Life cycles and delivery approaches

0:00Sara: Welcome to Project Management Exam Prep.

0:03This episode is about life cycles and delivery approaches: how a project is split

0:08into phases, and how much you plan up front or learn as you go.

0:13Every project management exam tests it.

0:15Leo: You will learn how the three bodies frame it, the main life cycles,

0:20and how to choose and tailor an approach, with a strong focus on agile work.

0:25We finish with a drill, so keep a pen ready.

0:27Sara: Let us start with the three lenses. What does IPMA® say?

0:32Leo: IPMA®, the International Project Management Association, sets out its standard in

0:37the Individual Competence Baseline, the ICB4.

0:41Its element on project design asks you to compare approaches,

0:45pick the one most likely to succeed, and defend it, with waterfall or iterative

0:49as an early choice. Phases sit in its elements on time and on plan and control.

0:55Sara: And PMI®?

0:57Leo: PMI®, the Project Management Institute, publishes the PMBOK® Guide,

1:03its guide to the project management body of knowledge.

1:06The eighth edition separates the life cycle, which is the phases,

1:10from the development approach, which is how the result is built.

1:14The outline of PMI®'s Project Management Professional exam, the PMP®,

1:19asks you to assess a project's complexity and recommend an approach.

1:23About sixty percent of its questions involve agile or hybrid work.

1:28Sara: And APM?

1:29Leo: APM, the Association for Project Management, publishes the APM Body of Knowledge.

1:35It covers linear, iterative and hybrid life cycles, and an extended one that adds

1:41adoption and benefits. The syllabus of APM's Project Management Qualification,

1:47the PMQ, opens with life cycles: when each one fits, and its strengths and limits.

1:53Sara: Where do the words differ?

1:55Leo: In three places. Planning up front: PMI® says predictive, APM linear,

2:00and the ICB4 waterfall. Learning as you deliver: PMI® says adaptive,

2:06which includes agile, and the other two say iterative.

2:09And the decision point between phases: PMI® says phase gate, APM decision gate,

2:15and the ICB4 speaks of a phase transition.

2:17In this series, we say predictive, iterative and gate.

2:22Sara: What is the core, whichever exam you take?

2:25Leo: Three ideas. One: a life cycle splits the project into phases,

2:29from the first idea to the close. At each gate, the sponsor or the board looks back

2:34at what the phase delivered, and forward at the business case.

2:37Then they decide: go on, go on with changes, or stop.

2:41The more uncertain the work, the shorter the phases.

2:44Sara: Two?

2:45Leo: A predictive project fixes the scope early and passes through its phases once.

2:50It gives control, and suits work that is well defined or costly to change.

2:54But users wait until the end for value.

2:56Sara: And iterative work?

2:58Leo: It starts with a vision and an ordered list of work, the backlog.

3:03The team builds in fixed timeboxes, often one to four weeks.

3:08Each one ends with a working result shown to users, and the list is reordered.

3:13Time and cost are often fixed, so scope flexes.

3:18Agile methods work this way. The first release is often a minimum viable product:

3:24the smallest version users can really try.

3:28Iterative work needs users who take part.

3:31Sara: And three?

3:32Leo: Most projects mix the two, by phase or by deliverable.

3:37That is a hybrid.

3:39Sara: Now the models. Both model sheets are free in the description.

3:43Leo: The first compares the three life cycles.

3:46Each row reads predictive, iterative, hybrid.

3:50Shape: one pass through the phases, repeated timeboxes, or a mix.

3:56Gates: after each phase, in step with the timeboxes, or main gates with reviews

4:02between. Value: at the end, early and often, or in planned releases.

4:10Change: through formal change control, by reordering the backlog,

4:15or freely inside a fixed frame.

4:17Sara: What does a hybrid look like?

4:20Leo: Three patterns are common. Explore in short cycles, then build once.

4:26Keep a predictive frame with fixed milestones, and agile teams inside it.

4:31Or use different approaches for different deliverables, such as a building and the

4:35software in it.

4:36Sara: And how do I choose?

4:39Leo: The second model is our own two-question matrix, drawn from factors that the PMBOK®

4:44Guide and the APM Body of Knowledge both name.

4:48Ask it of each part of the work. How clear are the requirements?

4:53And how costly is a late change? Clear and costly points to predictive.

4:59Unclear and cheap points to iterative. Unclear and costly: explore first,

5:05then build once. Clear and cheap: a free choice, so deliver in useful parts.

5:11Sara: Is that all?

5:11Leo: No. Rank the success criteria first: if a date cannot move, fix time and let scope

5:18flex. Check the users, the contract and the culture.

5:23Then tailor. The PMBOK® Guide calls it tailoring when you fit the approach,

5:28the governance and the processes to the project.

5:31APM adds that a changed approach must still fit reporting and change control.

5:36And the ICB4 asks you to review the approach, and to explain every change.

5:42Sara: How does this change between Mid-level and Senior?

5:46Leo: First, the two levels. They are this series' own labels.

5:50Mid-level means leading moderately complex projects, the level of IPMA® Level C and

5:56PMI®'s PMP® exam. Senior means leading complex projects and people,

6:01the level of IPMA® Level B and of APM's chartered status, Chartered Project Professional.

6:08At Mid-level, you choose and defend an approach for one project.

6:12Take Parking Permits Online, a city project that moves resident parking permits

6:17online in eight months. The project manager, Anna, must go live before January,

6:22when most residents renew, and the supplier works to a fixed price.

6:26So she sets a predictive frame with gates, and builds the resident screens in two-week

6:32timeboxes.

6:33Sara: And at Senior level?

6:35Leo: You design the life cycle for others. Take One City Account, a thirty-month city

6:40project that brings fourteen online services under one login,

6:45led by Anna some years later. Anna sets a foundation phase, then three waves of

6:51services. The steering board decides at each gate, and releases funding there.

6:57Teams iterate inside each wave, while the national e-ID login's release dates stay

7:03fixed.

7:04Sara: So the Senior answer is about the system: who decides at each gate,

7:08and on what evidence.

7:10Sara: Now the drill. A city team must launch an online service in twenty weeks,

7:15when a new law takes effect, on a fixed budget.

7:17Its payment link has clear rules, but needs a security certification that is slow

7:22and costly to repeat. Nobody knows yet which screens residents will find easy.

7:28The feature list is one hundred and fifty story points, a relative size.

7:32A similar team finishes about fifteen points per two-week timebox.

7:37Which approach do you choose, and what may flex?

7:40Leo: Pause and write your answer. You have forty-five seconds.

8:28Sara: First, the approach.

8:30Leo: Split the work. The payment link is clear and costly to change,

8:35so plan it up front, and make certification a fixed milestone.

8:39The screens are uncertain and cheap to change, so build them in timeboxes,

8:44tested with residents. That is a hybrid: a predictive frame with a launch gate,

8:49and iterative work inside.

8:52Sara: And the numbers?

8:53Leo: Keep the last four weeks for testing and launch.

8:56That leaves sixteen weeks, or eight timeboxes.

9:00Eight times fifteen is one hundred and twenty points.

9:03So thirty of the one hundred and fifty points, one fifth, will not fit.

9:08The shortcut: capacity is timeboxes times points per timebox.

9:12So order the list by value, and agree a minimum viable product for launch day.

9:18Sara: What lifts that to Senior?

9:20Leo: Governance and people. Agree with the sponsor, up front, that scope flexes,

9:26and who may trade features. Set measurable go or no-go criteria for the launch gate.

9:33Make any supplier contract match the split.

9:36And secure time from its users, because iterative work fails without them.

9:42Sara: How do the exams ask this?

9:45Leo: IPMA®'s written exam asks for open answers; at Level B it may be oral.

9:50IPMA®'s certification also includes an interview, where assessors ask about your

9:54own projects, so note one where you chose or changed the approach.

9:59The PMP® exam uses scenarios, most of them agile or hybrid, and questions built on

10:05a case study or a chart. APM's PMQ asks for short written answers,

10:11such as two strengths and two limits of a linear life cycle.

10:15Sara: Let us recap.

10:17Leo: One. A life cycle is a chain of phases, with a gate after each:

10:22go on, change course, or stop.

10:24Sara: Two. Predictive work plans up front and delivers once.

10:29Iterative work delivers in timeboxes and lets scope flex.

10:32Leo: Three. Most projects are hybrids: a fixed frame where it matters,

10:39and iterations where learning pays.

10:41Sara: Four. Choose from the facts, part by part, then tailor and review.

10:48Leo: And five. Predictive, linear and waterfall name one choice.

10:53Learn the choice, then your exam's words.

10:56Sara: The model sheets and the study handout are linked in the description.

11:00See you in the next episode.