The Mindset domain in the PMI-ACP certification focuses on the fundamental principles, values, and behaviours that underpin agile practices. This domain emphasizes fostering an agile culture and creating environments where innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement thrive.

Key Objectives of the Leadership Domain

Practice Servant Leadership:

• Act as a facilitator and coach rather than a traditional "command-and-control" leader.
• Prioritize the needs of the team and stakeholders to create an environment for success.

Empower Teams:

• Encourage teams to self-organize and take ownership of their work.
• Provide the tools, resources, and support teams need to deliver value.

Align Team Efforts with Organizational Goals:

• Ensure the team's work aligns with broader strategic objectives.
• Promote understanding of how team deliverables contribute to overall value delivery.

Foster Collaboration and Communication:

• Build strong relationships within the team and with stakeholders.
• Encourage open, transparent communication and resolve conflicts constructively.

Tasks and Responsibilities in the Leadership Domain

The PMI-ACP Content Outline specifies key tasks under this domain:

Demonstrate Agile Leadership:

• Embody agile values and principles in interactions with teams and stakeholders.
• Lead by example and encourage a culture of trust, respect, and adaptability.

Facilitate Decision-Making:

• Support teams in making informed, decentralized decisions.
• Use collaboration techniques to align diverse perspectives and reach consensus.

Coach and Mentor Team Members:

• Guide team members in adopting agile practices and improving their skills.
• Encourage a growth mindset and continuous learning.

Manage Stakeholder Engagement:

• Act as a bridge between the team and stakeholders.
• Ensure stakeholders remain engaged and aligned throughout the project.

Resolve Conflicts and Remove Impediments:

• Address conflicts constructively to maintain team harmony.
• Identify and eliminate barriers to team productivity and efficiency.

Knowledge and Skills Required for the Leadership Domain

To succeed in this domain, candidates should master the following areas:

• Servant Leadership: Techniques for supporting team success by prioritizing their needs and well-being.

• Conflict Resolution: Approaches to identifying and resolving conflicts constructively within teams.

• Coaching and Mentoring: Skills for developing individuals and teams to improve their capabilities and effectiveness.

• Stakeholder Management: Methods for engaging stakeholders and ensuring alignment with project objectives.

• Facilitation Techniques: Tools to guide discussions, foster collaboration, and enable productive decision-making.

Leadership in Practice: Example Scenarios

1. Empowering Teams: A leader encourages the team to self-organize and determine their approach to completing a sprint, providing support as needed.

2. Facilitating Conflict Resolution: When two team members disagree on a technical solution, the leader facilitates a discussion to reach a consensus that aligns with project goals.

3. Coaching for Growth: A leader works with a team member struggling with agile practices, providing mentorship and recommending training resources.

4. Removing Impediments: A leader identifies a bottleneck caused by insufficient resources and collaborates with management to resolve the issue.

Importance of Leadership in Agile Projects

• Promotes team autonomy and self-organization, crucial for agile success.
• Encourages a collaborative and inclusive environment where team members feel valued.
• Helps teams navigate challenges and maintain alignment with project and organizational objectives.

The Leadership domain underscores the role of agile leaders as facilitators, mentors, and champions of collaboration and alignment. This domain is essential for professionals aiming to lead agile teams effectively.

Key Objectives of the Product Domain

Deliver Value:

• Prioritize features and requirements based on customer value, business needs, and strategic goals.
• Focus on delivering incremental and iterative value through working product increments.

Collaborate with Stakeholders:

• Work closely with customers, users, and stakeholders to define and refine product requirements.
• Ensure ongoing alignment of the product with stakeholder needs and expectations.

Refine and Manage the Product Backlog:

• Continuously update and improve the backlog to reflect changing priorities and feedback.
• Maintain clarity and ensure the backlog is well-organized and actionable.

Ensure Product Quality:

• Incorporate quality checks throughout the development process.
• Utilize feedback loops to enhance product features and functionality.

Tasks and Responsibilities in the Product Domain

The PMI-ACP Content Outline specifies the following key tasks:

Define Product Vision and Goals:

• Work with stakeholders to create a clear product vision that aligns with organizational objectives.
• Translate the vision into actionable goals for the team.

Prioritize Backlog Items:

• Use prioritization techniques (e.g., MoSCoW, Weighted Shortest Job First) to decide which features to focus on first.
• Balance customer needs with technical constraints and business goals.

Engage with Stakeholders:

• Facilitate workshops, discussions, and feedback sessions to gather requirements and validate product direction.
• Manage stakeholder expectations by clearly communicating progress and changes.

Define and Deliver MVP (Minimum Viable Product):

• Identify the smallest set of features needed to deliver value to customers.
• Use feedback from the MVP to guide future development.

1. Measure Product Success:

   • Track metrics like customer satisfaction, Net Promoter Score (NPS), and business impact to evaluate product performance.
   • Use these insights to inform product adjustments.

Knowledge and Skills Required for the Product Domain

To excel in the Product domain, practitioners should develop expertise in the following areas:

• Product Backlog Management: Skills for creating, maintaining, and prioritizing backlog items.

• Stakeholder Collaboration: Techniques for engaging stakeholders and ensuring shared understanding of product goals.

• Agile Product Metrics: Knowledge of key metrics, such as lead time, cycle time, and value delivery, to assess product success.

• Customer-Centric Design: Incorporating customer feedback to refine product features and usability.

• Prioritization Techniques: Approaches like MoSCoW, Kano Model, and Value/Effort matrix to ensure high-value features are delivered first.

Product Domain in Practice: Example Scenarios

1. Backlog Refinement: A product owner works with the team to break down high-priority features into user stories, ensuring clarity and readiness for the next sprint.

2. Stakeholder Collaboration: An agile team holds a customer feedback session to validate the usability of a newly released feature and adjusts the backlog accordingly.

3. Defining MVP: A team identifies a core set of features that solve the most critical customer problem and delivers them as an MVP for early feedback.

4. Measuring Product Impact: After a sprint, the team reviews customer adoption rates and satisfaction scores to determine the success of a new product feature.

Importance of the Product Domain

• Keeps teams focused on delivering high-value outcomes rather than just completing tasks.
• Ensures alignment between product development and customer needs.
• Enables agile teams to adapt quickly to changes in priorities or market demands.

The Product domain underscores the value-driven nature of agile projects and equips practitioners with the tools to manage and refine product requirements effectively. It is essential for delivering successful outcomes in any agile environment.

Key Objectives of the Delivery Domain

Plan and Execute Iterations:

• Organize work into manageable, time-boxed iterations (e.g., sprints).
• Ensure delivery of working increments that meet stakeholder expectations.

Monitor and Optimize Workflow:

• Track progress and remove bottlenecks to maintain steady delivery.
• Use agile metrics (e.g., velocity, burndown charts) to measure and improve performance.

Adapt to Change:

• Embrace changes in requirements based on feedback or new priorities.
• Maintain flexibility in delivery plans to respond to evolving business needs.

Ensure Continuous Delivery of Value:

• Implement practices that support frequent and consistent delivery.
• Focus on delivering value incrementally, prioritizing high-impact work.

Tasks and Responsibilities in the Delivery Domain

The PMI-ACP Content Outline defines key tasks in this domain:

Plan Iterations and Releases:

• Collaborate with the team to define iteration goals and scope.
• Break down work into actionable tasks for each iteration.

Manage Work-In-Progress (WIP):

• Limit WIP to optimize flow and reduce context switching.
• Use tools like Kanban boards to visualize and manage workflows.

Facilitate Continuous Integration and Testing:

• Ensure that code is regularly integrated and tested to catch issues early.
• Use automation tools to maintain consistency and reduce manual errors.

Monitor Progress and Metrics:

• Track team performance using metrics like lead time, cycle time, and velocity.
• Conduct regular reviews to assess progress and identify areas for improvement.

Deliver Working Increments:

• Ensure that each iteration produces a potentially shippable product increment.

• Use stakeholder feedback to refine and prioritize future work.
• Adapt and Improve Delivery Processes:
• Conduct retrospectives to identify opportunities for process improvement.
• Implement changes to enhance team performance and delivery speed.

Knowledge and Skills Required for the Delivery Domain

To succeed in the Delivery domain, agile practitioners should master the following areas:

• Iteration and Release Planning: Techniques for breaking down work into manageable increments and setting achievable iteration goals.

• Agile Metrics and Reporting: Skills in using tools like burndown charts, burnup charts, cumulative flow diagrams, and velocity to monitor progress.

• Workflow Optimization: Methods for managing WIP limits, improving flow, and eliminating bottlenecks.

• Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD): Knowledge of automated testing, integration pipelines, and release management.

• Stakeholder Feedback: Practices for incorporating stakeholder input to improve product quality and value delivery.