Agile Planning and Execution Success Workshops

Our Agile Planning and Execution Success workshops are typically scheduled for small groups within the same company as a series of 2-hour online sessions with a workshop leader who has an extensive agile product development leadership background. Workshop duration can range from just six hours with pre-work and post-work to learn fundamentals, to a total of 16 or more hours for comprehensive learning. In-person sessions can be arranged for up to 25 participants, ranging from one-to-three days depending on content.

A key aspect of our agile project management workshops is a facilitated action plan, where participants conclude with a draft plan for achieving business goals. A series of exercises aids in determining priorities. Ideally, workshops are arranged with teams that work together on your company projects, where the resulting action plan is their unified implementation plan with agreed-upon goals.

Real-world product development examples and case studies are used extensively to reinforce key learning points. Since 2002, thousands of engineering leaders have benefitted from our workshops, with a general appreciation of the real-world examples, experienced instructors, and the practical approach centered around facilitating plans that are immediately actionable.

The primary desired outcomes for participants are:

• Understanding of agile project planning elements needed for product development
• Consistent, adequate cross-functional agile project planning and alignment
• Team commitment to consistently achieving iteration goals
• Visibility of progress toward project completion
  
• Effective use of agile management tools
• Thorough identification and reduction of project risks
• Improve communication to serve stakeholder interests
• Complete projects faster and more efficiently
• Team member ownership of ongoing improvements

The following outline is an example of topics often covered:

• Agile principles relevant for physical product development

• Overview and comparison of agile development frameworks
• Key best practices and why they matter
• Desirable benefits of an agile way-of-working
• Comprehensive agile project planning
• Two-levels of iterative rapid learning and execution cycles
• Leveraging iterative cycles to manage tradeoffs
• Project and task estimation methods
• Work item acceptance criteria and definition of done
• Iteration/sprint workflows and key success factors
• Agile risk and dependency management
• Stakeholder engagement and communication
• Progress tracking and visibility
• Effective and efficient team meetings
• Project metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Iteration/sprint reviews and retrospectives

Examples of templates and tools that can be provided:

• Agile vision brief template
• User story template
• WBS template
• Master risk register template
• Stakeholder planning tool
• Areas of focus template
• Iteration planning template
• Work item backlog template
• Sprint planning template
• Excel burn-up chart template
• Quick-start project planning guide