Project 6

Welcome! You are invited to review and analyze the scenario below and determine from the requests
what actions you are to take, using your knowledge of Project Management and your ability to analyze
and make an informed decision.

All that you need to perform the activities below can be found in the Simplilearn material and the
PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition, but if you need further clarity, please feel free to reach out to trainers for
guidance.

The times documented below are recommendations and should be suggestions to the level of detail
expected. You cannot assume you have enough information to do these assignments as in a real project,
but you should be able to provide enough information to show that you understand what is being
discussed, why it’s important, and what action you would take to control your Project.

The data provided is general, but specific. The data will provide hints as to what you need to consider. If
they don’t make sense, you have two options – use them anyway or ask for clarification. You may want
to revise numbers or add specific details. Yes, you can do this, much like you would on a project.
However, if you modify the scenario, it must be reasonable and realistic, and it must be wholly integrated
into the project. Remember – all aspects of projects must either support the project success and/or
minimize failure, and you will need to justify that to ensure a successful outcome.

Situation: Deep Well Services Inc. is an oilfield services company that specializes in well drilling and rig
management. It is one of the largest oilfield services companies in the world with operations in more
than 120 countries and has been in business for over 70 years. It operates in a demanding industry that
is chronically affected by fluctuations in demand, which are tightly coupled to the price of oil. The
industry itself changes rapidly and new technologies are constantly being introduced. This requires
significant investment in training and new business processes to support their customer base. Over the
years, Deep Well has developed a reputation as an outcome-focused, customer-centric organization that
is highly responsive to the needs of its customers. Its customers include some of the largest companies
in the world, and they expect solutions that are tailored to their specific needs. Deep Well prides itself
on finding creative ways to get the job done but also places a high emphasis on safety to ensure that its
staff and customers are properly protected.

The Information Technology (IT) department and its Project Management Office recently decided to
implement Agile practices into their project lifecycle activities to provide a means to accelerate business
value delivery for projects that have a high degree of technical and requirements uncertainty. They
expect that each Agile project will provide more opportunity for business stakeholders to prioritize
business deliverables and provide feedback on project deliverables as the project progresses.

The IT PMO has developed an Agile Playbook to help project managers deliver Agile projects within the
PMO framework. The playbook defines the following:
A. The project must define a single product backlog that is prioritized with a Minimum Viable
Product (MVP) determined for a project release. Reference the list of product backlog items and
make your best attempt at structuring these into a prioritized backlog. Identify a minimum
viable product for a release based on the goals of the project. The PMBOK recommends some
techniques for generating ideas and prioritizing lists. List some of these techniques and think
about how you might apply them. Now that you have a prioritized backlog, what Agile
techniques are available to estimate the effort in delivering these items? – 30 minutes

B. The PMO also recommends that projects agree on a Definition of Done when a user story is
completed. What would you define as Done for this project? - 15 minutes.

C. In an effort to move toward lightweight tools and emphasize more collaboration among the
members of the project team, the PMO encourages the use of user stories written on an Index
Card and displayed on a Kanban board. Create an example of a User Story from the product
backlog and create a Kanban board you would recommend for the project. – 30 minutes

D. The PMO wants to ensure that project manager still actively manages risks in Agile projects.
How would you approach risk management using Agile Delivery techniques? Develop a
mechanism to manage risks and document it using examples from the product backlog. – 30
minutes

Overall time: 1hr 45 minutes