Agile Management I and II

Developed and presented by Jurgen Appelo

Length of course: This 2-day course can be delivered either in 2 consecutive days or as two separate standalone workshops, Agile Management I and Agile Management II.

Agile management is an often overlooked part of Agile. There is much information available for agile developers, testers, and project managers, but very little for development managers and team leaders. However, when organizations adopt agile software development, it's not only developers, testers, and project managers who need to learn new practices. Development managers and team leaders must also learn a new approach to leading and managing agile organizations.

Several studies indicate that "old-style" managers are the biggest obstacle in transitions to agile software development. Development managers and team leaders need to learn what their new role is in agile software development organizations. This course will help them.

Agile Management I: Motivation, Empowerment, Alignment

The first day (or Agile Management I as a stand-alone workshop) is based on Jurgen Appelo's book Management 3.0, and addresses the following four themes:

1. Agile and Lean software development are the new gold standards for software teams. You will learn about different agile methods, popular best practices, agile adoption strategies, and the role of the manager/team leader in agile organizations;
2. People are the most important parts of an organization and managers must do all they can to keep people active, creative, and motivated. You will learn about creativity in the workplace, tips for intrinsic motivation, and how to form diverse and productive teams;
3. Teams are able to self-organize, and this requires empowerment, authorization, and trust from management. You will learn how to make self-organization work, how to define clear boundaries, and how to grow trust and respect in the organization;
4. Self-organization can lead to anything, and it's therefore necessary to protect people and shared resources, and to give people a clear purpose and defined goals. You will learn when to manage and when to lead, and how to protect people and resources from any bad effects of self-organization.

Agile Management II: Competence, Structure, Improvement

The second day (or Agile Management II as a stand-alone workshop) is also based on Jurgen Appelo's book Management 3.0, and addresses the following four themes:

1. Complexity science and systems thinking are the cornerstones of an agile mindset. You will learn what complexity theory is, why this applies to managing teams and organizations, and how to think in terms of systems instead of problems and processes;
2. Teams aren't able to achieve their goals if team members aren't capable enough, and managers must therefore contribute to the development of competence. You will learn how and when to apply the seven approaches of competence development, and how to measure progress;
3. Many teams operate within the context of a complex organization, and thus it is important to consider structures that enhance communication. You will learn how to grow an effective organizational structure that balances specialization, generalization, and leadership;
4. People, teams, and organizations need to improve continuously, in order to defer failure for as long as possible. You will learn approaches and strategies for continuous improvement, and how to deal with never-ending uncertainty and change.

Target Audience/Prerequisites. This course aims at leaders/managers who want to become agile, and developers/testers/project managers who want to be good team leaders or line managers. No practical experience with agile methods is necessary, though some familiarity with agile principles and practices is useful.

Note: It is smart to attend Agile Management 1 before attending Agile Management 2, however, both can be attended separately, and they don't have to be taken immediately one after the other.