Contemporary Development Principles and Practices Training Course

Module 1: Traditional Development Approaches

• 1.1 Overview of Sequential, Predictive Development Approaches
  • Description of sequential, predictive ‘Waterfall’ approaches for government projects.
  • Timeline of the evolution of Waterfall approaches in public sector operations.
• 1.2 Strawman Waterfall
  • Dr Winston Royce’s Waterfall model and its application for government.
  • Benefits of Waterfall for controlling projects in the public sector.
  • Royce’s “Inherent risks” associated with Waterfall approaches.
• 1.3 V-Model
  • Early verification and validation techniques for government projects.
  • Benefits of the V-model in ensuring project success for government agencies.
• 1.4 Incremental Models
  • Example of the Rational Unified Process (RUP) and its relevance for government projects.
  • Incremental delivery strategies to enhance project management in the public sector.
  • Breaking down scope and managing risk effectively for government initiatives.
• 1.5 When to Use Waterfall
  • Defined process control for government projects requiring structured methodologies.

Module 2: Prince2 Overview

• 2.1 What is Prince2?
  • Definition and origins of the Prince2 methodology for government project management.
  • Prince2 Certifications: Foundation, Practitioner, Agile, and their relevance for government professionals.
  • Benefits of Prince2 in enhancing project governance and accountability for government.
• 2.2 Prince2 Methodology
  • Roles: Project Manager, Customer, User, Supplier, Project Board, and their responsibilities for government projects.
  • Management Techniques: Project assurance, project support, and their application in public sector projects.
  • Scope: Interaction with contracts and contractual management in government settings.
  • Controlling Change: Risk, quality, and change management strategies for government initiatives.
• 2.3 Prince2 Process Model
  • Directing a project to ensure alignment with government objectives.
  • Starting up a project with clear governance structures for government agencies.
  • Initiating a project by defining scope and requirements for government projects.
  • Managing stage boundaries to maintain control and oversight in public sector initiatives.
  • Controlling a stage through regular monitoring and reporting for government projects.
  • Managing product delivery to meet stakeholder expectations in the public sector.
  • Closing a project with thorough evaluation and documentation for government.
  • Planning: Strategic planning processes for government project success.

Module 3: Agile Overview

• 3.1 Historical Overview
  • Timeline of the evolution of ‘Agile’ ideas from the 1990s to the present for government projects.
  • Early Agile approaches such as Scrum, XP, and DSDM in the context of public sector operations.
  • Agile Developments: Kanban, BDD, DevOps, and scaling techniques for government initiatives.
• 3.2 The Agile Manifesto
  • Background to the creation of the Agile Manifesto and its relevance for government.
  • Agile Manifesto overview:
    • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools for government projects.
    • Working software over comprehensive documentation in public sector development.
    • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation in government initiatives.
    • Responding to change over following a plan for flexible project management in the public sector.

Module 4: Agile Principles

• 4.1 The 12 Agile Principles
  • Group discussion on each principle and its application in government projects.
• 4.2 Summary of Agile concepts
  • Iterative planning and development for efficient project management in the public sector.
  • Continuous improvement to enhance processes and outcomes for government initiatives.
  • Continuous learning to foster innovation and adaptability in government projects.
  • Collaboration and face-to-face communication to ensure effective teamwork for government.
  • Collective accountability to promote responsibility and ownership in public sector projects.
  • Cross-functional teams to leverage diverse skills and perspectives in government initiatives.

Module 5: Agile Project Management with Scrum

• 5.1 The Scrum Framework
  • Overview of the Scrum Guide (2016) and its application in government projects.
  • Scrum roles and responsibilities: Scrum Master, Product Owner, Team, and their functions for government initiatives.
  • Scrum events: Sprint, Sprint Planning, Review, Retrospective, Daily Scrum, and their importance for government project management.
  • Scrum artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Product Increment, and their role in government projects.
• 5.2 Agile Project Management Principles
  • Empirical Process Control to ensure transparency and adaptability for government initiatives.
  • Iterative planning and reporting to maintain flexibility and accountability in public sector projects.
  • Continuous Improvement and retrospection to enhance project outcomes for government agencies.
  • Resource management and team dynamics to support efficient project execution for government.

Module 6: Software Testing

• 6.1 Testing Fundamentals
  • The Fundamental Test Process:
    • Planning, Analysis & Design, Execution, Evaluation, Closure for government software projects.
  • Test levels: unit, integration, system, user acceptance testing in the context of public sector development.
  • Test approaches: requirements-based, risk-based, experience-based methods for government initiatives.
  • Test design techniques: white-box, black-box techniques to ensure software quality for government projects.
• 6.2 Agile Testing
  • Agile Testing Quadrants overview and its application in government project planning.
  • Test-driven development (TDD) practices for efficient software delivery in the public sector.
  • Test automation principles, including the test automation pyramid, to enhance efficiency for government initiatives.
• 6.3 Test Types
  • Technology-facing tests that guide development:
    • Unit testing, TDD, smoke tests to ensure software reliability for government projects.
  • Business-facing tests that guide development:
    • Story tests, examples, acceptance testing to validate business requirements in public sector projects.
  • Business-facing tests that critique the product:
    • Exploratory testing, Alpha/Beta testing, User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to ensure user satisfaction for government initiatives.
  • Technology-facing tests that critique the product:
    • Performance testing, usability, quality attributes to enhance software performance for government projects.

Module 7: Traditional Business Analysis

• 7.1 What is Business Analysis?
  • Business analysis and the role of business analysts in government projects.
  • Levels of business analysis: enterprise, project, operational, and their application in public sector operations.
  • Business Analysis principles for effective decision-making in government initiatives.
• 7.2 IIBA BA Book of Knowledge – Knowledge Areas
  • Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring for government projects.
  • Elicitation and Collaboration to gather requirements effectively for government initiatives.
  • Requirements Life Cycle Management to ensure consistent tracking and management in public sector projects.
  • Strategy Analysis to align business goals with project objectives for government agencies.
  • Requirements Analysis and Design Definition to define clear project scope for government initiatives.
  • Solution Evaluation to assess the effectiveness of implemented solutions in government projects.

Module 8: Agile Business Analysis

• 8.1 Agile Business Analysis Considerations
  • Iterative development to adapt to changing requirements in government projects.
  • Cross-functional teams to leverage diverse expertise for government initiatives.
  • Collaboration between business and technology areas to ensure alignment in public sector projects.
• 8.2 Behaviour-Driven Development (BDD) Overview
  • Origins in Test-Driven Development (TDD) and recent developments for government applications.
  • Definitions: BDD, ATDD, Specification by Example, and their relevance for government projects.
• 8.3 BDD Activities
  • Focus on features that deliver business value in government initiatives.
  • Derive features collaboratively to ensure stakeholder engagement in public sector projects.
  • Keep options open to maintain flexibility in government project management.
  • Use concrete examples to illustrate features for clear understanding in government initiatives.
  • Write executable specifications to guide development and testing in government projects.
  • Create living documentation to ensure transparency and traceability for government initiatives.
• 8.4 Agile BA Techniques & Tools
  • Business value definition to prioritize project activities for government projects.
  • Personas to understand user needs in public sector initiatives.
  • Impact Mapping to align project goals with business outcomes for government agencies.
  • Real options to manage uncertainty and risk in government projects.
  • User Stories and acceptance criteria to define requirements clearly for government initiatives.
  • Relative estimation to plan and track progress effectively in public sector projects.
  • Given-When-Then template to structure test scenarios for government software development.
  • Tool support for BDD to enhance collaboration and automation in government initiatives.