After the acquisition of American Natural Resources Co. (ANRC) by TransCanada Pipelines (TCP), the immediate challenge facing TransCanada was the integration of 21,000 miles of ANRC’s natural gas pipelines with TCP’s own system within a 2-year time frame. The project team consisted of 14 engineers and one software manager, each with their own sub-teams.

The project started with a Gantt chart for task scheduling. However, since the project did not have full-time resources dedicated to it, task due dates were often not met. As the team acquired more data, the project parameters and scope kept changing. To respond to these constant changes, the project team adopted a more agile management process. Although they did not adopt all agile tools, they used some that were especially needed for this project. For example, there were daily 15-minute sub-team "stand-ups" (less talking when no chairs) and weekly meetings with the entire project team. This provided workers with the latest information on changes, problems, personnel availability, priorities, and other information to identify and solve roadblocks. The meetings promoted inter-communication to keep the project moving while adapting to the constant changes.

To track actual progress, the project manager created a high-level list of project tasks and regularly updated the number of hours left (not hours put in) to complete each of the tasks. This daily reporting helped the sub-teams focus on results while being aware of the daily changes that might affect them. This constant updating of information came in handy when the project was thrown off schedule by a major vendor delay. The project manager's ability to alert the project’s stakeholders far in advance was positively received. Even though the project ran late, management was pleased to know about the problem far ahead of time and why it occurred.

The project manager pointed out that agile is a way to deal with projects in constant flux by shortening feedback loops and keeping everyone apprised of changes so they can coordinate their efforts. It is best for organizations working in dynamic, turbulent environments. Agile isn’t particularly useful on projects with standard processes for completion, like building a new pipeline, or with a project team that has inexperienced, unskilled, or unfamiliar workers. Teams need to be able to trust the judgment of each member and be able to collaborate and coordinate effectively.

1. What aspects of agile project management were and were not used in this project?

2. Discuss some problems with using agile project management for a standard project or one with standard project management processes.