What is this process called Agile? What is my role as a manager/executive? How does iterative, incremental and concurrent development techniques assure we meet customer demand, increase product quality and do all of this in a timely manner? Course Length: 1-4 hrs; perfect for a keynote presentation or short workshop for a management team meeting Course Purpose: This course is intended for leadership at and above the team level. It focuses on the need for organizational priorities and cross-functional involvement. Course Objectives: Recognize the need for team decision making Understand the roles and responsibilities of agile leaders Discuss the hopes and fears for this process Connect the organizational strategic initiatives to individual projects Consider agile leadership skills and behaviors

Help your Executive Team understand the business value behind AAM practices.

There are several agile methodologies available for consideration. This course presents the best practices from each, some specific techniques to help everyone work well together, and an overview of what to expect in an agile project. Course Length: 1 day Course Purpose: This class provides an overview to agile methods and practices so that team members understand their role in the Agile process Course Objectives: Introduction to the universe of agile methods and practices Introduction of specific practices that help teams be, and remain agile Understanding the individual’s role in an agile project Link the business purpose into the project purpose and the individual’s task assignments Understand the individual’s role in a facilitated work session

Educate your team's stakeholders on their role and expectations within an AAM project lifecycle.

Leadership skills and behavior are the most important components in a successful agile environment. With the appropriate leadership behaviors, teams can excel rapidly. With the wrong leadership actions, teams at best will hit a glass ceiling and at worse fail at delivering timely customer satisfaction and product stability. Course Length: 1 day Course Purpose: Discover the leadership skills and behaviors required in an agile environment. Course Objectives: Understand how leaders affect agile teams Understand what agile teams need from their leaders Introduce the process of behavioral assessment and feedback for teams and individuals Identify specific behaviors that work and those that are dysfunctional Draft a series of agreements/norms by which leadership will operate

Develop the leadership skills and behaviors needed in an Agile environment.

Agile Projects are generally operated with a certain set of expectations and techniques to assure individual creativity, responsibility and accountability are translated into customer satisfaction, value creation, and product stability. Course Length: 3 days Course Purpose: Assure Project Leads understand, and have the tools to apply Agile methods including: timeboxing, iterative, incremental, and concurrent development, agile principles, dealing with change, etc. Course Objectives: Understand the basic agile principles and methodologies Develop a sense of what teams can accomplish Gain respect for creative conflict resolution Consider personal leadership behaviors Develop multiple approaches to decision making Connect the charter to the timebox and individual tasks Walk away with enough techniques to survive your first agile project

Understand the role & management practices needed in an Agile & Adaptive project/initiative.

Learn what it takes to initiate an Agile Project using your next project as the basis of the course. Attendees should include the real Executive Sponsor, Product Owner, Team leaders and others as appropriate. The end result is a high level release plan, working agreements, communication plan and other appropriate artifacts related to your project. Course Length: 4-5 days Course Purpose: Establish appropriate practices for your next Agile project and get the entire team on the same page in terms of best practices, working agreements, communication protocols, etc. You will learn and apply the same Agile Adaptive Management practices used in our Project Management course (e.g., Timeboxing, stakeholder analysis, iterative planning, etc.)you’re your team will apply them to their real life project. Course Objectives: Create a High Level Release Plan Establish working agreements for your first few iterations Understand the basic agile principles and methodologies Gain respect for creative conflict resolution Consider personal leadership behaviors Develop multiple approaches to decision making

Begin your initiative with "just enough" planning to move forward; using your next project as the case study.

Consider for a moment how much money is wasted when a group of people get together without a predefined purpose, meeting design and agenda, ground-rules, etc. and worse, after two or more hours, these same people leave without action items being defined. Couse Length: 3 days Course Purpose: This 3 day course provides facilitation techniques and interpersonal skills that help reduce cycle times, increase customer satisfaction and enhance organizational value (ROI). It includes how to have honest conversations in the midst of challenging discussions, focusing on the customer’s needs not just what they say, and how to assure a group stays on task and delivers effectively and efficiently in any group setting. Course Objectives: An understanding of conflict dynamics and trust building The purpose behind purpose (organizational alignment) Ingredients to a great meeting (both status and work meetings) Tools and Techniques for requirements gathering, executive sponsor involvement, cross-functional interactions, virtual conversations, etc. Practice designing and facilitating your next great meeting

The most important skill in Agile and Adaptive Management is that of facilitating groups, especially when you have a stake in the outcome.

The acclaimed course based on the award-winning book by Alistair Cockburn. Learn from people trained in the Cockburn method of writing use cases to capture your business process or your system requirements. (Two days, or three days with the third-day workshop.) Course Length: 2-3 days Course Purpose: Anyone who is faced with gathering the requirements for a software system. Typically from an IT department, but possibly from the human factors group, marketing department, or from a user community. (Standard class size: 16 - 24 people. Large class sizes: 36 - 50 people, larger only after careful discussion.) Course Objectives: Able to describe to others what a use case is, is good for, and ways of writing them. Able to collect and organize information about the users' goals for the system, and to draft the functional requirements for a system. Knowing the limitations of use case requirements, as well as alternative writing forms. Learn the "habits of mind" of a good requirements analyst

Find more information on this course at Dr. Cockburn's site

Learn the essentials of requirements engineering with particular focus on the models you can use to analyze user requirements for your software. The course features EBG’s requirements roadmap, a step-by-step guide to gathering, analyzing, and documenting requirements. You also learn techniques for verifying and validating requirements and ways to apply requirements good practices. You get a set of rich (including templates, checklists, and examples), and a copy of the Software Requirements Memory Jogger: A Pocket Guide to Help Software and Technical Teams Develop and Manage Requirements. Course Length: 3 days Course Purpose: Discover the benefits of and reasons for using various requirement elicitation techniques; learn how to define testable metrics for nonfunctional requirements. You will learn practical techniques for specifying interface requirements and organizing requirements representations. You’ll master good requirements practices based on risk reduction and decades of engineering and practical project experience. Course Objectives: Define requirements and requirement types. Understand the immense impact requirements have on software projects. Learn what a project charter and product vision should include. Learn the activities involved in requirements development and management. Understand the business case for excellence in requirements development and management. Master common ways to elicit requirements, and know when each technique is useful.

Find more information on this course at Ellen Gottesdiener's site