Gartner Research predicts 80% of IT projects are using agile methods, but employers are struggling to measure the competence of new recruits in this emerging field that has a confusing array of methodology specific certifications.

The PMI’s new Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)^SM exam brings Prometric testing rigour and trusted recognition to agile certification. The ACP exam tests professionals on concepts and techniques from today’s leading agile approaches to create a comprehensive evaluation of agile knowledge and skills.

Get your agile skills recognized with the new PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP) certification. This is PMI’s fastest growing certification that has already surpassed the Program Management (PgMP), Risk (PMI-RMP), and Scheduling (PMI-SP) certifications in its first year of offering and is set to be the gold standard for agile competence by employers.

Train for the examination with this 3 day, accelerated learning exam preparation class taught by Mike Griffiths, one of the PMI-ACP Steering Committee members and designer for the examination. Get inside information on all of the PMI-ACP Domains, Knowledge & Skills areas, and Tools & Techniques needed to pass the exam.

Learn through hands on exercises, exploring case studies, and class based instruction. Each class member receives a workbook of slides, exercises and sample exam questions, along with a USB stick containing agile tools, templates, white papers, and further exam preparation resources.

HOW YOU WILL BENEFIT

• Gain all the Agile, Lean, and Kanban knowledge needed to pass the PMI-ACP exam
• Drastically reduce your study time by focussing on the right coverage for each topic
• Get details of the unique “PMI-isms” regarding agile terms, and exam topics covered
• Gain all 21 contact hours of agile training required to qualify for the PMI-ACP exam
• Get insider tips on question formats, terminology, scores and example questions

YOU WILL LEARN

• In depth coverage about the six PMI-ACP Domains of:

○  Value Driven Delivery                                  ○  Stakeholder Engagement

○  Boosting Team Performance                       ○  Adaptive Planning

○  Problem Detection and Resolution               ○  Continuous Improvement

• Agile practices from XP and Scrum, Lean and Kanban
• Soft skills leadership, emotional intelligence and agile coaching
• PMI question formats, relationship between domains, knowledge areas, Tools and Techniques
• Gaps in your knowledge and a tailored study plan

HOW THE COURSE WILL HELP YOU MANAGE TODAY’S CHALLENGING PROJECTS

Today’s projects with complex technologies, high rates of change, and compressed timelines are a world away from the industrial work that spawned traditional project management practices. We now have to manage divergent sets of stakeholders and subject matter experts through the early stages of project formation where there is a lot of uncertainty. Then execute and deliver while managing change requests, and issues, but not exceeding budget, quality or schedule constraints. The solutions for these challenges pre-date agile methods, but agile brings them together in a cohesive format harnessed by today’s most successful companies.

This course will explain how:

• Agile methods build consensus for the approach while embracing early project ambiguity
• Today’s Generation Y and Millennial workers want to be engaged on projects
• To deliver high value products despite short deadlines and many change requests
• Proactively reduce risk through spikes and build-feedback cycles
• Build change tolerant iteration and release plans
• Engage Subject Matter Experts (SME) when their time is extremely limited
• Gain higher performance and worker satisfaction through empowered teams
• Participatory methods build consensus and support for plans, estimates and decisions
• Retrospectives and adaptation leverage lessons learned while they are still actionable
• To Manage change requests and defects seamlessly with new functionality
• To track and report progress of nested iterations with easy to interpret graphs
• Diagnose and escalate issues before they become serious problems
• Celebrate milestones and accomplishments with meaningful, appreciated events

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING CREDITS

21 PDUs, 2.1 CEUs, 21 Contact Hours of agile related training

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

• Project Managers, Team Leads, Scrum Masters, Program Managers, Product Owners, PMO Staff, Technical Leads, QA Leads, BA Leads

SKILL LEVEL

• Intermediate

WHAT IS INCLUDED

• A copy of Mike’s best selling PMI-ACP Exam Prep book (or discount if you already have a copy)
• Binder printed in colour of slides and test questions used on the course
• Additional practice exam questions for self testing
• USB stick of articles, tools, white papers and reference cards

COURSE OUTLINE

After providing a context for the course and a breakdown of the PMI-ACP exam scoring structure, the course modules mirror the PMI-ACP Domain structure and book sequence, as follows:

1. Course Introduction and Context
2. PMI-ACP exam outline, question types and scoring model
3. Agile Foundations
4. Value Driven Delivery
5. Stakeholder Engagement
6. Boosting Team Performance
7. Adaptive Planning
8. Problem Detection and Resolution
9. Continuous Improvement
10. Exam taking tips
11. Summary and further resources

Each module is supported by case studies, exercises and backed up by sample exam questions.

ABOUT THE TRAINER

Mike Griffiths is the author of the best selling “RMC PM-ACP Exam Prep” book and a Steering Committee Member of the PMI-ACP Exam Group who created the PMI-ACP certification. He is a co-founder of the PMI Agile Community of Practice and has been teaching agile project management courses for the PMI as part of the PMI SeminarsWorld program since 2005. Mike is a frequent presenter at PMI Global Congress conferences, is a contributor to the PMBOK v3, v4 and v5 Guides and is currently helping write the new “Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide”.

In addition to his work with the PMI, Mike is very active in the agile community. He helped create DSDM in 1994 and has been working exclusively with agile methods for the last 19 years. Mike served on the board of the Agile Alliance and the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN). He trains, consults and presents on agile methods at agile events worldwide and writes for the publications: Projects@Work, Gantthead, Cutter and ProjectManagement.com.

TESTIMONIALS FROM MIKE’S TRAINING COURSES

Mike has been teaching Agile Project Management for the PMI for the last 8 years through the SeminarsWorld program. During this time he has consistently received the highest levels of participant feedback. Some samples are listed below:

"The instructor was very knowledgeable, class well organized, content at the right level of detail and very comprehensive. One of the best classes I have taken regarding PM topics" – James Bernard, Scottsdale

"This was a very well executed course. Instructor (Mike Griffiths) was very engaging!" – Ameila White, Boeing

"Mike is an excellent instructor and I really appreciated his organized and clear, well researched presentation. His domain and project management experience is evident from his talk. Also I appreciate his exposure/experience to multiple approaches like PRINCE2, PMBOK, Scrum, DSDM etc." - Sarah Harris, OpenText

"Excellent course with great information" – Tom Gehret, JNJ Vision Care

"Great Stuff!, Really enjoyed instructor and real-world examples" - Don Brusasco, Northridge, CA

"Mike delivers an exceptionally well-reasoned and effective presentation of agile. Thoroughly appreciated" - Bill Palace, El Sugund, CA

"Excellent class, timely subject material I can use" – Julia McGowern, Kaiser Permenante

"Excellent facilitator. Mike is respectful and knowledgeable" - Nghiem Pauline, San Diego, CA

"The course was fantastic, better that I thought it might be" - Kimberly Kehoe, San Diego, CA

"Great content and delivery" – Andrea Williams, Fed Ex

"The instructor was one of the best I have had at a PMI Seminar"- Ann Wittenauer, US Census Bureau

"The instructor did an excellent job of keeping the pace, - clearly explaining topics and providing practical applications" - Cathy MacKinnon, Schering Plough Corp

"Excellent!" – Peter Colquohoun, Australian Defence

WHY CHOOSE THIS PMI-ACP PREPARATION CLASS OVER OTHER PMI-ACP CLASSES?

• Content – This is a second generation class based on a year’s worth of participant feedback and ACP exam taking. Updated to focus on areas of exam difficulty, reoccurring question types, from multiple success stories. It is supported by the best selling PMI-ACP book, full colour workbooks, sample questions, and USB stick of additional materials.

•  Instructor – Mike Griffiths has exceptional knowledge of the exam, the exam content outline, and teaching agile project management. Investing 3 days in a training class is a big commitment, why settle for an unknown or less qualified instructor?

• Class Size – Classes are capped at 15 participants for an optimal learning environment. Everyone gets a chance to have their questions answered and be included in discussions.

• Value – Do the math, high quality training materials, taught by an industry leader in the field, in a small class size environment. All for a price that undercuts the mainstream training companies who use generic trainers and class sizes of 20-30 people.

Download this information as a PDF here: Course Outline