Tai: Diary

この4年程、毎年1回はAXELOS社の試験を受けており、その感想です。

1. 複数の模擬試験を受けたが、模擬試験と同じ質問は、ほぼ無い。同様の質問があっても、選択肢が異なる。教科書通りの回答ではないように思われる。故に、消去法により回答していく。


2. 教科書や模擬試験では見なかった、知らない英単語や専門用語が、少々出てくる。それらが選択肢に使われている場合、勉強中に見た事が無いのだから、その選択肢は間違いの可能性はある。


3. 受験の度に「今回はダメかも」と思うが、十分に勉強した事もあるのか、結果的に合格している。また、時間に余裕がある。


4. トラブルが発生しがち。今回は、以下のようなことがあった。
   
   
   
   • 毎度、身分証明にパスポートを使用するが、期限切れなのに気がついた。更新する時間的猶予がなく、そもそも旅行の予定も無い。名前の記載はアルファベットが必須のため、運転免許証や保険証は使えない。社員証での対処を考えたが、結果、期限切れのパスポートでOKだった。
   
   
   • WiFiのせいか、試験官の声が途切れ、聞き取れなかった。幸い、チャットで対処できた。
   
   
   • 祝日に、会社の部屋を借りて受験したのだが、後半、子連れの社員が出社したようで、その子供が泣き始めた。
   
   
   
   

私は既に、PRINCE2の資格を持っています。通過してから気付いたのですが、PRINCE2の資格があれば、今回のPRINCE2 Agileの初級試験を受けずとも、直接、その上級試験を受験できたようです。（もしくは、それを承知で勉強を始めたが、昔の事なので忘れていた。）

但し、上級試験ならば、現状の勉強量では不足しているかと思います。通過点と前向きに捉え、上級試験を目指そうと思います。

Full Length Exam - 4
2021/08/22: 66%
2021/08/31: 82%
2021/09/08: 98%

アプリのみのタイプ、Webとアプリのタイプ、2種類の模擬試験を購入しました。
今やっているのは後者です。
Webのほうが、画面が大きくて扱い易く、やる気が出ます。

後者は、4種類の模擬試験が用意されています。
取り敢えず、4種類すべて、1回目の試験を終えました。

Full Length Exam - 3
2021/08/21: 82%
2021/08/29: 88%
2021/09/07: 90%

今日は、家族で墓参りに行きました。

Full Length Exam - 2
2021/08/15: 74%
2021/08/28: 80%
2021/09/06: 92%

前回のMSPの試験と比較し、こちらのほうが容易い気がします。

Full Length Exam - 1
2021/08/14: 68%
2021/08/26: 76%
2021/09/05: 94%

先月、オンラインの模擬試験を購入しました。
本日、4点ある模擬試験の内、1つ目を受けてみました。

一歩を踏み出すまでが大変でしたが、いざ受けてみると、あまり抵抗はありませんでした。
本試験も、何とかなりそうな気がします。
継続して勉強するようにします。

PRINCE2 Agileは、プロジェクトの初期段階から計画に取り入れます。真価を発揮するのは、成果物を出すタイミングです。一般に、Agile自体がそういうもののようで、プロジェクト管理とは異なる階層にあります。トラブルを起こさないよう、上手く調整するためのノウハウです（教科書では、フレームワークと書かれている）。ITIL 4のコンセプトに近いと思います。尚、Scrumというフレームワークがありますが、Agileの一形態に過ぎないようです。

1. Transparency
   The most important elements of this principle come in the form of the common agile values of honesty, trust, integrity and respect. Transparency means that everyone knows the situation and there are no surprises.


2. Collaboration
   A motivated and respectful team is greater than the sum of its parts if people work together and provide cover for one another. More can be achieved this way than working in silos. An example of collaboration could be where a team is falling behind with work due to one person having difficulties with a technical problem. One person on the team is ahead of schedule on their own work, so they stop to help the colleague.


3. Rich communication
   People should always use the most effective channel to communicate. Using face-to-face and/or visualization are many times faster and more effective than words on their own. A rich communication environment should be created, allowing information to pass freely in a culture of commitment and trust. There is still need for documentation, but by using other more effective channels, it can be replaced or complemented and greatly reduced.
   


4. Self-organization
   The people closest to the work will usually know best how to get the job done. Therefore people should be trusted to do it. Self-organizing creates mutual respect. A project manager can leave a team manager to focus on product delivery, thereby making team manager feel trusted. This principle extends far beyond the work.
   


5. Exploration
   Frequent question and rapid feedback loops in any form provide an opportunity to learn. Learning helps to improve the products. By continually working in loops that deliver something and create feedback, the team can go forward. The shorter these feedback loops are, the quicker progress can be made and the smaller will be the impact of any mistakes.
   

勉強を始めて、まだ入り口にいますが、通常のPRINCE2に、少しアジャイルの要素を付け足しただけのような感じがします。初めてPRINCE2を勉強する方は、PRICE2 Agileから始めても良いかも知れませんし、既にPRINCE2を知っている方は、試験までの道のりが楽かも知れません。

https://en.bloguru.com/tai/395949/the-five-targets-behind-flexing-what-is

PRINCE2には、プロジェクト管理の基盤になる、Principlesと呼ばれる7つの項目があります。PRINCE2にアジャイルを適用するに当たり、Principlesに、下記の5つの追加項目を加えると、上手く機能するようです。あまり共感出来ない記述がありますが、もう少し理解を深めると、納得いくかも知れません。全体に、やはりITIL 4に似た印象を受けます。

1. Transparency
   The more information that is out in the open, the better this is for the agile way of working. It enables speed, clarity and engagement, even if the news is not so good.


2. Collaboration
   A motivated and respectful team is greater than the sum of its parts if people work together and provide cover for one another. More can be achieved this way than working in silos. Collaboration is not just internal to the team: it involves external collaboration with all stakeholders, especially the customer. Fully engaging with customers and working with them, rather than for them, will create shared understanding and ownership of goals and outputs.


3. Rich communication
   People should always use the most effective channel to communicate. Using face-to-face and/or visualization are many times faster and more effective than words on their own. A rich communication environment should be created, allowing information to pass freely in a culture of commitment and trust. There is still need for documentation, but by using other more effective channels, it can be replaced or complemented and greatly reduced.


4. Self-organization
   The people closest to the work will usually know best how to get the job done. Therefore people should be trusted to do it. If they create a plan, then they own it and buy into it; it is far more likely to happen if they do. Self-organizing creates mutual respect. A project manager can leave a team manager to focus on product delivery, thereby making team manager feel trusted. This principle extends far beyond the work. It includes the way the team works and the way team members behave towards one another. Although the project board is ultimately accountable for the direction of the project as a whole, the more a team is empowered at the delivery level, the more likely it is to perform well when working in an agile context and achieve the outcomes and goals of that direction.


5. Exploration
   Projects are difficult, and in order to create "the right thing" you need to be able to work out what "the right thing" is. Frequent question and rapid feedback loops in any form provide an opportunity to learn. Learning helps to improve the products. However, feedback will not just happen; it needs to be sought out collaboratively with people such as the customer, customer representatives, other team members or stakeholders.

プロジェクトの効率化のため、成果物に要求される局面（時間・コスト・品質・スコープ・リスク・利益）の内、何を柔軟に捉えられるかについての5つの項目です。プロジェクトを進行中、良く悩む点で、参考になります。ITIL 4に似た印象を受けます。

It is very important to understand the thinking behind flexing what is being delivered and not just do it "because that's what the manual says". The following sections outline the deeper and more specific reasons why PRINCE2 Agile involves basing the way a team thinks and acts on a different paradigm from that on which projects have traditionally been based.

1. Be on time and hit deadlines
   Being on time and hitting deadlines has many very significant advantages.
   
   For any project or piece of work being on time is naturally seen as desirable, but the advantages that meeting deadlines creates may not all be obvious; when the many upsides of this are taken together, it creates something that should be seen as essential as opposed to just desirable.
   
   Some of these advantages can include:
   
   
   
   • delivering early realization of benefits, and these can be planned around
     
   • helping with planning (e.g. dependencies within a project or between projects, capacity and resources at the portfolio and programme level)
     
   • giving confidence (e.g. with progress)
     
   • there mat be no choice (e.g. external market forces or regulatory considerations)
     
   • reducing the likelihood of cost overruns (assuming that resources are fixed)
     
   • improving reputation (e.g. with the customer)


2. Protect the level of quality
   Ensuring that the level of quality is protected and regarded as vital is of paramount importance to a project. This will lead to a lower cost of ownership throughout the lifetime of the final project.
   
   PRINCE2 Agile protects the level of quality and ensures that deadlines are met by reducing the amount delivered by the project but not reducing activities that ensure that the quality level is met.
   


3. Embrace change
   Embracing change by seeing it not only as inevitable but also as a positive influence on a project allows for a more accurate final project.
   
   It is important to distinguish between minor change and major change because only the former can be handled dynamically and with little overhead. This illustrates the importance of setting the project baseline in the project initiation documentation (PID) at the correct level.
   


4. Keep teams stable: do not add people to a team in order to try to go faster
   Keeping a team stable over the short term removes the temptation to add people to a team in order to catch up with work when in reality it is more likely to have little or no effect.
   
   Changing team members or adding to the team can have a far more detrimental effect than normal for reasons such as:
   
   
   
   • time is spent bringing new team members up to speed.
     
   • the number of communication lines in the team grows exponentially.
     
   • there is an opportunity cost incurred to the areas providing the new people.
     
   • The team dynamics change and need to be re-established.
   
   The impact of changing a team's dynamics is usually underestimated and can sometimes be the most counterproductive side-effect of the four.
   


5. Accept that the customer does not need everything
   Accepting the premise that not everything defined in the initial stages of a project must be delivered is wise. It inevitably turns out that many things do not add enough value to warrant delaying the project because of them.
   
   A project using PRINCE2 Agile does not set out with the intention of not delivering everything, but it does aim to hit deadlines and protect the level of quality by reducing what is delivered accordingly. This in turn can result in the early delivery of a minimum viable product (MVP), an in general terms the project delivers what the customer really wants (or needs) more quickly.