Managing Agile Projects Training in Germany

This two-day course provides delegates with a thorough understanding of how to structure, plan and control their projects using a best practice Project Management methodology blended with a range of Agile techniques.

During the course we explore the Agile ways of working, define the role of projects in delivering change in organisations and how these two concepts complement each other to deliver projects on-time and on-budget.

Using the Agile Manifesto as a base, we show how projects can be defined, planned and controlled to enable a working solution to be delivered to the agreed level of quality whilst keeping on track. We discuss the Agile concepts of Definition of Ready, Definition of Done and how they relate to Project Managers sending work packages to suppliers.

This course is intended for anyone who expects to have a management role in a project that wants to take advantage of Agile practical techniques. It works best where delegates have some business experience or have been involved in projects which used recognised project management best practice methodologies.

QA recommends that delegates hold a recent Agile Project Management or PRINCE2 practitioner certificate before attending the course.

The intended audience for this course is anyone interested in using Agile techniques to enhance their existing Project Management knowledge and environment.

• Understand the basic concepts of common Agile ways of working
• Understand the purpose and context for combining Project Management and the Agile philosophical way of working
• Be able to fix and flex the six aspects of a project in an Agile context
• To learn through the use of theory, discussion and practical exercises how to deliver projects on-time and on-budget

This course uses a combination of theory, discussion and practical exercises to ensure delegates feel confident in the application of the concepts. The initial mandate for the project will be developed into a project plan. This plan will be used to control the project from feasibility through to closure, using Agile techniques to deliver the project on-time, on-budget.

The course will cover the following learning outcomes:

Understand the basic concepts of common Agile ways of working

• Explain the differences between projects and BAU (Business as Usual)
• Describe Agile and its common approaches
• Describe behaviours, concepts and techniques that characterise Agile
• Describe the Kanban method and its visual concepts
• Describe the core concepts of Lean start-up
• Define Scrum theory (the Scrum team, Scrum events, Scrum artefacts and Sprints)

Understand the purpose and context for combining Project Management and the Agile ways of working

• Explain the interplay between the eight principles and the five “targets”
• Explain how control and governance can enable Agile to be used
• Explain that Agile needs to be incorporated in all aspects of Project Management but that the extent will vary on a project by project basis
• Explain how to adjust roles, including the use of specialist roles, and the options for team organisation in a project
• Describe the make-up of a typical delivery team
• Describe how to define requirements and prioritisation, including MoSCoW
• Explain how to manage frequent releases and the benefits of 'failing fast'

Be able to define the requirements and control the delivery on a day by day basis

• Describe quality setting techniques including 'definition of done' and the use of acceptance criteria
• Describe approaches to planning and typical planning techniques
• Describe how blending Project Management with Agile approaches controls, responds to, and minimizes the impact of change
• Describe progress monitoring techniques including use of Work in Progress boards, Burn Charts, Information Radiators
• Describe how to 'manage by exception' with emphasis on empowerment, quantity of deliverables, rich information flows and value of deliverables
• Describe the use of retrospectives and how to make them effective
• Describe how the Scrum framework and the Kanban method can work together
• Give guidance on behaviours, risks and the frequency of releases
• Explain how to manage Stage Gates and the interplay between a stage and a release
• Explain how to assess quantity, quality and benefits of stage deliverables
• Explain how to effectively close a project, including evaluation of the use of Agile