A comprehensive guide to the seven domains of agile project management
Introduction
The Project Management Institute (PMI) Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP) certification is a globally recognized credential that validates the knowledge and skills of agile practitioners. The PMI ACP certification exam covers seven domains of agile project management, each with its own tasks, knowledge, and skills.
The seven domains are:
- Agile Principles and Mindset
- Value-Driven Delivery
- Stakeholder Engagement
- Team Performance
- Adaptive Planning
- Problem Detection and Resolution
- Continuous Improvement (Product, Process, People)
This document provides a brief overview of each domain, its tasks, and the knowledge and skills required to perform them effectively.
Agile Principles and Mindset
This domain covers the core concepts and values of agile methodologies, such as Scrum, Kanban, XP, Lean, and others. It also covers the ability to apply agile principles and practices in various contexts and situations.
The tasks in this domain are:
- Explore, embrace, and apply agile principles and mindset within the context of the project team and organization.
- Help ensure that the team has a common understanding and shared vision of the values, benefits, and practices of agile.
- Support change at the system or organization level by educating and influencing others on the value and benefits of adopting agile.
- Practice visualization and collaboration techniques to create alignment and transparency among the project team and stakeholders.
- Contribute to creating an environment of trust, learning, collaboration, and conflict resolution that promotes team self-organization, enhances relationships among team members, and cultivates a culture of high performance.
The knowledge and skills required for this domain include:
- Agile manifesto, principles, and frameworks
- Agile mindset, behaviors, and coaching
- Value-based prioritization and decision making
- Agile methods and approaches for different situations
- Agile project chartering and visioning
- Agile contracting and procurement
- Agile project accounting and governance
- Agile communication and collaboration tools and techniques
- Agile leadership and empowerment
- Agile team formation and development
- Agile feedback and retrospectives
- Agile conflict resolution and negotiation
- Agile organizational culture and change management
Value-Driven Delivery
This domain covers the ability to deliver valuable outcomes to the customer and the organization by applying agile principles and practices. It also covers the ability to manage and prioritize the product backlog, define and validate the requirements, and ensure the quality and usability of the product.
The tasks in this domain are:
- Define positive value and eliminate negative value from the perspective of the customer, user, and sponsor.
- Plan and prioritize the work by applying the principles of value-driven delivery and minimizing non-value-adding activities.
- Deliver value incrementally and frequently, based on the definition of done and acceptance criteria, and ensure feedback and validation.
- Continuously evaluate the value delivered by the project and the processes used to deliver that value, and identify opportunities for improvement.
- Balance the competing priorities of scope, schedule, budget, quality, resources, and risk to deliver the greatest value to the customer and the organization.
The knowledge and skills required for this domain include:
- Value-based analysis and decomposition
- Value stream mapping and optimization
- Product backlog management and refinement
- User stories and story mapping
- Requirements elicitation, analysis, and validation
- Agile estimation and forecasting
- Agile metrics and value measurement
- Agile testing and quality assurance
- Agile compliance and standards
- Agile risk management and mitigation
- Agile value delivery and reporting
Stakeholder Engagement
This domain covers the ability to engage and collaborate with the stakeholders, such as customers, users, sponsors, vendors, and others, who have an interest or influence on the project. It also covers the ability to manage their expectations, address their needs, and ensure their satisfaction.
The tasks in this domain are:
- Identify and engage the stakeholders by building trust and rapport, and by understanding their needs, expectations, and level of influence on the project.
- Ensure stakeholder involvement and feedback throughout the project by using effective communication and collaboration techniques.
- Manage stakeholder expectations and conflicts by negotiating and influencing their support and agreement.
- Empower the stakeholders to make decisions and take ownership of the project outcomes and benefits.
- Establish and maintain effective relationships with the stakeholders by providing value and exceeding their expectations.
The knowledge and skills required for this domain include:
- Stakeholder identification and analysis
- Stakeholder communication and information radiators
- Stakeholder collaboration and participation
- Stakeholder feedback and validation
- Stakeholder satisfaction and relationship management
- Agile facilitation and moderation
- Agile coaching and mentoring
- Agile presentation and demonstration
- Agile negotiation and influencing
- Agile emotional intelligence and empathy
Team Performance
This domain covers the ability to enhance the performance and effectiveness of the project team by applying agile principles and practices. It also covers the ability to foster a culture of collaboration, learning, innovation, and excellence among the team members.
The tasks in this domain are:
- Help create an open, safe, and respectful team environment that supports team performance and delivery.
- Help the team define and follow the team norms, agreements, and ground rules that promote team cohesion and collaboration.
- Help the team apply the agile roles, ceremonies, artifacts, and tools that best suit the project needs and context.
- Help the team monitor and improve their performance and effectiveness by using relevant metrics and feedback.
- Help the team develop and leverage their strengths and address their weaknesses by providing coaching, mentoring, and training.
- Help the team identify and resolve internal and external impediments and issues that hinder their performance and delivery.
- Help the team celebrate their achievements and recognize their contributions and learnings.
The knowledge and skills required for this domain include:
- Team development and dynamics
- Team empowerment and motivation
- Team collaboration and coordination
- Team roles and responsibilities
- Team ceremonies and events
- Team artifacts and tools
- Team performance and effectiveness
- Team feedback and recognition
- Team impediments and issues
- Team innovation and creativity
Adaptive Planning
This domain covers the ability to plan and execute the project in an adaptive and iterative way by applying agile principles and practices. It also covers the ability to respond to changes and uncertainties in the project environment and deliver the optimal value to the customer and the organization.
The tasks in this domain are:
- Plan the project by defining and refining the project vision, scope, objectives, and deliverables, and aligning them with the customer’s and organization’s goals and strategies.
- Plan and manage the project releases by defining and prioritizing the features and functionality, and estimating and allocating the resources and budget.
- Plan and manage the project iterations by defining and refining the user stories and acceptance criteria, and estimating and allocating the work and time.
- Plan and manage the project delivery by coordinating and integrating the work of the project team and other stakeholders, and ensuring the quality and usability of the product.
- Review and update the project plan and adapt to changes and uncertainties in the project environment by using agile techniques such as rolling wave planning, progressive elaboration, and replanning.
The knowledge and skills required for this domain include:
- Project vision, scope, objectives, and deliverables
- Project alignment and integration
- Project release planning and management
- Project iteration planning and management
- Project delivery planning and management
- Project estimation and forecasting
- Project scheduling and tracking
- Project replanning and adaptation
- Project contingency and buffer
- Project uncertainty and complexity
Problem Detection and Resolution
This domain covers the ability to identify and resolve the problems and issues that arise during the project by applying agile principles and practices. It also covers the ability to prevent and mitigate the risks and impediments that affect the project performance and delivery.
The tasks in this domain are:
- Identify and analyze the problems and issues that occur during the project by using agile techniques such as root cause analysis, fishbone diagram, and 5 whys.
- Resolve and close the problems and issues that occur during the project by using agile techniques such as problem-solving, decision-making, and escalation.
- Identify and assess the risks and impediments that affect the project by using agile techniques such as risk register, risk matrix, and risk burndown chart.
- Prevent and mitigate the risks and impediments that affect the project by using agile techniques such as risk response strategies, risk transfer, and risk sharing.
- Monitor and control the problems, issues, risks, and impediments that affect the project by using agile techniques such as daily stand-up, kanban board, and burnup chart.
The knowledge and skills required for this domain include:
- Problem and issue identification and analysis
- Problem and issue resolution and closure
- Risk and impediment identification and assessment
- Risk and impediment prevention and mitigation
- Risk and impediment monitoring and control
- Agile problem-solving and decision-making
- Agile escalation and delegation
- Agile risk management and mitigation
Continuous Improvement (Product, Process, People)
This domain covers the ability to continuously improve the product, the process, and the people involved in the project by applying agile principles and practices. It also covers the ability to foster a culture of learning, experimentation, and innovation among the project team and stakeholders.
The tasks in this domain are:
- Continuously evaluate and improve the quality and value of the product by using agile techniques such as feedback, validation, verification, inspection, and testing.
- Continuously evaluate and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the process by using agile techniques such as retrospectives, process tailoring, and process optimization.
- Continuously evaluate and improve the skills and competencies of the people by using agile techniques such as coaching, mentoring, training, and self-assessment.
- Continuously promote and support the culture of learning, experimentation, and innovation by using agile techniques such as spikes, prototypes, pilots, and fail-fast.
The knowledge and skills required for this domain include:
- Product quality and value
- Product feedback and validation
- Product verification and inspection
- Product testing and quality assurance
- Process efficiency and effectiveness
- Process tailoring and optimization
- Process retrospectives and improvement
- People skills and competencies
- People coaching and mentoring
- People training and development
- People self-assessment and feedback
- Learning, experimentation, and innovation
- Spikes, prototypes, pilots, and fail-fast
Conclusion
The PMI-ACP certification exam is a challenging but rewarding certification that demonstrates your agile expertise and competence. By following this guide and understanding each of the domains in PMI ACP exam, you can prepare yourself and increase your chances of passing it on your first attempt. Wish you all the best in your PMI-ACP journey.
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