AgilePM is arguably one of the most valuable and effective project management certifications out there. It offers a lean, structured approach to project management. In turn, this enables a faster response to change and a swifter implementation of high-priority initiatives.
In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn exactly what AgilePM is and how it differs from similar qualifications. We’ll also show you how it gets integrated in practice and the career paths you can pursue after qualifying.
AgilePM – The Basics
AgilePM is a practical and repeatable methodology, which balances project management rigour with Agile-level speed.
It was originally developed by the Agile Business Consortium and is now associated with APMG. In taking an AgilePM qualification, you will learn how to prepare and run an effective Agile project, including documentation, techniques, roles, and responsibilities.
Even as technology develops and the pace of work grows continually faster, AgilePM will help you plan and deliver projects on time and to your stakeholders’ requirements.
What Separates AgilePM?
As you likely know, AgilePM is far from the only qualification in this field, with its most notable alternatives being Scrum, SAFe, and PRINCE 2 Agile. Here’s how AgilePM differs from each of those qualifications.
Scrum is a product development tool, which is effective at both capturing users’ needs and adapting to evolving requirements. It doesn’t, however, take into account the schedule or requirements of the stakeholder investors in that project. In short, Scrum on it’s own can still be effective at the team level, but still requires a project management method – such as AgilePM – on top of it. Scrum is now fully incorporated into the new AgilePM v3, embedding Scrum as the core engine for product delivery at the team level. Teams already using Scrum will therefore find it easier to adopt AgilePM as a broader project delivery framework.
SAFe is frequently used to coordinate Agile delivery at scale, across larger organisations. It can be applied to project management, product management, architecture, and so on. It is more of a large-scale organisational operating model working at a higher level than AgilePM, which focuses on project delivery.
PRINCE2 Agile vs AgilePM is a closer comparison. Both are iterative and incremental project management approaches, and they share various characteristics. PRINCE2 Agile is a blended project management framework that combines the structure and governance of the PRINCE2 methodology with the flexibility and responsiveness of an overarching Agile framework. If your organisation is already heavily PRINCE2-centred, it might be a more natural progression towards PRINCE2 Agile. However, AgilePM on its own is often considered to be a leaner method, while still retaining appropriate structure.
How AgilePM Actually Works
AgilePM provides a structured way to prepare for and run Agile projects. That includes the lifecycle, roles, products, and techniques necessary to do so.
Firstly, AgilePM teaches the defined lifecycle of an Agile project. That goes from the early stages (concept and feasibility), through to foundations, iterative development, deployment, and post-project review.
Next, it specifically assigns roles within the project. including assigning particular responsibilities to each person involved. It also covers the products related to the project, i.e. exactly what gets produced, the purpose in each case, and how they’re used effectively.
Finally, it teaches you the popular Agile techniques you’ll actually use. Those include MoSCoW prioritisation, iterative development, and timeboxing.
Overall, the focus is on giving you the tools to enable replicable and on-time Agile delivery. You’ll be taught to do so through planning and control, rather than the chaos and unpredictability that can otherwise plague project management.
Transitioning from Structured Waterfall Delivery
Many career project managers were originally trained to use structured waterfall delivery. Switching to an Agile approach is certainly a transition, but it’s one that is often misunderstood. Common misconceptions about Agile include a lack of planning and accountability, while, in reality, these are very much still in place.
Governance certainly remains a key factor in Agile project management. AgilePM is designed to preserve standards, rigour and visibility, while enabling a faster response to changes. It still exists, but is both lighter-weight and with shorter feedback cycles, and more frequent.
AgilePM also puts a heavy emphasis on stakeholder engagement. Unlike more traditional project management systems, which can rely on final sign-offs, stakeholders are engaged more regularly here, through incremental delivery and review.
The speed of change management is another factor in the transition from structured waterfall delivery. In short, it’s much faster with AgilePM, again due to the more iterative approach and the more frequent assessments. Rather than trying to sort everything up front, you learn to manage change regularly as decisions are taken, and information is gained.
Finally, risk management is certainly not removed, but it is handled differently. The structured waterfall approach can be slow to respond to new or emerging risks, with a heavier emphasis on identifying them early. AgilePM shifts that to a more continual, built-in practice, conducted regularly throughout the process.
How to Get Your Certification
Hopefully, you can already see the varied and powerful benefits of AgilePM. Here at ALC Training, we offer three different AgilePM qualifications.
The first is our AgilePM Foundation course. Obviously, this is targeted at newcomers to AgilePM, who are interested in its lean, structured approach. The course takes three days, and gives you an excellent grounding in both the overall principles of AgilePM and the specifics of lifecycle, products, techniques and so on.
The second is our AgilePM Practitioner. You must hold a current AgilePM Foundation certificate to take this course, which only takes one day to complete. The aim here is to transition you from having a grounding in AgilePM, gained during your Foundation course, to actually applying it in practice.
Finally, you can also go for the fully combined approach. By taking our AgilePM Foundation & Practitioner course, you get the best of both worlds: theory and implementation, all in only four days of Agile project management training.
Integrating AgilePM
We’re well aware that there’s a high chance you already know an existing project management framework. ITIL, PRINCE2, and PMBOK are some of the most famous examples. The good news is that AgilePM can actually work alongside these frameworks. In fact, it does so quite brilliantly.
AgilePM is particularly complementary when combined with PRINCE2. If you already know the latter, then you’ll recognise the need for governance and management products. AgilePM provides you with an Agile delivery model, with plenty of structure, while encompassing those key factors and plenty more.
The integration with ITIL is more practical, with a clearer separation. ITIL governs services and operational change. AgilePM, meanwhile, supports project-based change delivery and is particularly useful when requirements evolve over time.
There’s a similarly distinct and complementary integration with PMBOK. PMBOK is effectively a body of knowledge, defining what project managers should understand. AgilePM is a delivery framework, defining how to actually run and control an Agile project in practice. In short, PMBOK focuses on the theoretical, while AgilePM focuses on the practicalities.
Your AgilePM Career Paths
Aside from simply being a fascinating framework, AgilePM can also benefit you in tangible ways. There are several common career paths which it can either help with, or open up entirely.
If you’re interested in being a Delivery Lead, for example, it will give you a structured approach to planning, coordinating, and controlling iterative delivery, across both teams and stakeholders.
It’s a similar story for Business Change Leads. AgilePM supports structured change delivery with ongoing stakeholder involvement and incremental benefits. It can also benefit those targeting a PM role in transformation projects. In fact, AgilePM is intended for project environments needing responsiveness to change.
Finally, the benefits for those already working as an Agile Project Manager, or hoping to become one, are clear and obvious. After all, the AgilePM certification is specifically positioned as a project management framework for Agile delivery.
Overall, AgilePM is aimed at anyone in a project environment seeking structured agility. It might have ‘PM’ in the name, but it’s actually relevant far beyond formal ‘Project Manager’ titles.
AgilePM – A Smart, Practical Next Step for Project Managers
AgilePM certainly isn’t ’Agile, with no controls’, as its detractors might have you believe. Rather, as we’ve seen, it is a structured Agile project management framework, with a wide range of practical, sizable benefits.
You can come to it fresh. It can also serve as a natural transition from waterfall project management, if you’re seeking a framework with both agility and governance. Either way, our AgilePM Foundation course can get you fully up to speed in three days, while our Practitioner course – requiring only one additional day – will show you exactly how to implement everything you’ve learnt.