Course description

This three-day interactive workshop, provides two sets of benefits: 1.) It gets participants to explore and apply basic agile project management techniques and review how these techniques differ from “traditional,” deterministic methods. 2.) It prepares participants to take and successfully pass the Project Management Institute^® Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP^® ) certificate exam.

The workshop focuses on the application of agile techniques in both IT and non-IT project environments. Participants will learn when to apply agile techniques and how to consider whether agile is the right approach for their projects. The workshop also introduces agile concepts, values, and principles; reviews agile project management approaches; discusses adoption factors; and applies proven agile project management techniques and practices to project and organizational success. Participants will gain hands-on experience in applying proven agile techniques and practices as well as the relevant knowledge, context, and techniques to successful pass the PMI-ACP^® exam.

The content of the course is also aligned with the knowledge required to pursue the Certified Scrum Master (CSM) designation.

Who should attend

Individuals who will benefit from this course include executives, project sponsors, portfolio managers, program managers, product managers, project managers (including PMs in agile environments, such as Scrum Masters and Coaches), project team leads, project team members, SMEs (subject matter experts), PMO (project management office) staff, and those interested in learning more about agile project management in both IT and non-IT environment. The program is designed for individuals in any role who are interested in pursuing the PMI-ACP^® certificate.

What you will achieve

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• List key aspects of the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP^®) handbook and content outline.
• Discuss key agile concepts as they relate to passing the PMI-ACP^® certificate exam.
• Recognize where agile project management fits into the spectrum of management methodologies.
• Identify the types of projects that are suited to agile project management and when not to use agile project management.
• Explain key components and principles of agile and the Lean project management.
• Review agile methodologies.
• Explore the need for applying agile concepts and the considerations behind applying the right approach for any given situation.
• Apply techniques to ensure agile concepts are suitable to the organizational context and governance structure.
• Establish sufficient and appropriate communication and reporting techniques.
• Build mechanisms for prioritization, planning, and estimating effectively.
• Capture product vision and product roadmap.
• Conduct release and iteration (sprint) planning.
• Build, estimate, re-prioritize, refine, and “groom” the product backlog.
• Perform a daily stand-up meeting.
• Adapt the agile process to reflect continuous improvement.
• Identify and alleviate common hurdles, problems, and impediments to agile success.

What you will learn

Course Modules

Introduction to Agile Project Management

• History and Evolution
• Traditional Project Management Approaches
• Agile Project Management
• Comparison of Agile vs. Traditional PM

Agile Principles and Values

• The Agile Manifesto
• Agile Principles

Adopting Agile

• Drivers
• Considerations and Concerns
• Causes of Failures
• Critical Success Factors

Agile Roles

• Product Owner
• Scrum Master/Coach/Project Manager
• Team Members
• The Business Analysts

Agile Techniques

• Planning, Monitoring and Adapting
  • Project Planning
  • Release Planning
  • Iteration (Sprint) Planning, Workflow, and Roles and Responsibilities
  • Daily Plans
  • Value and Risk Considerations in Agile Planning
• Time-Boxing
• Estimating
  • Story Points
  • Ideal Days
• Daily Stand-Up Meeting
• Backlogs Maintenance

End of the Iteration

• Demos and Iteration Review
• Retrospective
• Acceptance of Stories
• Prioritization and Backlog Grooming/Maintenance

the ACP Exam

• Overview
• Application
• Exam Prep Tips

PMI-ACP Exam Preparation

• Agile Tools and Techniques — Soft and Hard Skills
• Agile Methodologies Frameworks
  • Scrum Overview
  • DSDM
  • XP
  • Feature Driven Development (FDD)
  • Disciplined Agile Delivery
  • Additional Agile Methodologies
• Communications, Reporting and Documentation Concepts
  • Efficiencies
  • Minimalism
  • Communication and meetings
  • Documentation highlights
  • Reporting
• Information Radiators
• The Burndown Chart
• Team Velocity
• Task Board (Kanban)
• Cumulative Flow Diagrams
• Variance and Trend Analysis
• Agile Domains and Tasks
• Exam Practice Questions