Understanding Process Goals in Disciplined Agile

Understanding Process Goals in Disciplined Agile

Why Understanding Process Goals is Important

Process goals are foundational to Disciplined Agile (DA) because they represent the key areas that teams need to address to successfully deliver solutions. Understanding process goals is crucial because:

1. They provide teams with a purpose-driven approach to process tailoring
2. They help teams focus on outcomes rather than prescriptive practices
3. They enable context-sensitive decision making
4. They promote a goal-oriented mindset that aligns with business objectives

What Are Process Goals in Disciplined Agile?

Process goals in DA are specific objectives that teams need to achieve during solution delivery. Each process goal:

- Represents a critical area of concern that must be addressed
- Contains multiple decision points that offer teams choices
- Provides various options (practices/strategies) for addressing each decision point
- Includes suggested default options that work in most contexts

The DA toolkit organizes these process goals within process blades (knowledge areas) and across the project lifecycle.

How Process Goals Work in Disciplined Agile

Process goals function as a guided choice framework:

1. Identification: Teams identify relevant process goals for their specific context
2. Exploration: For each goal, teams explore the associated decision points
3. Selection: Teams select the most appropriate options for each decision point
4. Implementation: Teams implement the chosen practices/strategies
5. Evaluation: Teams assess effectiveness and adjust as needed

This approach allows teams to tailor their way of working based on their unique situation while ensuring all critical aspects are addressed.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Understanding Process Goals in Disciplined Agile

1. Know the core process goals: Familiarize yourself with common process goals like "Form Team," "Explore Scope," "Coordinate Activities," etc.

2. Understand the structure: Remember that each process goal has multiple decision points, each with various options

3. Focus on context: Questions often present a scenario and ask which option is most appropriate - consider team size, domain complexity, and organizational culture

4. Remember the goal-option relationship: Be clear on which options belong to which decision points and which goals

5. Apply goal-first thinking: In scenario questions, identify the relevant goal before determining appropriate practices

6. Recognize trade-offs: Understand that different options have different advantages and disadvantages depending on context

7. Look for contextual clues: Exam questions often include details about team experience, project complexity, or organizational constraints that guide your answer

8. Avoid absolutist thinking: DA emphasizes that there is rarely one "best" practice for all situations

When answering exam questions, always consider what the question is really asking about - is it testing your knowledge of available options, appropriate contexts for options, or the relationship between goals and decision points?