FIT5057 · Project Management
Advanced Agile
The final chapter deepens agile delivery and connects it back to the predictive world. It covers sprint planning and team capacity (capacity is a ceiling, not a target), the Scrum/Kanban board as the daily-scrum agenda, and velocity as the basis for forecasting — carefully distinguished from capacity and commitment. It contrasts the burndown (work remaining, trending to zero) with the burnup (work done plus a scope line, which exposes scope change a burndown hides). Prioritisation goes beyond MoSCoW to WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First — cost of delay over job size, so big ≠ first), risk-adjusted backlogs and spikes. The chapter introduces Kanban and WIP limits, lead vs cycle time, the cumulative flow diagram, the scaling ladder and RACI, and finally tailoring (the PMBOK 7 principle) and hybrid delivery — the unit's closing message that predictive and agile are complementary, chosen to fit the context.
What this chapter covers
- 0110.1 Sprint planning & team capacity
- 0210.2 The Scrum / Kanban board
- 0310.3 Velocity & the forecast (vs capacity, vs commitment)
- 0410.4–10.5 Burndown vs burnup; Sprint Review vs Retrospective
- 0511.1 WSJF — Weighted Shortest Job First
- 0611.2–11.3 Risk-adjusted backlog (EMV) & spikes
- 0711.4 The scaling ladder & RACI
- 0811.5 Cumulative flow, lead vs cycle time, Kanban & WIP limits
- 0912.1–12.3 The life-cycle spectrum, hybrid delivery & tailoring
Worked example: prioritising with WSJF
- +1Recall WSJF: WSJF = cost of delay ÷ job size — it prioritises the work that delivers the most value per unit of effort, soonest.
- +1Feature A: WSJF = 24 / 8 = 3.
- +1Feature B: WSJF = 15 / 3 = 5 — higher than A.
- +1Decide & explain: do Feature B first (WSJF 5 > 3). "Bigger first" is wrong because a large job size lowers WSJF — the shortest job that buys down the most cost of delay wins, even though A has the higher raw cost of delay.
Key terms
- Velocity
- The amount of work (in story points) a team completes per sprint, averaged over recent sprints. It is used to forecast how many sprints remain — not to compare teams or to set a target. Velocity is an observed output; capacity is the available input; commitment is what the team takes on for the sprint.
- Burndown vs burnup
- A burndown chart plots work remaining trending toward zero. A burnup chart plots work completed against a separate total-scope line — so it reveals scope changes (the scope line moves) that a burndown silently hides. Burnup is preferred when scope is volatile.
- WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First)
- A prioritisation method: WSJF = cost of delay ÷ job size. It sequences the backlog to maximise value delivered per unit of effort and time, so a small high-value item outranks a large one. "Big" does not mean "first" — a large job size lowers the score.
- WIP limit (Kanban)
- A cap on the number of items allowed in a workflow stage at once. Limiting work in progress exposes bottlenecks, shortens cycle time and improves flow — the core mechanism of Kanban, which manages a continuous flow rather than fixed-length sprints.
- Tailoring (and hybrid)
- A PMBOK 7 principle: adapt the approach — predictive, agile or hybrid — to the project's context rather than applying one method dogmatically. Hybrid blends predictive governance (control) with agile delivery (adaptivity); the right mix depends on requirements stability, risk and stakeholder involvement.
Advanced Agile FAQ
Why is "do the biggest feature first" wrong under WSJF?
Because WSJF = cost of delay / job size, a large job size divides the score down. So a small item with a decent cost of delay can outrank a big item with a higher raw cost of delay — as in the worked example, B (15/3 = 5) beats A (24/8 = 3). WSJF deliberately favours the shortest job that buys down the most delay, which is the opposite of "big first".
When should I use a burnup chart instead of a burndown?
Use a burnup when scope is likely to change. A burndown only shows work remaining trending to zero, so if scope is added the line can flatten or rise and it is hard to see why. A burnup plots completed work against a separate scope line, so a moving scope line makes scope change visible — you can see whether you are falling behind because of slow progress or growing scope.
What is the difference between velocity, capacity and commitment?
Capacity is the team's available working time for the sprint (an input, a ceiling). Velocity is the work actually completed per sprint historically (an output, used to forecast). Commitment is what the team agrees to attempt this sprint, informed by both. Treating capacity as a target to fill, or velocity as a productivity score, are the classic mistakes.
Does scaling agile change how Scrum works inside a team?
No — scaling does not change Scrum's inner loop; it wraps a coordination layer around multiple teams (shared backlog, synchronised sprints, cross-team ceremonies, RACI for shared work). Each team still runs its own sprints, roles and events. The scaling ladder adds coordination, not a different Scrum.
Exam move
This chapter rewards crisp distinctions and a few light calculations. For the quiz, separate velocity / capacity / commitment, burndown / burnup, and review / retrospective (revisited), and remember WSJF = cost of delay / job size with the "big ≠ first" insight. Know what WIP limits do and the difference between lead and cycle time. The closing tailoring/hybrid message is examinable as a concept: there is no best method — predictive gives control and governance, agile gives adaptivity, and the PM tailors the blend to the context. For the agile project assignment, you will forecast from velocity and run a board, so practise reading a burnup and computing a WSJF ordering.
