Ace the PMI-ACP® exam, 1st ed.
A Quick Reference Guide for the Busy Professional

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Language: English

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Prepare for the Project Management Institute?s (PMI®) Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP®) exam. Augment your professional experience with the necessary knowledge of the skills, tools, and techniques that are required for passing the examination. This is a comprehensive and one-stop guide with 100% coverage of the exam topics detailed in the PMI-ACP® Exam content outline. Rehearse and test your knowledge and understanding of the subject using the practice quizzes after each chapter, three full-length mock exams, and practical tips and advice.

You will be able to understand the Agile manifesto, its principles and many facets of Agile project management such as planning, prioritization, estimation, releases, retrospectives, risk management, and continuous improvement. The book covers Agile metrics and means of demonstrating progress. People management aspects such as behavioral traits, servant leadership, negotiation, conflict management, team building, and Agile coaching are explained.

Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned practitioner, this book also serves as a practical reference for key concepts in Agile and Agile methodologies such as Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban.

What you will learn:

?The necessary knowledge of the skills, tools, and techniques that are required for passing the PMI-ACP examination
?To understand the scope and objectives of the PMI-ACP exam, and gain confidence by taking practice quizzes provided in each chapter and three full-length mock exams
?To gain exposure to Agile methodologies such as Scrum, XP, Lean, and Kanban plus various tools and techniques required to conduct Agile projects
?The focus is to "Be Agile", rather than "Do Agile"

Who this book is for:

The audience for this book primarily includes IT professionals who wish to prepare for and pass the Agile Certified Professional (ACP) exam from the Project Management Institute (PMI). The book also is a practical reference book for Agile Practioners.


Introduction.-
- Cover sheets
- Preface
- Word from the author
- Preface and organization of the book
- Table of contents
Chapter 2:  Agile Principles and Mindset (20 pages)
- History of Agile
- Agile Manifesto and principles
- Organizational and project context
- Incremental and iterative
- Waterfall vs Agile
Chapter 3:  Agile methodologies (25 pages)
- Scrum – Roles, Ceremonies and Artefacts. 
- XP – pair programming and continuous delivery
- Lean – elimination of waste
- Kanban – pull driven system, WIP limits
- DSDM
- Crystal family of methodologies. 

Chapter 3:  Value-Driven Delivery (30 pages)
- Deliver value in increments, frequent review based on stakeholder priorities – ROI, NPV, IRR
- Value stream mapping, Cycle time and CFD<
- Agile Charter
- Minimal Viable product (MVP) and Minimally marketable features (MMF)
- Limiting increment size
- Prioritization techniques like MOSCOW and Kano
- Backlog grooming
- Solicit customer and User feedback
- Compliance and regulations.
Chapter 4:  Stakeholder Engagement (20 pages)
- Balancing ROI by building trust with stakeholders
- Stakeholder management matrix and stakeholder classification
- Promote culture of participation and collaboration
- Gaining consensus on the acceptance criteria
- Information radiators
Chapter 5:  Team Performance (30 pages)
- Stages of team formation – Bruce Tuckman
- Shu Ha Ri
- Cross functional & generalizing specialists
- Self organizational
- Osmotic communication, information radiators
- Team space, tacit knowledge, caves and commons. 
- Co-located vs virtual teams, 
- Active listening
- High performing team with interpersonal and technical skills.
- Coaching
- Servant leadership style, negotiations, conflict management
- Agile PMO
Chapter 6:  Adaptive Planning (40 pages)
- PDCA cycle
- Planning onion
- User stories – characteristics (INVEST) and best practices
<- Story maps, wireframes, personas
- Definition of done (DoD)
- Agile estimation units -  t-shirt sizing, ideal days and story points.
- Agile estimation techniques like planning poker
- Velocity
- Release planning
-< Performance tracking by Burn down . burn-up, parking lot charts
- Other metrics like EVM, escaped defects, variance analysis.
- Innovation games 
Chapter 7:  Problem Detection and Resolution (30 pages)
- Risk management techniques, spike tasks
- Risk adjusted backlog
- Risk burndown graph
- Visibility and transparency of lists of threats.
- Frequent validation and verification
- Test driven development, shift-left testing
- Retrospective techniques
- Process improvement and refactoring
Chapter 8:  Continuous Improvement (Product, Process, People) (20 pages)
- Continuous improvement of product quality and effectiveness
- Process improvement – Kaizen, 5 Why’s, Fishbone
- System thinking – complex adaptive, chaos
- Process tailoring
- Individual coaching vs team coaching
- Situational leadership
- Agile coaching – failure and success modes.
- Agile contracting and project accounting principles
- Agile tooling – new tools used. 
Chapter 9:  PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. (10 pages)
- Principles 
- Scenarios
Chapter 10 : The PMI-ACP exam (10 pages)<
- Eligibility criteria
- Exam outline / syllabus
- Application and payment
- Audit
- Exam format
- Tips and tricks
- Continuing certification requirements
Appendix  (65 pages)
- Glossary
- Full length mock exam
- Solution to Chapter quizzes
- Solution to mock exam
- References and bibliography
- Index
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Sumanta is a passionate and ardent evangelist of Agile practices, who has played all roles ranging from development, technical leadership, Scrum Master, Coach and Mentor for teams of various sizes and in various geographies. He has about 16 years of professional experience in successful implementation of technology based solutions and complex projects in the domains of telecom, finance, securities, investment banking and commercial banking. During this tenure he has served global giants like Royal Bank of Scotland, Fidelity Investments, State Street Corporation, Lucent, Ericsson, AT&T, Epson and Wipro Technologies.

The author holds a few Agile certifications namely Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) from PMI and Certified Scrum Practitioner (CSP), Certified Scrum Master (CSM) from Scrum Alliance.During his spare time, the author also provides freelance and corporate trainings on Agile and Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
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Presents relevant concepts in an easy-to-understand format, removing the unnecessary clutter and helping with learning, capability building, and retention

Overview of Agile methodologies, including Scrum, XP, Kanban, and Lean

Can be used as a handy reference by someone beginning with Agile, and a refresher for a seasoned Agile practitioner