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Extreme project management (XPM) refers to a method of managing very complex and very uncertain
project A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...
s. Extreme project management differs from traditional
project management Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. T ...
mainly in its open, elastic and nondeterministic approach. The main focus of XPM is on the human side of project management (e.g. managing
project stakeholders Project stakeholders are persons or entities who have an interest in a given project. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), the term ''project stakeholder'' refers to "an individual, group, or organization, who may affect, be affecte ...
), rather than on intricate
scheduling A schedule or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order in which such things are ...
techniques and heavy formalism. Extreme project management corresponds to
extreme programming Extreme programming (XP) is a software development methodology intended to improve software quality and responsiveness to changing customer requirements. As a type of agile software development,"Human Centred Technology Workshop 2006 ", 2006, PD ...
. Advanced approaches to extreme project management utilize the principles of human interaction management to deal with the complexities of human collaboration. The term "Extreme project management" has not been picked up by any of the international organizations developing Project Management Standards. What might be understood as a similar concept is "Agile Project Management". The
ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Is ...
Standard ISO 21502:2020 refers to the term "agile" as a delivery approach (of products; related to project scope), and the PMBoK Standard published by the
Project Management Institute The Project Management Institute (PMI, legally Project Management Institute, Inc.) is a U.S.-based not-for-profit professional organization for project management. Overview PMI serves more than five million professionals including over 680,0 ...
refers to an "adaptive" type of development lifecycle also called "agile" or "change-driven" with regard to the
product development In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product or introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along ...
lifecycle of a project (an element of the project lifecycle).


About XPM

As it is known, the
software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
industry is a fast growing domain and in constant development and change. Despite the fact that there are plenty of methodologies and techniques used when it comes to
project management Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. T ...
, some new, and others that have been used for decades, extreme project management is one of the modern approaches to project management in this industry. Given that requirements are constantly changing and technology is evolving very rapidly, extreme projects move forward very fast and allow for teams to work in shorter timelines, being able to better understand and approve each other's ideas and work.eXtreme Project Management: Using Leadership, Principles, and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility
by Doug DeCarlo, Foreword by James P. Lewis, Afterword by Robert K. Wysocki, First Edition, October 2004, Wiley

/ref> For extreme project management to produce rapid change, it is necessary for all team members to communicate and reach full understanding. This method is used during the project execution and change control process and it is not allowed to be used for overall strategy or project prioritization. Extreme Project Management
2014 Association of Modern Technologies Professionals
To produce project plans, XPM uses a concept similar to
rapid application development Rapid application development (RAD), also called rapid application building (RAB), is both a general term for adaptive software development approaches, and the name for James Martin's method of rapid development. In general, RAD approaches to ...
(RAD) called rapid application planning (RAP). Stakeholders are invited by the
project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined fi ...
to the RAP session where a sequence of steps (including planning the project) is run so that the best decisions are taken.XPM – from idea to realization.
Critical approach to the concept of XPM. Synopsis. 2001
Extreme project management contributes to success in three different ways: 1. With it, you manage the unknown and unpredictable. 2. It instills desire and confidence among stakeholders and it focuses on gaining and sustaining commitment to the project mission. 3. It is a holistic approach, based on reality, managed by specialists.


Extreme vs traditional project management

Traditional project management is defined as an approach which assesses the project through five process groups: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and completion.
Elaine J. Hom, BusinessNewsDaily Contributor, 25 February 2014
The main characteristics of a traditional project management are: *Few scope change requests *Well-understood technology infrastructure *Low risk *Experienced and skilled
project team In a project, a project team or team is defined as "an interdependent collection of individuals who work together towards a common goal and who share responsibility for specific outcomes of their organizations". An additional requirement to the or ...
s *Plan-driven TPM projectsEffective Project Management: Traditional, Adaptive, Extreme
By Robert K. Wysocki, Rudd McGary. August 2003, Wiley Pub.
While traditional project management is used for linear work, without any significant changes, extreme project management is ideal for fast-speed projects with unpredictable results. One challenge faced by the traditional approach is that most software development projects' requirements change during the project execution period. Extreme projects are “a complex, self-correcting venture in search of a desired result” (Doug DeCarlo), where requirements are constantly changing throughout the project as a response to environmental factors such as competition, technology, and economic conditions. Extreme projects are characterized by: *Low possibility of failure *Short deadlines *Paramount innovation *Important quality of life Traditional project management utilizes the "waterfall method", whose purpose is to plan project activity in a straight line. In the traditional approach, each process runs linearly, resulting with what was planned from the beginning.Radical Project Management
By Rob Thomsett. Published by Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle Creek, New Jersey, 2004
The extreme approach, conversely, does not run constantly, instead adapting the project activity during the process, which leads in the final stage to a desired result. An extreme project management life cycle model is one that proceeds from phase to phase based on very limited knowledge of goal and solution. Each phase learns from the proceeding ones and redirects the next phase in an attempt to converge on an acceptable goal and solution.
An Apples and Cumquats Comparison, by Doug DeCarlo


Mindset

Fundamental to success on an extreme project is the application of both the appropriate complex method and the required
mindset Mindset is an "established set of attitudes, esp. regarded as typical of a particular group's social or cultural values; the outlook, philosophy, or values of a person; (now also more generally) frame of mind, attitude, ecte: anddisposition." ...
. Mindset is one of the most important and critical factors related to the extreme project management. In order to change the mindset of a team, there are some main rules for extreme approach for project management: *Chaotic project activities are normal *Uncertainty is one of the most common characteristic of an extreme project *Uncontrollable project *Spontaneous changes happen during the processes *XPM increases the security Mindset is defined as “a set of beliefs and assumptions about how the world works” (Douglas DeCarlo). Mindset is the project’s internal programming. A quantum mindset is needed to manage extreme projects in order to provide the project team an opening to change and unpredictability.


Extreme project manager

A project manager is a professional in the field of project management whose responsibility is to plan, execute and manage any project. An extreme project manager has to complete all duties and tasks at a high-speed level, following the proper extreme project methodology. The first step of any management methodology is that extreme project managers have to meet the client or the project stakeholders. Also, a specific analysis must be made to accentuate the value being provided to the client, emphasizing the benefits the client will gain as soon as the project is over. Extreme Project Management
by Shaun Ajani. Publisher: iUniverse, 1 January 2002
The extreme project manager is charged with responsibilities to the organization they represent, to the team, and to the project itself. Necessary skills include administrative credibility, political sensitivity and leadership. The main tasks that an extreme project manager has to fulfill for the project to be successful are: *negotiating *communicating with all parties *dealing with obstacles *keeping a balance between team members and motivating themProject Management: A Managerial Approach
by Jack R. Meredith, Samuel J. Mantel, 8th Edition, Chapter 3: The Project Manager. Publisher: John Wiley & Sons. Release Date: 23 August 2011
One of the rules that a manager needs to know is that extreme analysis is a way for the clients to know the benefits he will gain, emphasizing its value once the project is completed.


Books

* Ajani, Shaun H. ''Extreme Project Management: Unique Methodologies - Resolute Principles - Astounding Results'' * * Doug DeCarlo ''Xtreme Project Management: Using Leadership and Tools to Deliver Value in the Face of Volatility'' * Thomsett, Rob. ''Radical Project Management'' * Wysocki, Robert K., Rudd McGary. ''Effective Project Management: Traditional, Adaptive, Extreme''


Literature

*


See also

*
Agile software development In software development, agile (sometimes written Agile) practices include requirements discovery and solutions improvement through the collaborative effort of self-organizing and cross-functional teams with their customer(s)/ end user(s), ad ...


References

{{Reflist


External links


C2 Entry Page to Extreme Programming
Project management by type Extreme programming