1. Agile Ways of Working

• Differences between projects and BAU (Business as Usual)
• Agile and its common approaches, how and why agile approaches have developed and where they are used.
• History of agile, its contrast to the waterfall way of working and how the agile manifesto fits in
• Different levels of agile maturity and well-known agile frameworks
• Behaviours, concepts and techniques that characterise agile
• The PRINCE2 Agile view of ‘agile’
• Kanban, the Kanban method and its six general practices, including the use of Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFDs)
• Core concepts of Lean
• The use of workshops
• How to transition to agile
• Scrum essentials, Scrum teams, Scrum events, Scrum artefacts and Sprints

2. Combining PRINCE2 and Agile Ways of Working

• Complementary strengths of PRINCE2 and the agile ways of working
• Who can benefit from using PRINCE2 Agile and in what contexts/situation
• Make-up of PRINCE2 Agile (frameworks, behaviours, concepts, techniques, focus areas)
• The eight ‘guidance points’
• How PRINCE2 controls and governance can enable agile to be used in many environments
• What a typical PRINCE2 ‘project journey’ looks like in an agile context
• Apply and evaluate the focus areas to a project in an agile context

3. Purpose and Use of the Agilometer Throughout a Project

• The six sliders used on the Agilometer, explain their significance and how to improve them
• Requirements terminology, decomposition and prioritization, including MoSCoW and Ordering
• How requirements prioritization is used
• The rich communication focus area, its importance and its key techniques
• How to manage frequent releases and the benefits of ‘failing fast’

4. The Six Aspects of a Project in an Agile Context

• How to use the ‘hexagon’ in relation to the six aspects of project performance
• Use of tolerances in terms of what to ‘fix’ and what to ‘flex’ in relation to the six aspects of project performance
• The five targets that underpin the use of the hexagon
• Why the ‘fix and flex’ approach is good for the customer

5. Tailoring PRINCE2 principles, themes, processes and management products to a Project in an Agile Context

• 5 PRINCE2 Agile behaviours (Transparency, Collaboration, Rich Communication, Self-Organization, Exploration)
• How to incorporate agile in all seven PRINCE2 processes and all seven themes but that the amount appropriate to each will vary depending on the project context
• The two common Organization roles of Scrum master and Product owner
• How to adjust roles, including the use of specialist roles, and the options for team organization in a project
• Make-up of a typical delivery team
• Servant leadership, its use and importance
• How to define Working Agreements
• Quality setting techniques including ‘definition of done’ and the use of acceptance criteria
• Quality testing, quality checking and management techniques
• Approaches to planning and typical planning techniques
• Approaches to risk and how agile concepts mitigate many typical risks
• How blending PRINCE2 with agile approaches controls, responds to, and minimizes the impact of change, including risk management and configuration management
• How empowered self-organising teams handle change dynamically within set tolerances
• Common feedback loops and their importance
• Progress monitoring techniques including use of Work in Progress boards, burn charts, information radiators
• Agile techniques that may apply to each PRINCE2 process including Cynefin
• How to flex the ‘Direct a Project’ stage and the benefits of collaborative working
• How to ‘manage by exception’ with emphasis on empowerment, quantity of deliverables, rich information flows and value of deliverables
• Why PRINCE2 ‘stages’ may not be required, including use of timeboxes and Scrum of scrums
• Typical output mechanisms when ‘Controlling a Stage’ and ‘Managing a Stage Boundary
• Use of retrospectives and how to make them effective
• Managing Product Delivery using Scrum and Kanban
• How to define Work Packages, Product Descriptions, quality criteria and tolerances
• Guidance on behaviours, risks and the frequency of releases
• How to manage Stage Boundaries and the similarities between a stage and a release
• How to assess quantity, quality and benefits of stage deliverables
• How to effectively close a project, including evaluation of the use of agile
• How to tailor PRINCE2 products, including Work Packages, Highlight Reports and Checkpoint Reports
• Techniques that may apply to each PRINCE2 theme including requirements, defining value and user stories
• Guidance on the use of contracts
• PRINCE2 Agile delivery roles
• How to use the Health Check
• Fundamental values and principles of agile
• Outline tips for the PRINCE2 Agile project manager

Throughout the PRINCE2 Agile course, delegates will be exposed to numerous examples of examination questions. We will undertake a number of exercises and ‘question-and-answer’ sessions that will help to consolidate the learning, thereby ensuring that delegates are more than adequately prepared for the final examination.

6. PRINCE2 Agile Foundation & Practitioner Exam

The Foundation and Practitioner paper-based exams will be held during the class.