This course is designed to deliver a broad understanding of the Agile and Lean approaches to project management, how they differ from the conventional model, where they are used, case studies, and how to implement the approach. The coursework is designed to allow students to demonstrate their ability to apply the course content in practice.
The course will have a total of 11 lectures, delivered weekly, followed by a 1-2 hour tutorial / practical workshop. In weeks 10 and 11 students will demonstrate their work to date on the group assignment. In week 12 the students will present their final products from the group assignment. The group assignment is a significant part of the course. As such, students are expected to make time to meet with their team members.
The weekly topics covered in the lectures are as follows (note that the order in which topics are delivered may change):
- Introduction to Agile and Lean Project Management
- Conventional PM overview
- Interactions and Individuals: Teams
- Product Ownership and Customer Collaboration
- Leadership, Motivation, and Teamwork
- Scrum
- Scaling Agile
- Other Approaches and Wider Use of the Agile Mindset
- Working Product
- Responding to Change
- Agile in practice / application / evaluation
- Final presentation & summary development process highlights
The weekly tutorial is a participatory workshop in which students are expected to contribute to case studies and actively participate in the application of theories to problems and workshop scenarios. It is essential that everyone attends tutorials in weeks 10 and 11 to present their team assignment, and week 12 lecture time for the final presentation. Failure to attend and actively contribute will be reflected in the marking for the assignment.
The course delivery adopts a flexible learning approach in which materials are delivered via a mix of face-to-face and online methods. Students are expected to undertake considerable additional work per week reading and completing assignments.