Agile Project Management Foundation

Certification: APM Group
Duration: 3 Days
Course Delivery: Classroom
Leaflet: download

Agile Project Management provides an approach that offers agility but retains the concepts of a project, project delivery and project management. It works alongside more formal project management approaches such as PRINCE2® and complements quality processes such as ISO90001 and CMMI.

Providing a flexible yet controlled process that can be used to deliver solutions, Agile Project Management combines effective use of people’s knowledge together with techniques such as iterative development and modelling to achieve tight project delivery timescales. It offers flexibility while still recognising the processes that give project managers confidence to run their projects effectively.

Agile Project Management comprises established and proven components that provide a holistic approach to the management and governance of projects. It has an overarching philosophy and guiding principles, together with a lifecycle (or process) and a set of deliverables to be created and maintained as the project progresses from a controlled start through to completion. It provides clearly defined roles with specific responsibilities designed to bring together all stakeholders involved in the project.

A significant advantage of adopting Agile Project Management is that it is a process based on DSDM Atern, and over many years Atern has proven its ability to work alongside and complement PRINCE2. So for an organization which already uses PRINCE2, adopting Agile Project Management enables the continued use of PRINCE2 with Agile Project Management providing complementary, tried and tested Agile management processes. For an organization that may be new to Project Management and wanting to deliver Agile projects in a controlled way, Agile Project Management alone will provide sufficient guidance to allow for successful management and delivery. However, if the organization wants to further strengthen their Project Management, then adopting Agile Project Management alongside PRINCE2 provides options for the optimum way forward.

The Agile Project Management Foundation course aims to address the needs of those working in a project-focused environment who want to be Agile.

Based on the proven fundamentals within DSDM Atern, the Agile certification provides the ability to deliver Agile Projects in organizations requiring standards, rigour and visibility around Project Management, while at the same time enabling the fast pace, change and empowerment provided by Agile.

The course will:

• Explain how to lay the foundations for successful agile projects
• Explain how an agile project is managed
• Clarify the different management styles needed for successful agile projects (compared to "traditional" projects)
• Provide integration with PRINCE2®.

The course is a 3 day program with the official Agile Project Management Foundation exam given at the end of the third day. The course consists of a mix of theory and practical exercises. Most of the exercises will be done in small groups. Every delegate receives access to our online classroom support environment, our Agile Project Management Event Manual with exercises and slides and our Agile Project Management Trigger Map.

The Foundation Examination assesses a candidate’s knowledge of Agile Project Management through a one hour multiple-choice paper composed of 60 questions. Candidates must achieve 30 correct answers (50%) to pass.

This course is suitable for Project Managers, individuals newly-appointed to project roles, Team Managers, Project Support Staff, Quality Assurance Staff and everyone else who is somehow involved in participating or running one or more projects.

Day 1

• Introductions and domestics
• Exercise 0 - Your agile concerns and issues
• What is Agile? Choosing the right approach
• Agile PM - the basics
• Exercise 1 - Outline the project
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Exercise 2 - Identifying the business roles Preparing for Agile Project Management

Day 2

• Exercise 3 - PAQ and Risks
• Agile Project Management
• Agile PM Process and Products
• Exercise 4 simple discussion: Terms Of Reference
• Communication
• Exercise 5 - Facilitated workshop on stakeholder communication
• Prioritisation and Timeboxing

Day 3

• Exercise 6 - MoSCoW prioritisation
• Agile Control
• Requirements and Estimating
• Agile Planning
• Exercise 7 - Delivery Planning
• Short break + setup room for the exam
• Foundation exam Mark exam papers