How much will this cost?

by Evan Leybourn on      2 minutes read


"How much will this cost?"
"How long will it take?"
"What am I going to get?"

These are the questions that every Agile project gets asked at some point. And while "as much as your willing to spend", "as long as necessary" and "whatever you ask for" are perfectly acceptable, many customers are uncomfortable with these answers. This may reflect more on the customer then the team, but can lead to the misconception that the development team is writing themselves a blank cheque. How then does an Agile team define and scope a project where the customer requires fixed time, cost or scope?</div>

This presentation will provide guidance and direction on how to quote for and budget Agile projects, as well as how to change the questions in the first place.</p>

Learning Outcomes

Participants will learn how to quote and budget for fixed price, or otherwise constrained projects. Participants will also be given tactics on how to move customers towards an Agile mindset.

Mechanics

This is intended to be a practical discussion on how organisations can plan agile projects while constrained in a non-agile environment. There are four parts to the presentation (roughly a quarter of the presentation will be spent on each).

  1. A look at constraints in general (starting with time, cost and scope), and the potential impact on a project.
  2. How to structure a project proposal when the customer expects it to be constrained (e.g. fixed price or fixed time).
  3. How to adjust your project (in an agile manner) when it looks like you will break a constraint.
  4. Finally, we will look at ways of changing your customer - moving them away from a constrained mindset towards an agile mindset.

I will ensure there is ample time for Q/A during the presentation.

Slides