Agile4: Course Overview

Agile Project Management (AgilePM®)

Foundation / Practitioner Combined

Certificate Course

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ALC offers an outstanding two-module, four-day training program covering the full scope of the Agile project management methodology. Accredited by APMG in association with the DSDM Consortium, this certification course is aimed at anyone in a project environment who is looking for a leaner, structured approach that enables faster response to change and that is conducive to rapid implementation of high-priority initiatives.

The course comprises a Foundation (3 days) and a Practitioner (1 day) module and includes both the APMG Foundation and Practitioner certificate exams, held at the end of the respective modules. 

Using the latest syllabus v2.0, the course will explain:

  • What is Agile
  • The key Agile skills and techniques
  • How an Agile project is managed
  • The different management styles needed for successful Agile projects (compared to “traditional” projects)
  • How to lay the foundations for successful Agile projects
  • How Agile operates alongside other frameworks such as PRINCE2, MSP, ITIL)

More course information

What you get
All participants will receive:

  • ALC’s Agile Project Management course workbook
  • The official Agile Project Management Handbook v2.0 written and published by the DSDM Consortium – the definitive source for Agile
  • Case studies
  • Practice exams
  • Comprehensive online support materials
  • Foundation and Practitioner certificate exams
  • Full catering including lunch, morning and afternoon tea

Related courses
Agile Foundation
This option is for those who do not need certification at Practitioner level.Business Analysis Foundation
This is the course for anyone concerned with ensuring that their organisation gets best return on project investment.

Background Information

Agile vs Traditional PM

There are many stereotypes about what is traditional project management and what is Agile. In reality, Agile and traditional project management approaches are complementary to each other rather than competitive. An Agile Project Manager is not someone who only does Agile projects. It is someone who has a deep knowledge of both Agile and traditional plan-driven principles and practices and knows how to blend them together in the right proportions to fit a given situation. Significant rewards accrue to organisations and individuals who get it right.

How Agile can help your projects

To stay effective, businesses need to be able to change quickly. The core focus of traditional project management methodologies is to thoroughly understand the reasons for change before the change can be enabled. In the real world, this approach can be far too time-consuming.

Agile project management covers the people, products and practices (techniques) required to successfully implement projects. Agile will help you:

  • Put the greatest business benefit first by
    • Prioritising change around business benefits
    • Prioritising the implementation of change within releases
    • Regular reviews of prioritisation and re-planning
  • Deliver better communications by
    • Ensuring that all of the correct stakeholders are identified, involved and informed throughout the project’s lifecycle
    • Regular planned reviews of work with stakeholders at the appropriate organisational levels
    • Facilitated workshops to gain consensus decisions from stakeholders
    • Daily communications between the change team and business representatives
  • Build trusted teams by
    • Self-directed and empowered teams of change and business personnel
    • Project managers facilitate the teams and do not direct them
    • Fixed timescales and resource budgets
    • Software development techniques that significantly reduce errors

 


What is Agile?

Agile is not a project management method or framework. Rather, it is a term that encompasses a family of different approaches, including DSDM Atern, Scrum, XP, Crystal, Feature-Driven-Development, which came together in 2001 as the “Agile Alliance” to formulate the Agile Manifesto – a statement of shared values about the development of software to support business. Now it extends to include other approaches such as Lean development and its values have spread well beyond the bounds of software into many other areas of business.

What is an Agile project?

Good Agile means delivering business value early. The key characteristics which make a project Agile are: short increments and frequent delivery; continuous user involvement at all levels; scope management by prioritisation of features; focus on business need; delivery on time and to budget; a collaborative approach between all parties, including external suppliers; embracing change and learning; sufficient but not excessive control; facilitative leadership and appropriate empowerment.

The APMG Agile Project Management certification.

Their are very many variants of Agile available. ALC offers the training and certification accredited by APMG, the organisation most closely associated with PRINCE2. In November 2010, APMG launched its new Agile Project Management certifications (AgilePM) in partnership with the DSDM Consortium. Based on the familiar structure of the PRINCE2 Foundation and PRINCE2 Practitioner level qualifications, AgilePM certification is underpinned by DSDM Atern, whilst acknowledging the other popular agile approaches around.

Based on DSDM Atern.

DSDM Atern is a mature and fully-featured Agile approach, established for more than 15 years and appropriate to all types of project. There are many organisations who have been training in, and using, this approach over the years, so it is robust, tried and tested. Unlike other popular Agile approaches, its focus is not purely on the development team: its scope extends to project structure and control. It specifies roles and responsibilities for project governance as well as for the mixed-skill development teams. It gives guidance on project management concerns such as risk and escalation, configuration management and quality. It also focuses on the triple concerns of time, cost and function, which, along with timeboxing, all work to deliver on time and within budget by prioritisation of features.

I have my PRINCE2 certification. Do I really need more training?

The good news for those who have laboured through PRINCE2 certification is that your knowledge is not redundant. However, in the ever-moving need for new skills, the logical next step in your life-long learning is in most cases Agile. Development teams are already doing Agile and current PRINCE2 project managers are already becoming an essential part of the new Agile project workforce.

Is Agile Project Management the new PRINCE2?

Separately, PRINCE2 and Agile are good, robust approaches for the management of all types of projects; together they are greater than the sum of their parts. The answer is that, although Agile Project Management can stand alone in certain environments, it is not a replacement for PRINCE2, but a complement to improve project delivery and success.

What is an Agile Project Manager?

There are many stereotypes about what is traditional project management and what is Agile. In reality, Agile and traditional project management approaches as complementary to each other rather than competitive. In this context an Agile Project Manager is not someone who only does Agile projects. It is someone who has a deep knowledge of both Agile and traditional plan-driven principles and practices and knows how to blend them together in the right proportions to fit a given situation. Significant rewards will accrue to organisations and individuals who get it right.

Where are Agile courses held?

ALC is a leading provider of training across a broad range of Project Management methods, frameworks and approaches.  Our Agile Project Management training courses are held on a regular basis in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide as well as in New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia.


 

Understanding AGILE

AGILE offers a different approach to other project management frameworks, with the key focus being on assessment through the development lifecycle. Essentially, regular iterations are performed where teams must develop incremental improvements for products that can also be implemented and shipped in a short timeframe.

This focus on work cycle repetition is called iterative project management. Essentially, it means that every aspect of an undertaking is revisited time and again to ensure it is still meeting pre-determined objectives.  As such, if an issue is encountered or the project needs to be taken in a new direction, time is available to do so.   AGILE has most commonly been used in a software development environment but it’s applicability is far broader, across project management in general.

How does AGILE help a project?

Adaptability is key in a modern business environment, especially when the requirements of a project are prone to change.  AGILE can assist business projects by:

  • Delivering improved communications: Communications are improved by correctly identifying and informing stakeholders, conducing planned work reviews at all appropriate organisational levels and holding daily communications with the team
  • Building trusted teams: Teams utilising AGILE are self-directed and empowered, with managers that facilitate teams without needing to direct them. In addition, there also fixed time scales and budgets to ensure projects come in as expected.