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Welcome to the second article in this two part series. Last month we looked at some of the problems that are commonly associated with Agile Methods when they are viewed in the context of process rigor. We saw that a reconciliation between emergent and prescriptive disciplines can be achieved via a model of orthogonal standards and frameworks. We contrasted that model with the more commonly assumed “continuum” hypothesis, which locates predictive and emergent processes at opposite ends of a methodological spectrum.

This month we will explore in more detail the remedial, standards-based approach adopted by Codeworks DEV. We’ll show how a specialised, tool-supported, configurable toolset can be used to leverage Agile Methods across multiple PRINCE2 projects at both delivery and programme levels.

The Blue Ocean Strategy gives important insights regarding how to create new market space in uncontested markets thereby making the competition irrelevant. This strategy can be adopted to explain the significance of agile methodologies as compared to the Waterfall method of software development.

When Mary Gorman and Ellen Gottesdiener facilitated a game called The Backlog Is in the Eye of the Beholder for the Boston chapter of the International Institute of Business Analysis, both the players and the facilitators learned some important lessons in organizing a project requirements backlog. In this article, they describe the game and what it revealed, including the value of truly knowing your stakeholders.

A letter from the Better Software magazine editor—Editor in chief Heather Shanholtzer has graciously offered me the opportunity to write the editor's note for this issue of Better Software magazine as an opportunity to tell you about a project we've been working on for a while. We at Software Quality Engineering are quite fond of the content, contributors, and community at StickyMinds.com, but we recognize that even the finest houses eventually will need at least a fresh coat of paint.

The transition to lean-agile can be challenging for traditional project managers because traditional competencies and practices can conflict with the core principles that explain why lean principles work. To help prepare project managers transitioning to lean-agile, this article exposes five counterintuitive practices that challenge standard project management beliefs.

Agile is making its way into the enterprise as a project methodology for industrial-strength projects. Why the popularity? The answer lies in the requirements paradox: “We want requirements to be stable, but requirements are never stable.” Discover some key agile concepts as they affect business analysts.