PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation & Practitioner

Our PRINCE2 Agile Foundation and Practitioner course provides 4 days of tuition, plus two exams. It provides a full understanding of how to use PRINCE2 and Agile together to allow project management to react to changes while still being controlled within a strong governance structure. The course starts with the basics of PRINCE2, meaning no previous knowledge is needed, before looking at how which parts of a project can be flexible and which should be fixed.

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 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

PRINCE2 Agile® is a Trade Mark of AXELOS Limited