Project management
Write a 2 pages memo
Review the attached Case Study.
You are the Project Manager at Lizard Farm Insurance. You have decided you want to use Agile, more specifically, Scrum to run this project. You present the idea to your PMO and they tell you they are skeptical, but they will allow you to present your ideas to Heather Pruna, the VP of Product Innovation, and Anjali Patel, the VP of Technology. The PMO will leave for these two VPs to decide if you can use Scrum for your project. Your task is to convince them. You can either draft a Memo or do a Presentation (PowerPoint, Prezi, etc). As in the “real world,” there are not specific page/slide limit or style, you are to decide what’s best for two VPs of Lizard Farm – since they are your audience.
This assignment should address:
· Why are you proposing Agile? What is Agile?
· Why Scrum, out of all Agile Processes?
· What are the benefits of using Agile?
· What are the limitations of using Agile?
· How will this benefit Lizard Farm, company wide?
Notes on your audience:
· They are not in the day-to-day like you, they hold the organization at large.
· Two extremely busy people in leadership. Don’t have that much time.
· They are very intelligent, but Agile is something they only have head of.
· You don’t have the support of your PMO, yet.
· They would want to hold you accountable for the success of this project, how will you address that.
Notes on your assignment:
· Use the Agile resources in “Supporting Materials” folder to help guide your discussion of Agile
· Use Chapter 1 and 3 in “Essential Scrum ” Textbook to guide your discussion of Scrum.
· Keep your audience in mind – brief, concise, yet impactful message!
Lizard Farm – We’re working to keep your money…
Insurance Management System (IMS)
Project
Description
New system needed within a year or so, to handle all aspects of our company’s insurance business. We
operate in all 50 states. We handle auto insurance and home insurance, and offer discounts if you use
us for both together. We do not do life insurance: apparently, everyone dies at some point.
The system must do at least the following:
Claim recording
o For Example: If I have a car accident or a storm destroys the roof of my home I need to
alert Lizard Farm.
Claim tracking
o For Example: Lizard Farm needs to track that car accident or destruction to my home, so
different people in the company have access to it.
Claim payments
o For Example: Lizard Farm must pay me for the damage caused to my car in a reasonable
amount of time.
Customer tracking
o For Example: Lizard Farm must be able to track customers, so they can determine if a
customer is “high risk” – such as constant car accidents.
Premium tracking
o For Example: Lizard Farm needs to know if customers are paying their premiums.
General Assignment Notes
You will be expected to do some research here into the nature of Insurance companies and what they
do, but you are not expected to become an expert in software of that type. You should be able to
identify with and perhaps enhance the list above, but that is primarily to give you a fertile field for
picking User Stories for the project. I am more interested in how you communicate your thinking, both
to me, to your fictional team, and to the senior organization people that need convincing that Agile is
viable.
Remember the marking standards! If you do exactly what the assignment asks for, you will get a good
solid B+ (85%). To get an A, you must exceed expectations without going beyond the assignment
boundaries – for example, if you include a detailed project schedule with the first assignment, you will
probably lose points!
Below is the general assignment breakdown – each week will contain details on the specific assignment.
All weeks will be open, so you are welcome to “look ahead” to see what the upcoming assignment will
be about.
Assignment 1
Produce Agile Justification Memo
Assignment 2
High-Level Product Plan and Epics
Assignment 3
Completed Sprint Plan and Backlog.
Assignment 4
Relative Estimation and Task Board