PMI-ACP® Agile Domains

Quick reference

• 00:03 Hi, this is Ray Sheen.
• 00:05 If you're planning on taking the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner Exam,
• 00:09 you need to know the Agile domains.
• 00:14 Now you may be asking what is an Agile domain.
• 00:17 The Project Management Institute has collected the Agile principles across
• 00:21 the different Agile methodologies and organize them into seven domains.
• 00:26 These domains represent not only the project best practices but
• 00:30 also organizational best practices.
• 00:33 The key principles for
• 00:34 successful Agile implementation in an organization are found here.
• 00:38 These seven domains,
• 00:40 along with their tasks in the associated tools and techniques,
• 00:43 are spelled out in the PMI agile certified practitioner exam content outline.
• 00:48 This handbook can be downloaded for free from the PMI website.
• 00:52 Consider this to be your study guide when preparing for the exam.
• 00:55 I will go through each of the domains as found in the exam content
• 00:59 outline handbook.
• 01:00 And provide a little perspective on that domain.
• 01:03 Domain one is titled, Agile Principles and Mindset.
• 01:07 It includes nine tasks.
• 01:08 The domain states, empower, embrace, and apply agile principles and
• 01:13 mindset within the context of the project team and organization.
• 01:17 This domain is focused at the organizational level rather than
• 01:20 the project level.
• 01:22 It's concerned with the cultural change required in many organizations for
• 01:25 the Agile methodologies to become firmly rooted.
• 01:28 The Agile approach is so different from how many people expect a project to run,
• 01:32 that organizational change practices are often needed.
• 01:36 Domain two is titled, Value-Driven Delivery.
• 01:39 This domain is further divided into four sub-domains and fourteen tasks.
• 01:44 The domain states deliver valuable results by producing high value increments for
• 01:49 review early and often based on stakeholder priorities.
• 01:53 Have the stakeholders provide feedback on these increments and
• 01:57 uses feedback to prioritize and improve future increments.
• 02:01 This domain is focused squarely at the project level, it emphasizes the iterative
• 02:05 nature of Agile which is prominent in most Agile methodologies.
• 02:09 It also encourages stakeholder interaction.
• 02:12 While this interaction will vary considerably based on the Agile
• 02:15 methodology, each methodology has a time or an event for stakeholder interaction.
• 02:21 In fact, that is our next domain.
• 02:23 Domain number three is titled Stakeholder Engagement.
• 02:26 It has three sub-domains and nine tasks.
• 02:29 The domain states engage current and future interested parties
• 02:33 by building a trusting environment that aligns their needs and expectations and
• 02:37 balances their requests with an understanding of the cost effort involved.
• 02:42 Promote participation and collaboration throughout the product life cycle and
• 02:46 provide the tools for effective and informed decision making.
• 02:49 That's a mouthful.
• 02:50 Well this domain is similar to the stakeholder engagement element
• 02:53 found in the PMI publications.
• 02:56 Stakeholders must be identified, analyzed, and engaged appropriately for success.
• 03:01 Most Agile methodologies do this differently
• 03:04 than traditional project management approaches, but the principle holds true.
• 03:09 On to number four, the fourth domain is performance.
• 03:13 It has three sub-domains and nine tasks.
• 03:15 And it states, create an environment of trust, learning, collaboration, and
• 03:20 conflict resolution that promotes team self organization, enhances relationships
• 03:25 among team members, and cultivates a culture of high performance.
• 03:30 This domain captures the highly collaborative nature of an Agile project.
• 03:34 Agile teams are empowered individuals who determine how to organize themselves
• 03:38 and the work.
• 03:39 Notice the performance is focused on teamwork, and team dynamics.
• 03:43 Agile team members are fully engaged.
• 03:46 Domain number five is Adaptive Planning.
• 03:49 There are three sub-domains and ten tasks.
• 03:51 This domain states, produce and maintain an evolving plan,
• 03:54 from initiation to closure, based on goals values, risks, constraints,
• 03:59 stakeholder feedback, and review findings.
• 04:03 This domain addresses an important element of the iterative aspect
• 04:06 of the Agile methodologies.
• 04:08 The iteration also includes adjustment and
• 04:10 adaptation, as the results from one iteration are used to plan the next.
• 04:15 This domain also has a heavy dose of estimating and sizing tasks.
• 04:19 Again, learning from one iteration to improve the estimates for the next.
• 04:24 Domain six is Problem Detection and Resolution.
• 04:27 There are no sub domains and just five tasks.
• 04:29 This domain states, continuously identify problems, impediments and risks.
• 04:34 Prioritize and resolve in a timely manner, monitor, and
• 04:38 communicate the problem resolution, and
• 04:40 implement process improvements to prevent them from occurring again.
• 04:44 This domain is the manifestation of project risk management in agile.
• 04:48 Risk and issuing management is a very real part of agile project day to
• 04:52 day management.
• 04:53 Remember, this approach is often used when there is high uncertainty.
• 04:57 That also means a high level of risks and issues.
• 05:01 And finally the last domain number seven, continuous improvement around products,
• 05:05 processes and people.
• 05:07 Again, there are no sub domains and just six tasks.
• 05:10 This domain states continuously improve the quality, effectiveness and
• 05:14 value of the product and process and the team.
• 05:17 The domain represents how Agile incorporates the principles of continuous
• 05:21 improvement into everything done in the Agile project.
• 05:24 Continuous improvement is not a department or a separate project.
• 05:27 It's part of how agile projects are managed.
• 05:30 The results of every iteration are used to improve the next iteration.
• 05:34 The seven domains are a good summary of what it means to be agile.
• 05:42 Study them to prepare for the exam.

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