Project Size

The core values and principles of APM are applicable to projects of any size. Similarly, the practices described in the next few chapters are applicable to projects of any size. However, for project teams that exceed 50 or so people, additional practices or extensions to the described practices may be necessarysome of which are described in Chapter 9. As project teams get larger, more documentation, additional coordination practices, increased ceremony, or other compliance activities (financial controls, for example) are usually needed. However, even these expanded practices should still be governed by APM's values and principles. For example, the principle of Simplify still applies to a large project; it just means to employ the simplest practice that works for a team of 150 rather than one of 15.

A 500-person team can't be as agile as a 10-person team, but it can be more agile than a competitor's 500-person team. By focusing on delivery, self-organization, and self-discipline, even larger teams burdened with complex coordination issues can readily adapt to business, technology, and organizational changes.