Three-Day Agile Project Management Certification Course

*** Prepare for the new PMI Agile-Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) and PMAC Certified Agile Project Manager (Cert.APM) exams ***

Agile Project Management is a hot topic these days, appearing on the front covers of magazines and being presented to packed rooms at conferences. Agile methods promise to speed up project delivery, improve stakeholder satisfaction, improve quality, and reduce overall project risk. Recent studies have backed these claims, showing that for some types of projects, agile project management will reduce the risk of late delivery or cost overruns.

In this three-day intensive workshop, participants will learn the basic techniques of a disciplined approach to Agile Project Management including how these techniques differ from traditional methods, what value each technique can bring to a project, and how to introduce the techniques to project teams.

Participants will learn what is covered in a typical Scrum Master certification course plus a lot more:

  • Where Agile fits into the Evolution of Systems Development Lifecycles (SDLCs)
  • The history of Agile Project Management
  • The Agile Philosophy
  • Agile Team and Project Characteristics
  • The Scrum Method
  • Lean Development Overview
  • Feature-Driven Development Overview
  • Extreme Programming Overview
  • Agile Requirements Management
  • Agile Modeling
  • Agile Model-Driven Development
  • Agile Documentation
  • Agile Planning & Estimating
  • Agile Change Management
  • Negotiating with Stakeholders
  • Metrics and Project Control
  • Test-Driven Development

Audience:

This course is ideally suited to project managers, business analysts, and senior technical leads. While this course will focus on the application of agile techniques to IT projects, they also apply to non-IT projects as well, and in-class examples will be modified to suit the needs of the audience.

Duration:

Three full days of lectures and workshop activities, starting at 8:30 a.m. and ending at 5:00 p.m., with two 15-minute breaks and a 45-minute lunch break.

Materials:

All attendees will receive:

  1. An in-class workbook containing copies of the presentation materials plus the latest version of The Agile Glossary
  2. The Agile Estimating and Planning Resource Kit CD-ROM with sample templates in MS Excel and MS Project formats plus the Agile Auction Game files (retails for $49.95 USD).
  3. A DVD containing the video Scrum in Under 10 Minutes - an excellent introduction for your project teams.
  4. The best-selling book Managing Agile Projects, edited by Kevin Aguanno (retails for $39.95 USD).

These bonus materials are a $100.00 value!

Accreditation and Recognition

This course has been accredited by the Project Management Association of Canada (www.pmac-agpc.ca), the Canadian branch of the IPMA (www.ipma.ch). It's accreditation process ensures that all course materials meet PMAC quality guidelines for academic quality and professionalism.

If you hold one of the following credentials, you will receive the indicated number of continuing education units towards your recertification:

  • Project Management Professionals (PMPs) -- claim 21 PDUs under Category B
  • Certified Business Analyst Professionals (CBAPs) -- earn 21CDUs (Category 2B)
  • Certified Software Quality Engineers (CSQEs) -- earn 3 RUs
  • CIPS Information Systems Professionals (ISPs) -- earn 21Learning Credits
  • CIPS Information Technology Certified Professional (ITCPs) -- earn 21 Learning Credits

This course fulfills the educational pre-requisites for Certified Agile Project Manager exam PLUS the new PMI agile certification exam (PMI-ACP)

For more info please check out our course catalog.

Endorsements

Students of this Course

"Really enjoyed learning IID over the last 3 days. [The instructor was] an excellent facilitator…I didn’t fall asleep once as your stories really helped drive concepts home. I can’t remember the last time I had a course that provided so much value!"
- Annette Flanagan, Senior Project Manager, CIBC

I thoroughly enjoyed the Agile Project Management course over the last 3 days and am eager to put my learnings into practice. Coming from a very ISO certified Project Management Office, mired in heavy documentation and excessive amount of front loaded work before we even kick off a project, the concepts were extremely refreshing!"
- Steve Pevere, PMP, LSSBB, Sr. Project Manager, PMO, University Health Network

"This course has been really helpful and valuable in clarifying my knowledge of Agile Project Management."
- Wayne Frias, Business Anlayst, Aecon

"I would highly recommend this course. You will take more out of this course than you ever expected!"
- Richard Crockett, PMP, Independent IT contractor

"This was a great refresher for me on Agile practices from a Project Management perspective. Other courses spend too much time on philosophy instead of tangible activities to make you successful. I would recommend this course to PMs with or without Agile experience."
- Pam Nixon, Technical PM, Limelight Networks

"I got a lot of information about the agile methodology from the course. It is much clearer to me now how to schedule projects using agile methods. It was an excellent course!"
- Anonymous course feedback, Aecon, June 2014

"The course was very informative and helpful in understanding best practices and measures to use in the workplace with increasing productivity and structure in projects."
- Tim Kendall, Application Support Specialist, Aecon

"Very interesting course. It helped to clarify many terms and processes that I had little knowledge of before."
- Anonymous course feedback, Aecon, June 2014

"The course is well designed and flows logically."
- Anonymous course feedback, University of Toronto, August 2014

"Practical course content I will use."
- Anonymous course feedback, University of Toronto, August 2014

"One of the best courses I have taken. Practical, useable information I can apply to my job."
- Anonymous course feedback, University of Toronto, August 2014

"Best course I have taken. Much better than taking one from other course providers. I will definitely recommend it to others."
- Anonymous course feedback, University of Toronto, August 2014

"Thanks again for the great course and I have already started to apply the learnings."
- Greg Clark, Maplewood Solutions

"I felt enthusiastic learning in this very well paced and highly knowledgeable course."
- Dominic Lam, Rogers Communications Inc.

"Very informative and helpful."
- Nancy Lee, Rogers Communications Inc.

"Thanks for the insightful and fun sessions on Agile PM in Regina. I enjoyed your many project stories that tied the theory, practice and reality of Agile together. It is probably the single reason that will help me apply Agile in my future projects. It is also the main reason I can let you know that I have successfully passed the PMAC exam for Agile certification. Thanks!"
- Brian Cobbledick, ISM Canada

"I just wanted to send a quick thank you. We have heard nothing but rave reviews and positive comments from the attendees regarding the course and yourself! Simply excellent!"
- Susan Letsche, ISM Canada

Anonymous Evaluation Form Feedback, February 2014, University of Toronto:

  • "I can apply what I learned right away!"
  • "Kevin's knowledge of the subject matter was excellent."
  • "It was informative and fun! I love the course and Kevin!"

"I attended the Agile Project Management course at University of Toronto in May 2013. Since taking the course, I've been incorporating techniques in to my projects. The daily stand-up meeting has been the greatest immediate communication improvement, and was very easy to integrate into my existing team. I enjoyed the course, and I feel it's had a positive effect on my work."
- Matt Solo

Anonymous Evaluation Form Feedback, April 2010, University of Toronto:

  • "Highly-enthusiastic and knokwledgable instructor made potentially dry material interesting and engaging. Lots of great tools to bring back to work."
  • "Instructor was easy to understand and gave lots of good examples. Did a great job."
  • "Very well presented. Kevin flexed to the areas that we had more questions about."

Anonymous Evaluation Form Feedback, June 2010, University of Waterloo:

  • "One of the best courses I have taken in Agile models."
  • "Lots of information, great overview, kowledgeable teacher."

"Kevin was great. This course will be a big help for me moving forward with future projects."
- Kris Olafson, June 2010, University of Waterloo

"Just wanted to thank you for an excellent session. I felt I got a lot out of the class and was able to relate to the material. I hope you enjoyed teaching the Agile PM course as much as I did, participating."
- Dananthi Arnott, June 2010, University of Waterloo

Anonymous Evaluation Form Feedback, July 2010, University of Toronto:

  • "Inspiring!"
  • "Good examples. Easy to understand the instructor. Explanations were specific to class/student situations."
  • "The instructor was clear, knowledgable, and charismatic. The content was very usable."
  • "I learned a lot about agile project management. The instructor [taught] very clear concepts and suggested a lot of practical examples which are very helpful."
  • "Fantastic!"

"Your class was incredibly informative. I really enjoyed the fact that you permitted the class to lead the discussions and then added the important knowledge to colour in the information. I've taken a lot of courses over my career and I would definitely rank this one as the top. I really enjoyed the fact that you introduced the topic in baby steps and then expanded the complexity but not once did it feel as though it was getting overly complicated. Before I knew it I had picked up really complicated ideas with minimal effort."
- Gary Vamvakitis, July 2010, University of Toronto

Kevin brings a fresh positive energy to a subject which he is passionate about. His teaching style uses many anecdotal examples to deliver his point. I am about to embark upon an Agile project and this course has equipped me to take it on with confidence. I highly recommend Kevin and the Agile course he teaches."
- Scott Lee, Project Leader, JEVCO Insurance, July 2010, University of Toronto

Anonymous Evaluation Form Feedback, October 2010, University of Waterloo:

  • "Instructor extremely experienced and approachable. Samples and real experience items were provided, which is very helpful. This was more than I expected, it's very useful for my career."
  • "Good course, covered a lot of material in a good way/approach. It exceeded expectations."
  • "Good content and coverage. Good review. provided good past experience to help us relate to topics being covered. Very pragmatic and useful... will be able to put in use right away."

"I found the course really informative and it contained a lot of practical information that I can put to use on my immediate upcoming project, so for that I'm thankful."
- Roxane McDonald, March 2011, University of Toronto

"Your course was one of the most valuable and clearly taught courses I have ever taken. The course was heavy with useful theory and practical ideas and light on group work (which I feel is often “filler” in other courses). In short, it was the perfect balance. But more to the point, you answered many of the lingering questions I had about how to make Agile development work in a “real” organization. As I said in my course evaluation, you provided the missing link between Agile theory and making it work in the real world. My hope now is that my company will allow me to put this into practice on an upcoming project. But I already know that we will need guidance from an experienced Agile PM as we make that step. But I now see the real promise of the Agile methods, and have much less fear about project running out of control."
- Kevin Draper, P.Eng, PMP, January 2011, University of Waterloo

"The way this course was taught exceeded my expectations. You related theory back to real life examples that reinforced my understanding."
- Eva Asner-Mrachacz, April 2011, University of Waterloo

"The introductory course on agile that you taught was imparted very well, interesting and made relevant by real world examples. You have a passion for teaching and it comes through in your approach."
- Shehnaz Hayashi, June 2011, Toronto

"Thanks again for the inside look at Agile project management. You're enthusiasm for the subject is evident and makes a significant difference when teaching others. I found your course to be more practical (for 'real world' projects) than the typical project management course, and your case studies and anecdotes help to reinforce Agile's application. I see several techniques that would benefit current and future Farrow projects."
- Heather Rinke, Cert.APM, Farrow Group, July 2011, University of Toronto

"I really learned a lot in the past three days. You have made a dry topic sound very interesting."
- Ricardo Quijano, PPQA T&O TD QA, Bank of Montreal, August 2011, Toronto

"The 3-day training was greatly-appreciated, well-received and full-of-value."
- Dave C. Cook, Agile Transition Lead (PSSG), Bank of Montreal and VP, Harris Bank, September 2011, Toronto

Anonymous feedback from course at University of Toronto, 2012, Toronto:

  • "Very applicable to my work/job. Helped me gain the insight I needed. Exercises within the class were very unique and introduced a new way of thinking."
  • "The perfect balance between theory, practical experience, and activities."

"A very knowledgeable instructor. Kevin used many real-world examples during the course which made it both practical and interesting. He is a great presenter and has a lot of experience in the field."
- Leslie Ventura, PMP, Project Manager, IT Infrastructure, Alterna, June 2012, Toronto

Anonymous feedback from course at University of Waterloo, Sept. 2012, Toronto:

  • "Agile strikes me as a mentality, not just a methodology. This course has helped me see that I've actually not been a 'flexible' PM but an Agile PM. Now I have the tools to match the mentality."
  • "Instructor lively, good examples from real life. Glad he is not just an academic."
  • "Extremely well presented, especially for someone with less applied experience in the field. Practical approach is appreciated."

"The instructor had a great knowledge of agile. He made the course fun despite the tight schedule."
- Shiva Shahmohamad, Nov. 2012, Oakville, ON

"I would highly recommend this course to both PMs and senior business sponsors considering going agile or adopting agile methodologies."
- John C. Sabourin, Director, Application Development, Sentry Metrics, Nov. 2012, Oakville, ON

"This was one of the best PM courses I have attended in recent memory."
- Phillipe Madore, Ontario Public Service, Nov. 2012, Oakville, ON

"Kevin was really knowledgeable in explaining the points with his stories. I would recommend this course to my peers."
- Piyush R. Kher, Nov. 2012, Oakville, ON

"This is an excellent course that quickly introduces Agile concepts and provides real-world examples to drive home important concepts. Kevin masterfully guides you through approaches and exercises. I had quite a few 'Ah-ha!' moments."
- Dan Mair, Director, Silverblaze Solutions Inc., Jan. 2013, Toronto

"This is one of the best courses (if not THE best) that I have ever taken. Yes, it is about agile. But it goes way beyond this in getting to the heart of project management, the role of a project manager, and how to be truly effective. The course should be made widely available to everyone who is on the team and beyond in sponsors and stakeholders."
- Mark Kozak-Holland, HP Services, Jan. 2013, Toronto

"Excellent instructor and interesting methodology."
- John Baroudy, Jan. 2013, Toronto

"Did a nice job. Keep it up. The method used was splendid."
- Matthew Ehiwere, Project Consultant/Test Engineer, Netsa Consulting, Stockholm, Jan. 2013, Toronto

"Outstanding course last week at U of T. Will recommend to my colleagues and team members - I am using the new approaches already!"
- Kevin Fitzpatrick

"I really enjoyed the course, it met my expectations and above. I'm itching to try new approach and hoping that [...] I will be able to do so."
- Mila Dymchenko, Project Manager, Global Security & Investigations (GSI), TD Bank Group

Anonymous feedback from a March 2013 session at the University of Toronto:

  • "A life experience. Engaging. The instructor re-enforced learning with excellent stories."
  • "The instructor showed how the material can be applied in a real live environment."
  • "Instructor was excellent. He kept the class engaged and had a thorough knowledge of the content."
  • "Enjoyed the instructor's passion and enthusiasm."

"Thank you again for the Agile course - there were some valuable components that will quickly fit into some of my current projects."
- Cyndy Neilly-Spence RN, MBA, PMP

"Thank you for a great course. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it helped me to see the big picture on how the methodologies fit together. More importantly it gave me a method for helping my customers feel empowered and that makes my job easier."
- Bardhonia Harding, Senior Consultant, Innovapost

"Thank you very much for providing a high quality course. I really learned a lot of new things and really enjoyed the course."
- Samir Touaf, Senior Project Manager

"I thoroughly enjoyed the course and hope to be able some of what we learned in the near future."
- David Murray, Senior Project Manager, Information Technology Services, KPMG

Anonymous feedback from a May 2013 session at the University of Toronto:

  • "The course was engaging and appropriate for my level. It demystified the subject matter."
  • "Kevin was very knowledgeable and passionate about the subject. His stories were interesting and helped get the points across."
  • "Good supporting stories to reinforce learning."
  • "I left the course as a knowledgeable person."
  • "Topics covered were very relevant."
  • "Fantastic course! It took the grey out and replaced it with the vibrant colours of all things 'Agile'"
  • "Great instructor! Learned skills that I can use immediately!"
  • "Great instructor! Highly recommend him!"
  • "Instructor was very knowledgeable and experienced. Was able to bring in many examples from different industries."

"One of the best courses I have EVER taken!"
- Marius Lihet

"Demonstrated practical uses of Agile PM & related them to our specific business cases/issues, etc."
- Alastair Grant, Thinking Big

"Good flow, great real life application."
- Collin Affleck, Bell Aliant

"Pace was good. Instructor was excellent -> clearly well informed and experienced. Tied content to real world experiences."
- Shauna Slaven, Discovery Garden Inc.

"Thanks for your expert insights and excellent Agile course. I have taken other but none as good as this."
- John VanderGriendt

"Thank you for the training and making it interesting in the class."
- Taha Mohammed, PMP, Project Manager, Application Innovation, ISM Canada - IBM Global Technology Services

"I attended your Agile Project Management Course last week in Kitchener. I really appreciated the way you presented the information, clearly, with practical stories."
Connie August, Crackerjack Software Development Manager, Project Manager

Feedback from a session of this course delivered internally for a major corporation in May 2013:
- "Kevin's real life stories were very insightful." (Rosie K.)
- "Very engaging. Good use of stories and humour." (Claudia S.)
- "Enjoyed Kevin's personal accounts and examples! A very good communicator." (Jerome W.)
- "Kevin, you are a great presenter!" (Vitaly)
- "Did an excellent job of making info about the methodology interesting." (Anonymous)
- "Great stories and examples! They really help illustrate the points with real world examples. Great humour too." (David O.)
- "Great course! Professional presenter." (Alex)

From a session of this course delivered by Kevin Aguanno on June 2013 at the University of Waterloo:
- 100% of students rated the instructor's knowledge of subject matter as "Excellent"
- 100% of students rated the instructor's communication skills as "Excellent"
- 100% of students rated the instructor's ability to answer questions effectively as "Excellent"
- 100% of students rated the instructor's rapport with the class as "Excellent"
- 100% of students rated the instructor's approachability as "Excellent"
- 100% of students rated the instructor's course delivery as "Excellent"
- 100% of students rated the course materials as "Excellent"
- 100% of students said the course met their expectations.
- "Examples and experiences of the instructor helped to clarify concepts."
- "Very interactive, and immediately applicable for current tasks."
- "A wealth of immediately useful information and techniques presented in an engaging and compelling delivery."
- "Kevin is an excellent instructor and very personable, offering practical examples of the theories presented."
- "Good stories and applicable to my experiences."
- "Great training, comprehensive."
- "Great job!"
- "Kevin is knowledgeable and able to communicate that knowledge effectively. A very enjoyable course."
- "Beyond excellent!"

"This is an excellent course for the entire project team to take prior to the start of an agile project."
- Teresa Shu-Chan, CIBC

"Kevin is 'very knowledgeable' and able to clearly articulate the info and answer all questions."
- Marg Boutillier, CIBC

"Very useful course."
- Sathis Singar, CIBC

"I enjoyed the course very much."
- Rasamalar Thambo, CIBC

"I really wanted to learn about Agile and believe that this course successfully bridged my knowledge gap."
- Stephen Daligadu, CIBC

"Great course, notebook, and excellent presenter."
- Peter Yu, CIBC

"Excellent, frequent and helpful real-world anecdotes really helped illustrate real-world situations."
- Anonymous course feedback, CIBC, August 2014

"This course was very useful in helping understand what agile testing is and what are the best practices."
- Tetiana Narbay, CIBC

"Thanks again for a great course. It was one of the best I have taken."
- Dave Bickers, Innovapost

"This course is great for those who don't have any knowledge of IID. It's for all groups (BA, QA, Dev, etc.)"
- Anonymous course feedback, CIBC, Feb 2014

"Very engaging and lively training."
- Renju Joseph

"The first start-to-finish view of Agile from all the training sessions I have attended."
- Anonymous course feedback, PMI Lakeshore Chapter, Feb 2014

"Thank you! Excellent material, overview, exercises and length of session. Will provide needed details for management to support Agile methods in the organization."
- Anonymous course feedback, PMI Lakeshore Chapter, Feb 2014

"Love the details and deep dive, especially into the iterations and the estimation/forecasting."
- Anonymous course feedback, PMI Lakeshore Chapter, Feb 2014

"I highly recommend this course. It clarifies so many issues and myths regarding agile."
- Anonymous course feedback, PMI Lakeshore Chapter, Feb 2014

"I found this course very informative and a great introduction to agile. I understood the reasons behind it, benefits of moving to agile for certain project conditions. Now, the hard part, is trying to implement the methodology and share it with our organization."
- Anonymous course feedback, PMI Lakeshore Chapter, Feb 2014

"This course is straight forward, clear, and very helpful."
- Munis Shawaf, Sr. Project Manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Feb 2014

"Easily the best course I've taken since becoming a PM."
- Anonymous course feedback, PMI Lakeshore Chapter, Feb 2014

"The information was clear and complete."
- Anonymous course feedback, PMI Lakeshore Chapter, Feb 2014

"I would like to thank you for the well prepared course and the excellent delivery. It was one of the best courses I attended in years."
- Amir Hasoun

"I am leaving with a strong understanding of a subject that was new to me."
- Anonymous course feedback, University of Toronto, Fall 2013

"I found the content immediately applicable and look forward to applying once back at work."
- Anonymous course feedback, University of Toronto, Fall 2013

"I can apply what I learned right away."
- Anonymous course feedback, University of Toronto, Feb 2014

"I had taken an agile course with you and did certification back in April 2011. I have been enjoying the challenging world of independent PM consulting, although, I had limited opportunities to use Agile. When I do use it, it is for specific situations. I sort of specialize in turning around failed or challenged projects into winners in under 100 days. To do such a thing on a multimillion $ project/program, I find that the agile approach and methodology works best... so I use it and so far no one has complained, even in very waterfall-oriented organizations."
- Eva Asner-Mrachacz

"Excellent workshop!"
- Anonymous course feedback, PMI Lakeshore Chapter, Oct 2013

"This course offered a common sense approach to improving quality and delivery times for projects. Who wouldn't want that?!!"
- Anonymous course feedback, PMI Lakeshore Chapter, Oct 2013

"I would certainly recommend this course to others. I'm a fan!"
- Anonymous course feedback, PMI Lakeshore Chapter, Oct 2013

"For any organization contemplating agile, this course will not only answer most of your question, it will convince you to implement this methodology as soon as possible. A definite return on investment."
- Anonymous course feedback, PMI Lakeshore Chapter, Oct 2013