Compleat Agile Manager Course Description
An Agile organization desperately needs managers: ones with new skills, alternate mind sets, and a fresh perspective on managing. With Agile, the job of manager shifts from director of the team’s work to a position of coach, boundary keeper, obstacle remover and organizational change driver.
Even so, a definitive role for managers is still nonexistent in the Agile literature. This can leave one wondering: What is the role of Agile manager, really? How does a manager in an Agile organization know where to focus their efforts? How can managers make a real contribution, given that Agile teams manage themselves?
The Compleat Agile Manager™ comprehensively defines and explores the role of Agile manager in the form of eight competency areas, so necessary for effective management in an organization using Agile. Participants will significantly increase their contribution as manager, moving beyond Agile basics to beginning mastery of these Agile management disciplines.
The Compleat Agile Manager™ uses a profile tool to offer insight into your leadership style and company culture and weaves this knowledge into a powerful exploration of the eight competency areas. The course is taught through mini-lectures, expert demonstrations, skill development exercises, small group discussions, and a case study.
Course Topics
The Compleat Agile Manager is a 1 or 2-day workshop (your choice) co-facilitated by Lyssa Adkins and Michael K. Spayd. The topics are:
- The art of managing self-organized teams at the ‘Agile team boundary’
- How Agile software economics differ from traditional waterfall approaches
- How portfolio management is different in the Agile world
- Managing suppliers and outsourced teams
- Working with internal providers and stakeholders
- Reporting and metrics from the managerial and executive perspective
- How managers can act as organizational change agent
Audience
This workshop is designed for people in the following roles:
- Managers (including manager, director, senior director, vice president) who are responsible—directly or through subordinates—for one or more Agile teams
- Functional Managers whose subordinates work on Agile teams (e.g., managers of testing, database management, configuration management, etc.)
- Program Managers with a significant scope of projects, plus organizational authority to drive change
- Managers (or change agents) responsible organizationally for Agile as a process, and/or for teaching Agile principles to management
Prerequisites
Prior to attending class, participants should be familiar with basic Agile principles, typically having managed one or more Agile projects (directly or through subordinates). Participants without such experience may still attend providing they have a solid grounding in Agile concepts (Agile books, articles, websites). A recommended reading list will be provided upon request. In addition, attendees will be sent an email link two weeks prior to class requesting they take an online leadership style assessment (approx. 15 minutes). A report of the assessment will be provided to students in the class and used as a basis for discussion throughout the day. A several page case study will also be emailed and should be read prior to the course.
Past students say…
The class was one day and I found it a good investment of time, as it had a different focus than all of the other agile classes I’m aware of and that was, “How to manage the Agile team from the outside?” I took away techniques I can use to see that the team is healthy. – Director, Online Marketing Capital One Financial
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