Agile- the new buzzword
No longer confined to software development, agile practices are finding increased acceptance in a variety of businesses that have turned to this route for their project and product development. Shorter production time, higher quality products, early risk reduction, improved alignment between teams, better employee morale, and more satisfied customers—these are just some of the benefits that induce organizations to adopt Agile project management principles.
Consequently, companies are always on the lookout for professionals who can bring about these changes and prefer to hire those who have accredited credentials to back them up. Agile project management certification courses such as the CSM, Leading SAFe and others demonstrate to your employers that you have the knowledge and the skills to be a valuable part of a Scrum team. Mandatory recertification requirements ensure that you stay on top of advances in the profession through continued learning and professional development activities.
So how do you get started down the agile career path?
Agile is very hands-on, and a good way to get started on this popular methodology would be to sign up for an introductory course from a reputed training provider which offers workshops through certified and experienced instructors. A basic course will help you to comprehend the fundamentals of this philosophy, and once you have some experience in the field you could undertake a certification course or two to show your commitment to your profession.
Pick from among our most popular courses!
KnowledgeHut brings to you the credentials that are among the most sought after and respected in the Agile domain. These include, among others, Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), Leading SAFe, Certified Scrum Product Owner(CSPO), Lean and Kanban, Agile and Scrum, SAFe ScrumXP, Management 3.0 Training, and PMI-ACP®, among others. While some courses will not lead to agile project management certification online – for instance, CSM is never held as an agile project management training online – there are other agile project management courses such as Agile and Scrum which can be taken online or in face-to-face modes.Depending on your convenience, you can choose the delivery format that works better for you. If you want to be a valuable player in the Agile space, do sign up for agile project management training and learn from the experts at KnowledgeHut!
BlogAgile and ScrumTop 5 Agile Certifications in 2019 (Updated)
In this era where traditional methods of project development are not enough, Agile is the need of the hour. Demand for agile professionals has increased in the IT industry and also picking up in other areas of engineering as well. This demand triggers the need for Agile certifications which hiring organizations bank with.
If you are an agile practitioner who wants to validate his skills and level up his career, you should get one of the top agile certifications. Just choose the right certification for you, check your eligibility, and go ahead. An agile certification will give you global recognition and make you stand out of the crowd.
You may find a number of agile certifications offered by different institutions and educational bodies. It is not so easy to find the one that could really help you level up your career. In this article, we shall discuss some of the top agile certifications among so many available in the market.
Why Agile Certifications?
Agile has been matured now and similar to other domains like Project Management & Service Management, organizations look for agile experience and certification from the candidates. This is the reason why agile professionals aspire for certifications so that they can gain all the benefits when they plan to switch jobs or aspire to a career in the Agile domain. Overall Agile certifications provide the following benefits:
- Better Visibility
- Better Salary
- Better Credibility
- Keeping up to the current market trend
Also Read: A comparison between Agile and Waterfall development model i.e. AGILE VS WATERFALL
Top 5 Agile Certifications
There is a big pool of certifications available in the market to choose for gaining credentials in the Agile domain. Sometimes when you have a huge pool you get confused about which agile certification to be taken at what point of time.
Here is the diagram that shows the various certifications available in the market. You have to choose one of the best agile certifications that is good for you.
No doubt, when it comes to investing money and time, an individual will do a lot of research for which certification is appropriate for him to invest so that he can get maximum ROI.
As per different researchers on the internet from different bodies, “Scrum” as the agile methodology is most popular.
Scrum is easy to understand Agile methodology due to which it becomes the obvious choice. Also, as it is a widely used methodology, there are many case studies available for it now. That’s the reason there are multiple certifications based on Scrum. In our discussion, we shall be concentrating on below agile certifications and shall discuss why it’s important to target for these certifications.
Here are the top 5 Agile certifications which are the best for Agile professionals who want to build their career with Agile methodology.
- Scrum Alliance (Certified Scrum Master/Certified Scrum Product Owner/Certified Scrum Developer)
- Scrum Alliance (Certified Scrum Professional)
- SAFe Scaled Agilists
Talk to our Certified SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) and clarify all your questions. Call us Now – +91 9677785237
Here is some detailed information about these top agile certifications:
1. PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
The Agile Certified Practitioner certification is one of the best project management certifications. It is offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). PMI-ACP certification is intended for the project management professionals who are using agile methodologies and practices in their projects or planning to move to the agile. PMI-ACP certification recognizes and validates that the candidate has real-world experience of working on agile projects.
It also demonstrates the knowledge and skills of the candidate about various subdomains of agile such as Kanban, Scrum, Lean, and others. The candidates who achieve the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner certification have to earn 30 professional development units (PDUs) every year to renew their PMI-ACP certification.
2. Scrum Alliance (Certified Scrum Master/Certified Scrum Product Owner/ Certified Scrum Developer)
Scrum involves a set of practices that are used in the management of agile projects, mainly for software development. Scrum Alliance is a leading organization for those who are using Scrum practices in their projects. There are 3 popular certifications for the Agile Scrum professionals that are offered by Scrum Alliance – Certified Scrum Master, Certified Scrum Product Owner, and Certified Scrum Developer.
These certifications are for the scrum master, scrum product owner, and scrum developer respectively. The candidate needs to attend a training program to achieve this certification. For Certified Scrum Master (SCM) and Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), the training is for 2 days, while Certified Scrum Developer (CSD) involves 5 days training.
Enhance your skills with project management terms and PMP formulas, and get yourself ready to pass the agile and project management certifications.
3. Scrum Alliance (Certified Scrum Professional)
The Certified Scrum Professional certification offered by Scrum Alliance is a professional level certification. It is one of the top agile certifications (also, top project management certifications). This certification recognizes and demonstrates the ability of the candidate in advanced practices, artifacts, roles, and procedures of the Scrum Framework. One doesn’t need to join any training for the Certified Scrum Professional certification.
4. Scrum.org (Professional Scrum Master/ Professional Scrum Product Owner/ Professional Scrum Developer-I)
Professional level scrum certifications offer by scrum.org validates the candidate’s knowledge in the understanding of Scrum and how to apply scrum practices and framework in real-world situations. There are professional level certifications for all the scrum product owners, scrum masters, and scrum developers. One doesn’t need to join any certification training from scrum.org to achieve these certifications but it’s compulsory to pass the certification exam.
Here are the assessments to check and demonstrate the knowledge of candidate and understanding of the role. There is a different level of certifications, such as for Professional Scrum Master, there are three levels of the exam, and the candidate will receive the badge of Professional Scrum Master when he’ll clear all three exams.
5. SAFe Scaled Agilist
SAFe Scaled Agilist, also known as SAFe Agilist or Scaled Agilist, is a two days training course provided by the training providers. The candidates who have more than 5 years of experience in software development, testing, project management, business analysis or scrum. In this course, the candidate gets detailed information about Lean-Agile leadership principles and how to launch SAFe in agile.
A SAFe Agilist also knows how to maintain and release value-added software continuously for continuous development. The candidates who are aspired to learn transformational skills should join the leading SAFe Agilist course and get ahead in their careers with the SAFe Agilist job.
Let’s have a comparison of all these five and then move on to discuss the criteria to choose and prioritize.
How to Choose the Best Agile Certification?
Above comparison shows multiple faces of the top agile certifications we have taken. One important point to note is the majority of the certifications are Scrum based. Reason for that is very simple. Scrum is the most used form of agile.
Even after knowing all the particulars above certifications, the dilemma is which one to choose. Let’s have a clear picture of the same.
We feel it’s a three-step approach. Anyone looking to gain knowledge about agile should start from the basics of Agile/Scrum. Once basics are developed, advance knowledge should be developed. Scaling is the third step as this is about scaling agile competency at organization level which is definitely the final step.
Let’s relate this three-step approach to the certifications we compared in the last section:
Also Read:Do we need Project Managers in Agile?
Let’s discuss each step of this 3-step approach in detail –
Basic Knowledge
- Scrum Alliance and Scrum.org offer three certifications for three different roles in scrum i.e. Scrum Master, Product Owner and developer are the basics which one can target to start with.
- CSM/CSPO/CSD is definitely easier to crack than PSM/PSPO/PSD I certifications but the knowledge gained in CSM is also important. As Scrum alliance mandate training for CSM/CSPO/CSD, it gives good exposure to the basics of Scrum. Though scrum.org has the foundation and advanced courses for PSM/PSPO/PSD, it’s not mandated and from knowledge parse, professionals until mandated generally don’t go for it.
- Both these certificates cover the high-level basics of Agile and focus more on scrum. Out of these two CSM is more popular in the market. Definitely, the objective of certification is met if professionals get benefits out of it. Also, PSM being little harder than CSM makes CSM even more approachable
Preparing for Agile and Scrum Interview? Here’re Top 40 Agile Scrum Interview Questions and Answers to help you crack the interview!
Advanced Knowledge
- After basics, its time to take a little deep dive approach. Definitely, if you are CSM/CSPO/CSD, you will go for the next step in scrum alliance provided CSP. However, the spectrum of knowledge given by PMI-ACP is not comparable.
- CSP doesn’t mandate any training, it just needs some Scrum Education units to apply for certification. Though the application tests the knowledge, it’s not tested. No test is there for CSP.
- PMI-ACP is hard from entry to exit i.e. its prerequisites itself is a little tough. It ensures and expects prior agile experience and project management experience along with training PDUs. Exam as well covers a wide spectrum of agile flavors and not only limited to Scrum. It covers Lean, Kanban, XP, TDD etc. which gives more in-depth of agile overall. The exam is conducted in a closed/secure environment like any other PMI certification. That’s the reason why PMI-ACP holds a lot of value and gained credibility in the market.
- There are advanced certifications by Scrum.org as level II and III for PSM/PSPO as well which can be targeted for but again that is the only scrum based and becomes even harder as compared to the level I of it.
Scaled Agile
- This is something different from normal agile knowledge. This we can refer to a special skill at which is required for executives, managers and Agile change agents responsible for leading a Lean/Agile change initiative in a large software enterprise. This is required for those executives who have already implemented agile at a small scale in the organization and now aspire for taking it to the next scaled framework level.
- SAFe SA certification validates knowledge in applying the Scaled Agile Framework, lean, and product development flow principles in an enterprise context so they can lead to the adoption of the Scaled Agile Framework.
Conclusion
There are many more certifications available in the market in addition to the five that we discussed above. Professionals have to make a wise call based on what they are looking for. If the target is to get benefits in career or changing a job, PMI-ACP &CSM has more market value and popularity. If the target is to gain pure knowledge PSM-I is best to start with then going higher in its levels. So, choose an Agile certification as per your career path and requirement.
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Wish you a remarkable Agile career!
- What are the Good Books for PMI-ACP Certification Preparation?- April 12, 2019
- PMI Moves to Pearson VUE for All Certification Exams- April 10, 2019
- A Guide to Project Management Life Cycle- April 3, 2019
- Top 5 Project Management Certifications in 2019- March 5, 2019
- Agile Software Development vs. Waterfall Software Development- February 20, 2019
Agile is the future of project management. Many companies are adopting agile methodologies to increase team performance and improve customer satisfaction. The Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP) is one of the newest certifications offered by PMI and is expected to become the industry standard certification for agile over the next few years. In addition to preparing you for the exam, this PMI-ACP exam prep course is designed to teach you the principles and practices of agile, including Scrum, XP and Lean. Don't let this opportunity pass you by, register today for one of our PMI-ACP training courses.
PMI-ACP Exam Prep Course
- Instructor-led course, available in 4 convenient formats: Live Virtual Classroom, Live Instructor-led Classroom, Video-On-Demand and In-House
- Satisfies the 21 contact hours (PDUs) required to take the PMI-ACP exam
- Includes digital PMI-ACP training materials, training aids, online resources, realistic sample questions and 6-months access to our online training portal
- Web-based video-on-demand includes online access, which allows you to learn at your own pace
PMI-ACP Training Portal Features
- On-demand training videos
- Logical content organization
- Downloadable attachments
- Chat functionality
- Social collaboration
- Built-in practice exams
100% Money-Back Pass Guarantee
We provide a true 100% money-back pass guarantee for the PMI-ACP certification course. If you do not pass the exam after 3 attempts we will refund the full tuition amount. Our promise is simple:
- You must attend the entire PMI-ACP certification Live or Virtual course and complete one full-length practice exam from our online training portal.
- If you do not pass the PMI-ACP exam in three attempts, we will refund your entire PMI-ACP exam prep course tuition, provided that all attempts occurred within 120 calendar days of completing the course.
Guaranteed To Run
All PMI-ACP certification courses are 100% guaranteed to run on the dates listed. Yes, even if there's only one student. While other providers often postpone courses due to low enrollment, we promise to never do that.
Format
Live, instructor-led PMI-ACP bootcamp at our training facilities. You will also receive digital PMI-ACP training materials and 6-months access to our online training portal.
Virtual Classroom: 2 days of web-based eLearning with a live instructor. You will also receive digital PMI-ACP training materials and 6-months access to our online training portal.
Video-On-Demand: Video-on-demand with online training portal, community interaction and practice exams. This includes 6-months digital access to all training materials.
In-House: If you have 15 or more employees seeking PMI-ACP training, we will deliver the course at your facility (or another location in your area, if you prefer). The training can be scheduled during any two consecutive days of your choosing.
Duration
- Virtual Classroom: 2 days of live instructor-led PMI-ACP training, plus additional access to online training videos and practice exams taken on your own time
- Video-On-Demand: 21 hours at your own pace
- Live, instructor-led at our training facilities: 2 days of instructor-led PMI-ACP training (9am-5pm), plus additional access to online training videos and practice exams
- In-House: 2 days instructor-led at your training facility or a facility of your choosing
Who Should Attend
This PMI-ACP exam prep course is intended for anyone who wants to learn the principles and practices of agile. For those looking to get certified, please read the PMI-ACP requirements found on the PMI-ACP Application Process page.
Outline
Agile Foundation
- Agile Foundation Introduction
- Agile Development Overview
- When is Agile Appropriate
- Agile Manifesto
Agile Fundamentals
- Project Charter
- Product Roadmap
- Product Backlog
- Minimally Marketable Feature (MMF)
- Value-Based Prioritization
- Product Backlog Grooming
- User Stories
- Personas
- Story Maps
- Epics
- Themes
Agile Methodologies
- Methodologies Introduction
- Scrum Introduction
- Sprint Planning Meeting
- Sprint Goal
- Modeling
- Sprint Backlog
- Daily Scrum Meeting
- Sprint Review Meeting
- Retrospective
- Scrum of Scrums
- The Scrum Team
- Extreme Programming (XP)
- Lean Software Development
Agile Communications
- Communications Management
- Colocation/Distributed Teams
- Team Space
- Osmotic Communications
- Agile Tooling
- Information Radiators
- Task/Kanban Board
- Work in Progress (WIP) Limits
- Cumulative Flow Diagram
- Sprint Burndown Chart
- Release Burnup Chart
Agile Estimating
- Relative Sizing
- Story Points
- Wideband Delphi Technique
- Planning Poker
- Consensus Building
- Velocity
- Cycle Time
Agile Metrics
- Agile Earned Value Management (Agile EVM)
- Test Driven Development (TDD)
- Unit Testing
- Acceptance Testing
- Frequent Verification and Validation
- Escaped Defects
- Risk-Adjusted Backlog
- Risk Burn-Down Chart
Agile Leadership
- Leadership Theories
- Knowledge Sharing
- Active Listening
- Brainstorming
- Emotional Intelligence
- Conflict Resolution
- Negotiation
- Stakeholder Management
- Coaching and Mentoring
Agile Contracts and Accounting Principles
- Agile Contracts and Accounting Principles
- Value Based Analysis
- Burn Rate
- Compliance
PMI-ACP Training Locations
Virtual Classroom courses are conducted with a live instructor via a Webinar.
Agile Project Management Fundamentals (APMF)™ Training Material & Certification Test $199.95 Additional Information: Course Syllabus [.pdf] | Sales Brochure [.pdf] |
This Agile Project Management Certification will test your understanding of Agile Project Management fundamentals, the Scrum framework, and common project management principles. This innovative certification is designed for professionals who are looking to work as a project manager in the IT or software industry. Agile professionals are using Scrum in innovative industries like software development, healthcare and government.
Unlike some agile certifications, the Management and Strategy Institute does not require a college degree, work hours, or project experience for this certification. Our online Agile project management certification is based on your ability to learn and understand Agile and Scrum project management fundamentals. To be certified, you'll need to pass the Agile Project Management Fundamentals (APMF)™ online certification exam, which is included in your purchase. The price of $199.95 includes the certification exam plus agile project management training material to prepare you for the exam. Previous experience in project management could be useful, but is not required.
Agile management, or simply “Agile” refers to a method of managing the design and build activities of information technology and other business services. The aim is to provide new product or service development in a highly flexible and interactive manner. You'll learn about short development cycles called “sprints”, which focus on continuous improvement in the development of a product or service. You'll also learn about Scrum, a simple framework for effective team collaboration on complex products.
Beyond Agile & Scrum, this program also covers MSI's Project Management program. This means you'll gain knowledge in Agile, Scrum, and standard Project Management best practices. This helps ensure your certification works across multiple industries, in many different job roles.
Having an Agile Project Management Certification on your resumé can show potential employers you have a strong understanding of agile fundamentals. The APMF has no project requirement. This certification is available to anyone who has the time and ambition to learn project management fundamentals. All study material is completed 100% online and can be done from home or work. The exam is also issued online.
Unlike some agile certifications, the Management and Strategy Institute does not require a college degree, work hours, or project experience for this certification. Our online Agile project management certification is based on your ability to learn and understand Agile and Scrum project management fundamentals. To be certified, you'll need to pass the Agile Project Management Fundamentals (APMF)™ online certification exam, which is included in your purchase. The price of $199.95 includes the certification exam plus agile project management training material to prepare you for the exam. Previous experience in project management could be useful, but is not required.
Agile management, or simply “Agile” refers to a method of managing the design and build activities of information technology and other business services. The aim is to provide new product or service development in a highly flexible and interactive manner. You'll learn about short development cycles called “sprints”, which focus on continuous improvement in the development of a product or service. You'll also learn about Scrum, a simple framework for effective team collaboration on complex products.
Beyond Agile & Scrum, this program also covers MSI's Project Management program. This means you'll gain knowledge in Agile, Scrum, and standard Project Management best practices. This helps ensure your certification works across multiple industries, in many different job roles.
Having an Agile Project Management Certification on your resumé can show potential employers you have a strong understanding of agile fundamentals. The APMF has no project requirement. This certification is available to anyone who has the time and ambition to learn project management fundamentals. All study material is completed 100% online and can be done from home or work. The exam is also issued online.
What is Included for the price of $199.95?
Agile Certification Requirements: This certification does not have any prerequisites. The training material includes all of the course work required to learn the system. You do not need prior work or project experience to take this certification program. How in-depth is the training? The Agile Project Management Fundamentals certification is designed to give you a basic understanding of agile and the scrum framework. This professional development certification was designed to teach someone with little knowledge of project management the basic skills needed to function as a project member. Many jobs today require that their employees have at least a basic understanding of project management. For an example, click on this job search link to see how many positions mention the words 'agile'. How long is the training course? The training course is self-paced. Time to complete and fully comprehend will vary with every individual. It may take several days or weeks of study before you feel comfortable to take the final test. You may take the final exam as soon as you're ready. You have 1 year from the date of purchase to complete the course. How is the exam structured? This certification exam is timed with a limit of 2 hours. The exam is completed online from home or work. You may take the exam as soon as you are ready, it does not need to be scheduled in advance. Most questions are multiple choice. Credits Received: Participants who successfully complete this certification program will receive:
What will I receive after I pass the test? You will be mailed a professional certificate, as well as professional transcripts which you can give to employers who request it. The certificate is heavy-stock, cream paper suitable for framing. [View Example] How would I list this certification on my resume? Certifications are generally the last item listed under the education section of your resume. List them directly beneath your college information in this format: Certifications: Management and Strategy Institute - Agile Project Management Fundamentals (APMF)™ |
Reviews: 'I felt this was a good fundamentals certification for the Agile project management philosophy. The study material covers all of the basic Agile and Scrum concepts that you'll need to get started in agile development. I found the certification exam to be well structured and was actually harder than I predicted, which is good.' - Rameed F. 'I like MSI certifications because they can be completed online, which is all I have time for. I found the Agile Project Management certification from MSI to be a great program. I completed the program in just 1-week and feel I have a good understanding of Scrum and project management in general.' - Sandra P. 'This certification just covers Agile & Scrum fundamentals but it was definitely sufficient for what I needed. The exam does a good job at measuring your understanding of the concepts. I now feel confident that I can assist on an Agile team and be effective. It also covered all standard project management principles, so it's a well-rounded program.' - Ahmed, V. |
From marketing departments to consulting firms, businesses are becoming increasingly agile.
As agile project management leaves the IT-only sphere and becomes popular across industries and other company departments, more leaders are wondering how this project type can apply to their own teams. From marketing departments to consulting firms, businesses are becoming increasingly agile.
While the concept of agile development seems simple, it’s not always easy to implement. If you are a business owner or department head looking to change your company with agile, follow these training tips to onboard your team.
Take Agile Out of the IT Mindset
The first step when encouraging employees to embrace agile is to separate it from the idea that it only applies to coding or IT projects. Instead, present agile as a method for overcoming change.
“The common factor in all of these initiatives is that they involve a change..and thus the need to adapt quickly,” James Scott writes at GanttPRO. “And agile is all about change, [and] dealing with the unpredictable.”
Consider a case study of emergency air transport company, Air Methods, shared by Tori Funkhouser at Udacity. The business wanted to create training materials for its 4,500 employees and 2,000 outside medical crew, but knew that was a massive undertaking and wasn’t sure about the scope and execution of the project.
Air Methods used tools like Trello to create tasks and assigned them red and green labels — red for backlog and green for projects ready to go. They met monthly to review the green tasks and move certain assignments out of the backlog. This provided clarity for employees and management to see what was in the newly organized backlog and how long they should expect to wait before something was complete.
This wasn’t an IT project, but it used agile to enact change and make the process go smoother.
You can also take agile out of the IT mindset by presenting it as a cultural change, rather than a new project management process, Nicholas Malahosky writes at visual management software company, Targetprocess.
“It’s important for Agile transformations to happen more-or-less organically,” he writes. “Nobody wants to put up with another vague strategy change that’s been mandated by management.”
Once your team realizes that agile really can help them, they will be more likely to embrace the new information and apply it.
Present Agile Project Management as a Growth Opportunity
If your team is still unsure about using agile project management, present the concept as an opportunity to grow and improve employee skill sets.
If your team is still unsure about using agile project management, present the concept as an opportunity to grow and improve employee skill sets.
Leadership expert Anne Loehr shares some interesting statistics on employee training and coaching. Essentially, engaged employees want to learn more, and employers who invest in employees typically notice higher engagement rates:
- 52 percent of millenials cite career progression as the most desirable quality in a workplace.
- Employees who have the opportunity to develop professionally are twice as likely to say they will spend their career at a company.
- The strongest engagement driver for employees is belief in senior leadership, followed by growth and development.
This focus on professional growth and development also encourages team members to come to you for agile training and use cases. They want to learn more from you to see how agile can benefit them.
“Preserving positive workplace morale means taking the time to communicate with employees about the change before and after it occurs,” career coach Tess Taylor writes. Your open communication will demonstrate your respect for your employees and their “right to know” what is going on, while giving you a platform to provide enough information to soften the change.
Even if you do have early adopters chomping at the bit to use agile, try to keep everyone at the same learning pace and knowledge level. Ron Eringa, professional scrum trainer, says your entire company should try to match pace with what they learn and apply in the agile framework.
If unaligned, with some teams immediately applying agile while others are still learning it, both parties can become frustrated. One side wants to race ahead while the other is overwhelmed with new agile material. By keeping most scrum teams and managers at the same (or at least similar) application levels, everyone can grow at the same rate.
Identify Roadblocks and Barriers to Implementation
Once you start testing projects with agile project management, look for problems slowing down adoption in your company.
Once you start testing projects with agile project management, look for problems slowing down adoption in your company.
Training For Agile Project Management Certification
Management trainer Marcus Blankenship says there are three types of employees likely to push back against your agile process:
- Cowboys and mavericks. These team members hate having to check in and report on a daily basis.
- Heroes and crisis managers. People who love to save the day at the last minute. The problem is, identifying issues before they become problems is a component of agile management.
- Brilliant hermits. Team members who lack social skills and have no desire to improve them.
Looking out for these employees and intervening when you find them can help you understand agile pushback and address the issues appropriately.
Look for Hierarchical Barriers
Additionally, you may need to adjust your hierarchy or corporate communication policies to implement agile project management.
“One of the key principles of Agile is not only to work with your users, but that developers will have access to key stakeholders on a daily basis,” Jory MacKay explains at online project management provider, Planio. “For some companies, this is a stretch. Is there a hard set hierarchy in place or will those at the time gladly be a part of the development process?”
The problems don’t always lie in employee adoption if upper management is creating their own barriers.
Prepare for an Agile Culture Shift
Your team also needs to be ready to embrace the culture shift that comes with agile project management.
“Agile teams are empowered to do what's right for the product,” writes Paul Rasmussen at technology consulting firm Omni Resources. “Their allegiance is more to the team than it is a manager. This notion is a shift from the traditional top-down command and control type management your company may be used to.”
Again, this is where traditional office culture and hierarchy could get in the way of successful agile productivity.
Reinforce the Company’s Dedication to Agile
Training isn’t something you do once. Even if your team seems to have a strong grasp of agile concepts as you introduce them, they may forget some of the best practices over time.
“Frequent training can help maintain skills and knowledge,” Mike Kappel founder of Patriot Software, writes. “Regular sessions are also a great way to teach more advanced skills and notify employees of any changes.”
Constant learning applies to leaders and managers as well as lower-level employees. In fact, the more leaders learn, the better off their teams are.
Business agility consultant Adam Ulery strongly encourages scrum masters to keep learning the “why” behind what they do. If your first response to any question is “because I said so,” you don’t know as much about agile as you think, he writes. Plus, your team is unlikely to follow your lead because they still have no idea why a certain step or process is important.
“Employees develop a comfort level when they see management supporting the process,” writes Patricia Lotich at Thriving Small Business writes. “If you can’t support the change 100%, don’t even think about making it. Employees will know it and will self destruct.”
Employees might ignore new processes from senior management out of loyalty to their direct reports, or fail to embrace the agile process if other teams aren’t required to use it — even if their manager wants to implement it. This is another reason to introduce it at the same pace across the board.
Tips and Resources for Successful Agile Training
Once you have a plan for introducing agile to your team, gather the best resources and training options to make the process easier.
Once you have a plan for introducing agile to your team, gather the best resources and training options to make the process easier.
- Rachel Burger, a leading voice in agile, sets out an 11-step live training process where teams can learn and apply agile best practices through a small group project. This introduces ideas in a low-stress environment instead of suddenly asking teams to do their work differently.
- Agile coach Anthony Mersino created a useful graphic you can download and give to team members. It includes the 12 agile principles, three scrum roles, four agile values, and five steps to implement the process. It’s helpful for any team using agile, regardless of their experience.
- IT expert Curtis Franklin Jr. has a guide comparing agile development to Pokémon Go. This takes a dry topic that may confuse your team and allows you to create a fun reference or activity to help your employees develop an interest in the new information.
- Bob the BA offers video training and in-person tutorials to help your employees understand agile management and how to use it.
Each team will embrace agile concepts in different ways. By using multiple training resources and developing a comprehensive onboarding process, you can make sure that no employees are left wondering what agile is and why they should use it.
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