Agile and Earned Value: A marriage made at #eva18
Last year EVA18 was the first time I had ever visited the Armourers Hall and I can honestly say that it is one of the best venues I have ever attended.
Steeped in history, it survived the great fire of London which stopped one street away and was almost destroyed in the blitz when it caught fire but was mysteriously extinguished by an unknown fireman, who broke in, put out the fire and left!
It would seem that every room, piece of furniture and ornament has a story to tell; from the rug on the floor, to the figurine on the fireplace which disappeared for 200 years. Speakers aside, the highlight for me was the dinner. It was like stepping back into the past – a scene from a Hogwarts movie with only candles to provide the light.
Although all the speakers were of a very high standard, there was one presentation in particular which stuck in my mind. This was Stephen Carver of Cranfield University and “The Davy Case.” This is the true story of a floating oil rig, the ex-diver who was the ‘brains’ behind it all, and the various companies that it destroyed!
It is good to see that Stephen will be participating again in #EVA19 and this time he will delve into what “Alfred the Great” has to tell us about ancient leadership.
You don’t have to take my word for it as you can watch many of the recordings in the PM Channel who attend and film each event to create a learning legacy, along with the presentations that are available in the evaintheuk archive.
At EVA18, I first presented my experience of using Agile together with Earned Value. At that time, Steve Wake former Chairman of Planning Monitoring and Control SIG, and now of APM Board, suggested the publication of a white paper.
Agile and Earned Value (Nov. 2013) is now available via the APM Website, and reported in article following the Project Controls Conference (SWWE Branch, October 2013) Since then it has also appeared in the ACostE magazine, “Project Control Professional”
Following EVA18, I was invited to attend an experts meeting by the Government Audit Office (GAO) in the USA. They were planning to publish best practice guides on Scheduling and Cost, and to recognise Agile by including it in the Appendix section.
At EVA19, I will provide the latest update from the GAO experts meetings, and will be discussing the five myths of Agile which the experts discuss and counter.
For those of you who are interested in Agile, PMC SIG in conjunction with Thames Valley Branch, are planning an “Agile 14” event at the Holiday Inn, Oxford on the 17th June 2014. The theme will be ‘Agile: Future or Fashion’ and it will be advertised in APM events in the near future.