Agile Project Management (Contact)

Understanding Agile Fundamentals:

• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the key principles, values, and practices of Agile methodologies, including the Agile Manifesto and its significance in project management.
• Understand how Agile differs from predictive project management approaches, and how it enables efficient project delivery and improves business agility.

Life Cycle Considerations & Selection:

• Identify and differentiate between various adaptive development approaches, such as Hybrid, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, and Lean, and articulate their unique characteristics and appropriate contexts for application.

Delivering in an Agile environment:

• Explain Agile tools and techniques.
• Deconstruct ceremonies and practices for planning, estimating and prioritising work.
• Examine how to measure and control Agile projects to manage and execute a project to deliver value incrementally.

Creating an Agile Team and Environment:

• Foster and facilitate effective communication and collaboration within cross-functional teams, consisting of generalised specialists (T-shaped people). Articulate the role of self-organisation, empowerment, and continuous improvement in Agile environments.

Evaluating Agile Success:

• Critically assess the success of Agile projects by measuring progress, managing risks, and ensuring alignment with customer requirements, business goals and value/benefits realisation.

Adapting Agile to Various Contexts:

• Recognise and address the challenges of implementing Agile methodologies in different organisational and project contexts, and explore strategies for tailoring Agile approaches to specific needs.

Delegates who successfully complete the course and comply with the related assessment criteria (where applicable) are awarded a certificate of successful completion by the University of Pretoria.

Our in-class Agile Project Management short course is presented by Dr Lizette Weilbach, a senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria with more than 25 years of academic, training, and consulting experience. She specializes in Business Analysis, Information Systems Development, Change Management, Design Thinking, and Project Management, and holds a PhD in Information Technology from the University of Pretoria.

She has supervised over 100 postgraduate students and is currently mentoring 9 master’s and 7 doctoral candidates. Her research interests include digital transformation, Society 5.0 innovation, SME innovation, Agile development methodologies, project management practices, and the integration of AI in business and education.

Dr Weilbach is also a seasoned facilitator of executive education, having developed and delivered professional programmes in business analysis (a programme endorsed by the International Institute of Business Analysis – IIBA®), information systems development, project management, and design thinking for organisations such as SARS, Old Mutual, AfroCentric Group, and BMW. Learn more about Prof Lizette Weilbach.

The online course runs on a learning management system, Blackboard Learn.

• Delegates must have a computer with access to the internet, with sufficient data to connect to the portal and to participate in the course.
• The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox web browsers must be used to access course material (other browsers like Internet Explorer are not officially supported).
• The device must have a properly installed, activated and/or plugged-in microphone.
• The course content may include videos and delegates must be able to access external sites (e.g. Youtube). The device should ideally have a properly installed, activated and/or plugged-in webcam.