I have just released a new online training course called “Agile Project Management for Business Managers”.
The Agile Bandwagon
In many areas, “Agile” is becoming a hot new buzz word and everyone wants to jump on the “Agile bandwagon”. They may not fully understanding why they’re getting into it and exactly what they expect to get out of it. In addition, many companies also make the mistake of assuming that whatever is good for the development process is good for the business as a whole and that is not necessarily the case.
Agile Project Management for Business Managers Course Summary
Agile has huge potential benefits for a business; however, it is easy to get carried away with some of the hype that exists about Agile. To avoid that, it is important to develop an objective understanding of its benefits and limitations to know how and when to apply it successfully. The right approach is to not necessarily to just implement Agile for the sake of becoming Agile, but figure out how it’s going to help your business and what problems it will solve. The typical questions and challenges this poses for business managers and executives are:
- How do I reconcile an Agile development approach with my existing business management and project management processes?
- Do I need to unravel all of my existing management processes in order to adopt an Agile development approach?
This course will help you answer those questions. It also includes assessment tools and planning tools that are designed to help you develop a very effective Agile Project Management approach that is very well-aligned with your business.
Intended Audience – Agile Project Management for Business Managers
There are three potential audiences for this course:
1. Senior-level Executives
The first audience is senior-level executives who want to make their business more agile. The course will help develop a well-integrated approach to fit an Agile development process to their business
2. Business Sponsors
The next audience is Business Sponsors of an Agile initiative who want to learn more about Agile Project Management. The course will help them prepare to provide more effective leadership for the initiatives that they are responsible for
3. Product Owners
The final audience is for Agile Product Owners. Many of the people who are selected to perform that role are not well-prepared for what it requires and the role is not well-understood. The course will help them to better understand how to effectively perform the Agile Product Owner role
Why Is This Agile Project Management for Business Managers Course Unique and Important?
For many years, many people have treated Agile as a development process. However, in recent years it has become apparent that the implementation of Agile as a well-integrated, enterprise-level business strategy is not well-understood.
1. Business Perspective
A lot of the Agile training that exists today is very focused on implementing Agile as a development process and on the “mechanics” of how to do Scrum. There is a relatively weak focus on Agile from a business perspective. For example, my own Certified Scrum Product Owner certification was heavily focused on the “mechanics” of how to do Scrum. It didn’t really directly address the role of the Product Owner as a business decision-maker at all.
2. Objective, Pragmatic Approach
This course is not a sales-pitch for Agile. It recognizes that there is not a binary and mutually-exclusive choice between “Agile” and “Waterfall” as many people seem to think. Instead, it objectively presents Agile and traditional plan-driven project management approaches as complementary to each other rather than competitive.
3. In-depth Training
This course is not a superficial seminar on how to implement Agile. It is a very substantive, university-level course that is over four hours long. It provides a very in-depth understanding of Agile from a business perspective
4. Complementary to Agile Project Management Approach
This course is also designed to complement all of my Agile Project Management courses. Implementation of Agile at an enterprise-level requires a collaborative partnership between a business executive and a senior-level Agile Project Manager. That relationship should be based on a mutual understanding of how an Agile approach might apply to their business.
Overall Summary
Business Executives and other business-oriented people such as Product Owners and Business Analysts need to understand the fundamentals of how an Agile process work because they will likely play a critical role in its implementation.
Related Articles
Check out the following related articles on “Agile Project Management Training”:
- Agile Project Management for Business Managers
- Free Agile Project Management Webinar
- Announcing the Agile Project Management Academy
- PMI-ACP Certification Roadmap
- Levels of Mastery in Agile – How Do You Measure Maturity?
- Agile Maturity and the Martial Arts – How Are They Similar?
Additional Resources
Resources for Agile Project Management Online Training.