Sprint Planning for Faster Agile Team Delivery

About

Speed is by far the most sought-after benefit of Agile.

First mover advantages, the economic cost of delays, and the enabling effect on innovation drive the search for speed. Agile offers the fastest means of attaining speed: managing scope. But beyond the hype over scope management, there are key principles of non-traditional task management that ensure the scope chosen is delivered as efficiently as possible.

In this course, you'll learn how to drive speed into any project by selecting and limiting work-in-progress through agile planning and task management. There are two principle roles involved, the scrum master and the product owner. However, the entire scrum team needs to understand the principles behind backlog refinement, sprint planning, and execution throughout the sprint cycle.

In this course we'll show you how to run effective sprint planning meetings that produce a sprint backlog ready to deliver on your sprint goals and release objectives. You'll learn the power of prioritizing backlog items, and why we agile planning and sprint planning isn't just a managed list you work top-down in priority order. Instead, scrum teams commit to achieving goals and work together to ensure the user stories that are highest priority get delivered in this sprint, so the upcoming sprint isn't delayed. This also means understanding your team capacity and how to ensure safe and on-time delivery of the highest items on the product backlog that actually matter to your customer.

While this course will not make you an agile certified practitioner (PMI-ACP), or certified scrum master (CSM), it offers a more fundamental agile certification based on agile principles and how sprint planning enables hyper productivity in industry today. You'll finish this course more than ready to continue your agile journey, which we hope takes you to the next course in the series on "Agile Innovation and Problem Solving Skills."

Upon successful completion of this course, learners can earn 10 Professional Development Unit (PDU) credits, which are recognized by the Project Management Institute (PMI). PDU credits are essential to those looking to maintain certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP).

What you will learn

• Kanban boards to limit work-in-progress (WIP) in a timebox
• Time boxing activities to eliminate delays and gain schedule advances and ensure team capacity
• Application and iteration of the Pareto Principle for product backlog refinement
• Rolling Wave Planning and to ensure you deliver on the big picture

Skills you learn

• Project Management Professional Certification
• Agile Methodology
• Scrum (Software Development)
• PMI Agile Certified Practitioner
• Sprint Planning
• Project Management Institute (PMI) Methodology
• User Story
• Backlogs
• Scope Management
• Task Management
• Innovation
• Problem Solving
• Certified Scrum Master
• Sprint Backlogs
• Planning

Syllabus

• Week 1: The first week focuses the discussion on Agile to its primary benefit, Speed, and how to easily calculate and prove its supremacy in benefits of any project management method because of timing impacts and market changes outside a project manager’s control.

• Week 2: The second week explores why and how varying scope is the most powerful method to achieve speed; introducing the Exponential Pareto Principle and how to apply it effectively. Perhaps the most important lesson is that not all product backlog items are equal, and in fact, most don't matter at all!

• Week 3: The third week dives into second tier methods for achieving speed through sizing, simplicity, and sprints with real-world examples ranging from air and space craft to software. Team members work together to ensure a smooth glide on the burndown chart by actively managing work in process during daily scrum sessions.

• Week 4: The last week teaches ground-level techniques to avoid delays, increase speed, and apply a full range of planning, execution, and control techniques that will guarantee 2x or better improvement on traditional projects. This week is essential to producing a winning product backlog and release plan.

Auto Summary

Elevate your project management skills with the "Sprint Planning for Faster Agile Team Delivery" course, designed specifically for those in the realm of Personal Development. This expert-level course, presented by edX, focuses on the key principles of Agile to enhance speed and efficiency in project execution. Dive deep into the roles of the scrum master and product owner, and uncover the essential practices of backlog refinement, sprint planning, and task execution. Learn how to conduct effective sprint planning meetings that prioritize and manage work-in-progress, ensuring your team delivers on sprint goals and release objectives without delay. Throughout this 20-hour course, you'll master techniques to prioritize backlog items, understand team capacity, and ensure the timely delivery of high-priority tasks that truly matter to your customers. Although this course does not grant certifications like PMI-ACP or CSM, it provides a foundational agile certification focused on sprint planning and productivity. Upon completion, you will earn 10 Professional Development Unit (PDU) credits recognized by the Project Management Institute (PMI), vital for maintaining your Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. Ideal for professionals seeking to boost their agile planning and execution skills, this course is available through a professional subscription. Join now and take the first step towards mastering agile principles and driving your team to achieve unparalleled productivity.