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PMP lesson · Delivery Approach · Choosing how to deliver · lesson 3 of 4 · about 7 minutes

Hybrid delivery and tailoring

HybridFree preview
Goal: After this lesson you can design a hybrid approach with controlled interfaces, and tailor processes and governance to the project's context.

1The situation

The signal list that kept changing

On the robot cell, the hardware follows phases and gates, and the MES software runs in two-week sprints. It works well, until the software team decides in a sprint to change the meaning of several PLC signals. The panel drawings, already approved and tied to a contractual FAT date, are suddenly wrong.

Each side was doing its own job correctly. The failure was at the boundary between them.

2Hybrid: the right approach for each part

A hybrid project uses predictive methods where work is stable or costly to change, and agile methods where it is uncertain. The key is the interface.

Predictive side
Stable work
Baselines, gates, change control.
Agile side
Evolving work
Backlog, sprints, product owner decisions.
Interface
Controlled
Shared signals, data, dates: baselined and changed through change control.
Agile changes that affect baselined or contracted items (hardware, interfaces, milestones, budget) go through integrated change control. Inside the agile part, the product owner decides.

3A hybrid project

Predictive partMechanical, electrical, safety hardwarePhases, gates, baselinesFAT / SAT milestones Agile partMES and HMI softwareSprints, backlog, demosFeatures evolve with feedback Interfacebaselined Signals, data, timing and milestones at the interface go through change control; each side works in its own way inside.
Each part uses the approach that fits it; the interface is controlled.

4How it looks on the exam

Exam-style question 1. In a hybrid project, hardware follows a predictive stage-gate cycle while software is developed iteratively. The software team proposes changes that would alter several signal definitions at the hardware–software interface. What is the BEST approach?
A. Freeze all software features until hardware is complete
B. Let the software team change the interface freely
C. Convert the whole project to predictive
D. Baseline the interface and manage changes to it through change control, while software features behind it evolve iteratively
Show the answer and the decode
Answer: D.
In simple English
Agile changes hit the predictive hardware.
What is the question really asking?
The best way to combine both.
Key words / trigger
“alter several signal definitions at the … interface”
PMP logic
Control the interface; let each side work in its own way inside.
Why the wrong answer looks attractive
Freedom for software sounds agile, but uncontrolled interface changes break the hardware.

5Remember this

Your memory card

  • Hybrid = predictive for stable parts + agile for uncertain parts
  • Baseline the interfaces; change them through integrated change control
  • Inside the agile part, the product owner decides
  • Tailor deliberately to context, with governance agreement
The full lesson in the PMCLEAR app also has:
  • the rest of the lesson (Tailoring)
  • a worked example
  • the common traps (wrong vs right)
  • 2 exam-style questions with the decode
  • a 3-question quick check
Open the full lesson → Create a free account
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