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Agile Practice Documents

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Martin Sierra Contributing to add value to the PMO World| Aeromexico Mexico, Mexico
Hello everyone, I was thinking on what documents should be created when you manage a project under agile practice. I understand that one the agile principles is the software working over the documents.

Thanks
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David Portas London, United Kingdom
I don't think you should expect one collection of documentation to work for all cases. Do whatever makes the team effective and the product successful. Artefact (or artifact) is a better word to describe the way you record requirements, specifications and instructions because those things are often better captured in a collaboration tool, wiki, modelling tool or content management system rather than anything you could call a "document".

A very useful rule is to document the *product*, not the project. Keep project-specific artefacts to an absolute minimum. Project documentation is potentially wasteful because software products have a life extending outside and beyond the projects that interact with them. It's quite possible that most software development happens outside the remit of any project.

Some example product artefacts: product backlog; story; burn chart; cumulative flow diagram; data model; use-case diagram; sequence diagram; business process model.
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1 reply by Martin Sierra
Jul 01, 2021 9:49 AM
Martin Sierra
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Great response David, it was very clear. Warm regards
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Kiron Bondale Retired | Mentor| Retired Welland, Ontario, Canada
Martin -

This really depends on the context of your project including any external or internal regulatory constraints which might require creation of more than just minimally sufficient documentation.

Almost any of the "standard" PM documents are of value, but the format they take and the lightness or heaviness of the content will be driven by my first paragraph.

For example, a charter is still a good idea, but rather than a document, it might be a project canvas on a single slide. A WBS might be replaced by a user story map. Traditional project status reports might be replaced by a live project dashboard or other type of information radiator.

Kiron
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1 reply by Martin Sierra
Jul 01, 2021 9:51 AM
Martin Sierra
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Thank you Kiron, I appreciate your input. Warm regards
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Martin Sierra Contributing to add value to the PMO World| Aeromexico Mexico, Mexico
Jul 01, 2021 4:35 AM
Replying to David Portas
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I don't think you should expect one collection of documentation to work for all cases. Do whatever makes the team effective and the product successful. Artefact (or artifact) is a better word to describe the way you record requirements, specifications and instructions because those things are often better captured in a collaboration tool, wiki, modelling tool or content management system rather than anything you could call a "document".

A very useful rule is to document the *product*, not the project. Keep project-specific artefacts to an absolute minimum. Project documentation is potentially wasteful because software products have a life extending outside and beyond the projects that interact with them. It's quite possible that most software development happens outside the remit of any project.

Some example product artefacts: product backlog; story; burn chart; cumulative flow diagram; data model; use-case diagram; sequence diagram; business process model.
Great response David, it was very clear. Warm regards
avatar
Martin Sierra Contributing to add value to the PMO World| Aeromexico Mexico, Mexico
Jul 01, 2021 8:23 AM
Replying to Kiron Bondale
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Martin -

This really depends on the context of your project including any external or internal regulatory constraints which might require creation of more than just minimally sufficient documentation.

Almost any of the "standard" PM documents are of value, but the format they take and the lightness or heaviness of the content will be driven by my first paragraph.

For example, a charter is still a good idea, but rather than a document, it might be a project canvas on a single slide. A WBS might be replaced by a user story map. Traditional project status reports might be replaced by a live project dashboard or other type of information radiator.

Kiron
Thank you Kiron, I appreciate your input. Warm regards

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