ABSTRACT
AGILE PROJECT MANAGEMENT IS FOCUSED ON BUSINESS NEEDS AND USER NEEDS, NOT JUST ON SPECIFICATIONS Sometimes a specification betrays the real need, because not enough information was available when making the specification. Therefore, with agile project management the baseline is at a high level – at the level of business requirements, if they can be expressed as benefits and costs. A functional specification is essential when a subcontractor will be contractually required to deliver according to a tight specification. On the other hand, when the priority is to hit a deadline and to respect a budget, the client and contractor must work together closely in a partnering arrangement to refine the needs during the project itself as those needs become better understood. In this case a functional model, involving modelling, prototyping and user feedback will be more appropriate than a tight specification and a high-level baseline will serve better than a detailed technical baseline.
