
the project. The product roadmap shows when work is planned to be completed.
Work breakdown structures are not commonly used on agile projects.

Task Boards
Kanban Boards

Sample Questions
4) When using a Kanban board to manage work in progress, which of the following
best summarizes the philosophy behind the approach?
A) It is a sign of the work being done and should be maximized to boost
performance.
B) It is a sign of the work being done and should be limited to boost
performance.
C) It is a sign of the work queued for quality assurance, which should not count
toward velocity.
D) It is a sign of the work queued for user acceptance, which should not count
toward velocity.
Explanation: A Kanban board shows work in progress (WIP), which represents work
started but not completed. Therefore, the WIP should be limited and carefully
managed to maximize performance. More WIP does not equal more output; in fact, it
is quite often the opposite.
Template for Personas
Name (alliteration makes it easier to Picture

remember the name)
Description Values
Things that help us understand the What value do they want the
context in which the persona will system to give them.
interact with the system.
What are they looking forward
Avoid details that have nothing to to getting out of the system.
do with the system.
Try to stay away from writing
The key is to be able to imagine the features what or the how of
person and be in their shoes after things at this point. Focus more on
reading the description. the why.

Personas
Name: Bob the Movie Buff
Values:
Bob would like to be able to order movies
from the comfort of his home. He would like
to be able to search for movies by name,
actors, genres and directors. He would also
Description:
be interested in how other viewers rated the
Bob loves movies. On average he rents 5
movie.
movies a week from his local rental store.
He is looking forward to unlimited movies so
His two children also like to watch childrens
his children can watch shows again and again
TV shows. Often they like to watch the same
without paying additional fees.
shows more than once, which means that
Bob sometimes has to pay late fees.
He would also appreciate a recommended
feature to help him and his wife choose
Bobs wife has different movies tastes to Bob
movies.
and often spends a lot of time choosing a
movie.
Sample Questions
5) As part of stakeholder management and understanding, the team may undertake
customer persona modeling. Which of the following would a persona not
represent in this context?
A) Stereotyped users
B) Real people
C) Archetypal description
D) Requirements
Explanation: Personas do represent real, stereotyped, composite, and fictional

people. They are archetypal (exemplary) descriptions, grounded in reality, goal-
oriented, specific, and relevant to generate focus. Personas are not a replacement
for requirements on a project, however.

Sample Questions
6) Incremental delivery means that:
A) We deliver nonfunctional increments in the iteration retrospectives.
B) We release working software only after testing each increment.
C) We improve and elaborate our agile process with each increment delivered.
D) We deploy functional increments over the course of the project.
Explanation: Incremental delivery means that we deploy functional increments over

the course of the project. It does not relate to retrospectives, testing, or changes to
the process, so the other options are incorrect, or less correct.
Sample Questions
7) To ensure the success of our project, in what order should we execute the work,
taking into account the necessary dependencies and risk mitigation tasks?
A) The order specified by the project management office (PMO)
B) The order specified by the business representatives
C) The order specified by the project team
D) The order specified by the project architect
Explanation: It is largely the business representatives who outline the priority of the
functional requirements on the project. That prioritization is then a key driver for the
order in which we execute the work.

Sample Questions
8) When managing an agile software team, engaging the business in prioritizing the
backlog is an example of:
A) Technical risk reduction
B) Incorporating stakeholder values
C) Vendor management
D) Stakeholder story mapping
Explanation: We engage the business in prioritizing the backlog to better understand

and incorporate stakeholder values. Although such engagement will likely impact
technical risk reduction, vendor management, or stakeholder story mapping, these are
not the main reasons we engage the business.
Not Just Agile - Value Stream Mapping

Lean manufacturing technique
Illustrates flow, queues
Used to determine waste to be removed
Focus on value adding

Value Stream Mapping

Steps:
1. Identify product / service to improve
2. Create as-is value stream map
3. Identify delays, waste, and constraints
4. Create to-be value stream map
5. Develop roadmap to optimized state
6. Revisit the process in the future

Example:
Create a Value Stream Map for buying a cake to eat with your friend to
celebrate passing the ACP exam.
Step 1 identify starting point of the process (who initiates it) and the end
point (who gets the end result)
You &
You Friend
eat cake
Step 2 - Identify the high level steps, inventories, and queues through the
process
You &
Cake Bakery Unpack
You Payment Friend
Selection counter & slice
eat cake


Step 3 Identify any supporting groups and alternative flows
You &
Cake Bakery Unpack
You Payment Friend
eat cake
Bakers Sales

Step 4 - Measure the value-adding and non-value-adding activities; calculate
efficiencies; and identify waste, bottlenecks, and improvement actions
You &
Cake Bakery Unpack
You Payment Friend
eat cake
Bakers Sales
1 Minute 2 Minutes 2 Minutes 2 Minutes 10 Minutes

Value Add
None Value Add
4 Minutes 6 Minutes 15 Minutes 5 Minutes
Total Cycle Time = Value Add Time + Non Value Add Time Total Cycle Time = 47m
Process Cycle efficiency = Total Value Add Time Process Cycle Efficiency = 17m = 36%
Total Cycle Time 47m


Steps:
1. Identify product / service to improve
2. Create as-is value stream map
3. Identify delays, waste, and constraints.
4. Create to-be value stream map
5. Develop roadmap to optimized state
6. Revisit the process in the future

7 Forms of Waste
Waste Description Example
Partially done work Work started, but not complete; partially Work waiting for QA
done work can entropy Requirements waiting for
development
Extra processes Extra work that does not add value Unused documentation
Unnecessary approvals
Extra features Features that are not required, or are thought Gold plating
of as nice to haves Technology features
Task switching Multi-tasking between several different People on multiple projects
projects that have context-switching
penalties
Waiting Delays waiting for reviews and approvals Waiting for prototype reviews
Waiting for document approvals
Motion The effort required to communicate or move Distributed teams

information or deliverables from one group to Handoffs
another; if teams are not co-located, this
effort may need to be greater
Defects Defective documents or work products that Requirement defects

needs correction Impractical processes


Create To-Be Value Stream Map Without the waste
( Phone the Cake Caterer and place an order for delivery )
( Removes Waiting and Travel time wastes )
Provide You &

Call Cake Order Credit Unpack
You Card Friend
Caterer Cake & slice
Details eat cake
Order Order
Taker Taker
1 Minute 2 Minutes 2 Minutes 2 Minutes 10 Minutes

Value Add
None Value Add
2 Minutes 1 Minute 10 Minutes 5 Minutes
Total Cycle Time = Value Add + Non value Add time Total Cycle Time = 35m
Process Cycle efficiency = Total Value Add Time Process Cycle Efficiency = 17m = 49%
Total Cycle Time 35m
Sample Questions
9) The steps involved in value stream analysis include:
A) Create a value stream map to document delays and wasted time, such as
meetings and coffee breaks.
B) Create a value stream map of the current process, identifying steps, queues,
delays, and information flows.
C) Review the value stream map of the current process and compare it to the
goals set forth in the project charter.
D) Review how to adjust the value stream charter to be more flexible.
Explanation: The only option here that is a step in value stream analysis is Create
a value stream map of the current process, identifying steps, queues, delays, and
information flows. None of the other options are valid steps in value stream
mapping.

Sample Questions
10) What is the process cycle efficiency of a 2-hour meeting if it took you 2 minutes
to schedule the meeting in the online calendar tool and 8 minutes to write the
agenda and e-mail it to participants?
A) 90%
B) 8%
C) 92%
D) 96%
Explanation: The formula for finding process cycle efficiency is: Total value-added
time / total cycle time. In this question, the value-added time is 2 hours, and the total
cycle time is 2 minutes + 8 minutes + 120 minutes = 130 minutes. So the correct
answer is 120 / 130 = 92%.
Agenda

PMI ACPisms
Be aware of Exam Question Assumptions:
Assume a small, dedicated team (7 plus or minus 2) rather than a large one
Delivery Team includes scrum master BA, QA, developer, product owner
Collaboration is always better than command control style management
Face-to-face (co-location) is better than virtual
A stable team establishes a predictable velocity
Teams self-organize, self-govern, self-directed, make their own commitments
Recognize you cant know everything at the beginning of a project
A software product can be delivered incrementally
Questions are asked from the perspective of a team
On the iron triangle, agile sets the time and cost, scope varies
Terminology: Timebox, sprint (scrum), iteration (xp) are used interchangeably
Exam Taking Tips 1

1. Find the test centre ahead of time
2. Bring authorization letter & two forms of ID
3. Wear comfortable clothes
4. Bring snacks
5. You will be given scratch paper and pencils
6. Write down anything you are having trouble remembering
7. You will see one question on the screen at a time. You can answer a
question and/or mark it to return to it later.
8. The exam does not adapt to your answers
9. Use deep-breathing techniques to help relax
10. Use all the exam time. Do not leave early unless you have reviewed
each question twice.

Exam Taking Tips 2

11. Find the question in the question text then read the rest of the text.
Determine what your answer should be, and then look at the answer
options shown
12. Read all 4 choices and choose the BEST answer
13. Quickly eliminate answers that are highly implausible
14. There may be more than one correct answer to each question, but
only one BEST answer
15. Watch out for choices that are true statements, but do not answer
the question
16. Options that represent broad, sweeping generalizations tend to be
incorrect, so be alert for always, never, must, completely, and
so forth. Alternatively, choices that represent carefully qualified
statements tend to be correct, so be alert for words such as often,
sometimes, perhaps, may, and generally.
Additional Resources
Online Resources:
PMI http://www.pmi.org/Certification/New-PMI-Agile-Certification.aspx
Leading Answers Blog www.LeadingAnswers.com
Email: Mike@LeadingAnswers.com

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Inside the PMI-ACP Exam

Inside the PMI-ACP Exam

PMI-SAC PDC Conference

Mike Griffiths, PMP, PMI-ACP

Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved

As a Product Manager of Credentials at the Project Management Institute (PMI), Ms.

The Value of Project,

Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved

Demonstrates understanding of knowledge, processes, and

Oversee the success of the program and oversee multiple

Understand and apply agile tools, principles and practices

Assess and identify project risks while mitigating threats

Develops and maintains and communicates the project

Certification Holders Worldwide

Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved

Demand for Agile

Agile development methods will be

PMIs History with Agile

Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved

PMIs History with Agile

Dedicated Agile track North America Congress 2011

SeminarsWorld sessions since 2005

Agile Community of Practice established 2009

PMBOK Guide 3rd & 4th edition references to iterative

Agile reference sources in PMI Marketplace

PMIs Agile Community of Practice

Open to all PMI members

Has over 14,000 subscribers

Explores topics such as the benefits of

Networking within the specialty

Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved

What benefits do subscribers have

Community of Practice Subscriber Benefits

Mentoring Industry News

Blogs Knowledge Center

Ask the Shared Documents

Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved

o Not just project managers

Measures a practitioners knowledge and skill in

Covers multiple Agile methodologies

Intended to cover use of Agile both in Information

The Value of PMI-ACP

o Demonstrate a level of professionalism in Agile

o Increase professional versatility in project

For organizations, PMI-ACP demonstrates a

o Knowledge of Agile practices, which shows the

Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved

PMI-ACP Eligibility Requirements

Over 550 individuals participated in the PMI-ACP

Over 3,000 individuals have submitted a PMI-

As of November 2012, 1,668 PMI-ACP credential

Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved

Submit certification application /

Pay certification fee

Audit (if selected) of education

Take examination / assessments

Once you pass

Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2012 Leading Answers Inc. All Rights Reserved