PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation & Practitioner

Gain a complete understanding of how PRINCE2 can interface with Agile methodologies.

Who should take this course

The course is aimed at professionals who are working on agile projects and in project teams.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites to attend.

Understand basic concepts of common Agile methods
Understand purpose and context for combining PRINCE2® and Agile
Apply and evaluate focus areas to a project in an Agile context
Fix and flex six aspects of project in an Agile context
Apply or tailor PRINCE2® principles, themes, processes, and management products to a project in an Agile context

Course Overview

Our PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation and Practitioner course enables professionals to study for both PRINCE2 Agile® certifications in one easy training package. Over 4 days you will learn how PRINCE2 and its principles can be used to provide governance for an agile project, producing something both rigorous and flexible. The course is suitable for newcomers to PRINCE2 or agile, as the basics of both approaches will be discussed. Both exams are included, allowing learners to become fully certified in PRINCE2 Agile® and demonstrate understanding of both PRINCE2 and Agile.

Course Content

PRINCE2 Agile Foundation

Part 1

A Project or Business as Usual?
An Overview of PRINCE2®
An Introduction to Agile
Blending PRINCE2® and Agile
What to Fix and What to Flex

Part 2

Agile Behaviours and the PRINCE2® Principles
Agile and the PRINCE2® Themes
Agile and the PRINCE2® Processes

Part 3

Focus Areas
Course Complete

PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner

Module 1: Understand basic concepts of common Agile methods

Explain the differences between projects and BAU (Business as usual)
Describe agile and its common approaches, how and why Agile approaches have developed and where they are used
Describe the history of Agile, it’s contrast to the waterfall way of working and how the Agile Manifesto fits in
Describe the different levels of Agile maturity and well-known Agile frameworks
Describe behaviours, concepts and techniques that characterize Agile
Define the PRINCE2 Agile® view of ‘Agile’
Describe Kanban, the Kanban method and its six general practices, including the use of Cumulative Flow Diagrams (CFDs)
Describe the core concepts of Lean Start-up
Describe the use of workshops
Describe how to transition to Agile
Define Scrum theory and explain the nature of the Scrum team, Scrum events, Scrum artefacts and Sprints

Module 2: Understand purpose and context for combining PRINCE2® and Agile

Describe the complementary strengths of PRINCE2® and the Agile way of working
Define who can benefit from using PRINCE2 Agile® and in what contexts/situations
Define the make-up of PRINCE2 Agile® (frameworks, behaviours, concepts, techniques, focus areas)
Explain the eight ‘guidance points’
Explain how PRINCE2® controls and governance can enable Agile to be used in many environments
Describe what a typical PRINCE2® ‘project journey’ looks like in an Agile context

Module 3: Apply and evaluate focus areas to a project in an Agile context

Explain the purpose and use of the Agilometer throughout a project
Describe the six sliders used on the Agilometer, explain their significance and how to improve them
Describe in detail requirements terminology, decomposition and prioritization, including MoSCoW and Ordering
Explain how requirements prioritization is used
Explain the rich communication focus area, its importance and its key techniques
Explain how to manage frequent releases and the benefits of ‘failing fast’

Module 4: Fix and flex six aspects of project in an Agile context

Describe how to use the ‘hexagon’ in relation to the six aspects of project performance
Explain the use of tolerances in terms of what to ‘fix’ and what to ‘flex’ in relation to the six aspects of project performance
Describe in detail each of the five targets that underpin the use of the hexagon
Explain why the ‘fix and flex’ approach is good for the customer

Module 5: Apply or tailor PRINCE2® principles, themes, processes, and management products to a project in an Agile context

Describe in detail the five PRINCE2 Agile® behaviours (Transparency, Collaboration, Rich Communication, Self-Organization, Exploration)
Explain that Agile needs to be incorporated in all seven PRINCE2® processes and all seven themes but that the amount appropriate to each will vary depending on the project context
Describe the two common Organization roles of Scrum master and Product owner
Explain how to adjust roles, including the use of specialist roles, and the options for team organization in a project
Define the make-up of a typical delivery team
Describe servant leadership, its use and importance
Describe how to define Working Agreements
Describe quality setting techniques including ‘definition of done’ and the use of acceptance criteria
Describe quality testing, quality checking and management techniques
Describe approaches to planning and typical planning techniques
Describe approaches to risk and how Agile concepts mitigate many typical risks
Describe how blending PRINCE2® with Agile approaches controls, responds to, and minimizes the impact of change, including risk management and configuration management
Describe how empowered self-organizing teams handle change dynamically within set tolerances
Describe common feedback loops and their importance
Describe progress monitoring techniques including use of ‘work in progress’ boards, burn charts, information radiators
Describe in detail Agile techniques that may apply to each PRINCE2® process including Cynefin
Describe how to flex the ‘Direct a Project’ stage and the benefits of collaborative working
Describe how to ‘manage by exception’ with emphasis on empowerment, quantity of deliverables, rich information flows and value of deliverables
Explain why PRINCE2® ‘stages’ may not be required, including the use of timeboxes and Scrum of scrums
Describe typical output mechanisms when ‘Controlling a Stage’ and ‘Managing a Stage Boundary’
Describe the use of retrospectives and how to make them effective
Describe approaches to managing product delivery including Scrum and Kanban
Explain how to define Work Packages, Product Descriptions, quality criteria and tolerances
Give guidance on behaviours, risk and the frequency of releases
Explain how to manage stage boundaries and the similarities between a stage and a release
Explain how to assess quantity, quality and benefits of stage deliverables
Explain how to effectively close a project, including evaluation of the use of Agile
Describe how to tailor PRINCE2® products, including Work Packages, Highlight Reports and Checkpoint Reports
Describe in detail Agile techniques that may apply to each PRINCE2® theme including requirements, defining value and user stories
Describe guidance on the use of contracts
Describe PRINCE2 Agile® delivery roles
Explain how to use the Health Check
Describe the fundamental values and principles of Agile
Outline tips for the PRINCE2 Agile® project manager

About Reading

Located in Berkshire, Reading is a large and historically significant town. It was an important center of trade as well as religion in the medieval period. The Reading Abbey, still has its 12th century abbey gateway and significant ruins intact. Due to the English Civil War the town was damaged severely, causing a significant loss in trade. Reading also played an important role in the Revolution of 1688. It is where the revolution's only significant military action was took place. The Great Western Railway , the brewing business, baking and seed growing all happened in 19th century. Now,Reading boasts of being a major commercial centre, that involves information technology and insurance. Reading has, despite its nearness to London, a net inward traveler flow.

Reading came up as a settlement way back in the 8th century. It had become the largest town in Berkshire by 1525 and had a population of around 5000 in the early 17th Century. It was in the 18th century that major iron works in the town came up and the city saw the growth of the brewing business for which Reading is known till date. It was in the 19th century that Reading saw the growth of manufacturing business also.

Economy

Reading is a vital commercial centre in the Thames Valley and Southern England. It is home to the headquarters of many British companies and UK offices of foreign multinationals. It is also a major retail centre. Daily Reading has an inflow of 30,000 commuters as compared to 24,000 departures. Large companies such as Microsoft and Oracle have their headquarters in Reading. Other businesses in Reading are Prudential, PepsiCo and Wrigley. In 2007, an independent poll placed Reading 16th in a league table of best performing retail centres in the UK.

Culture

Reading is known for its Reading Beer Festival which was first held in 1994 and is now known to be one of the largest beer festivals in the UK. It takes place at King's Meadow for the five days immediately preceding the May Day bank holiday every year. Reading Pride also takes place at Reading, an annual LGBTA festival in Kings Meadow.

Museums

The Museum of Reading contains galleries that showcase the history of Reading . The museum is also home to the excavations of Calleva Atrebatum. It also houses a full-size replica of the Bayeux Tapestry, an art collection, and galleries relating to Huntley and Palmers.

Located in East Reading, The Museum of English Rural Life,is dedicated to the changing face of rural England. It also has collections of public value. It is not only owned but also managed by the University of Reading. The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, the Cole Musum of Zoology and the Harris Botanic Gardens are also under the same management. All these museums can be found on the university's Whiteknights Campus.

There is also a small Riverside Museum at Blake's Lock which tells one about Reading's two rivers, the Thames and the Kennet. The Museum of Berkshire Aviation houses a collection of aircraft and other aviation accessories.