Introduction
Depending on where you might be in your career, we explain below the key benefits of earning your AgilePM professional qualification.
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Start a career in agile project management
Agile approaches have become increasingly popular in organisations and industries in recent years. Agile enables a flexible, responsive approach to product development to compensate for unpredictable market environments and project contexts.
Iterative development
The iterative and incremental approach of Agile allows project managers and their teams to adapt their approach to product development while maintaining a focus on quality and on-time delivery of products to customers.
A 2020 report indicated significant growth in Agile adoption in the IT sector, increasing from 37% in 2020 to 86% in 2021, as identified by more than 1,380 global respondents [4]. Growth in non-IT organisations also rose significantly.
With an expected increase of over 21 million new project management roles between 2017 and 2027 [1], there are bound to be many opportunities for both new and experienced agile project managers.
Is agile project management the right career for you?
An increased demand for qualified professionals
With the growth of agile in recent years, there has been an increased demand for project managers trained in agile practices. Agile requires a different mindset from traditional project management.
- Agile focuses on flexibility, responsiveness to change, and autonomy for teams, whereas traditional approaches focus more on strict project governance and resource management.
- Agile projects work in iterative and incremental ways to deliver value early and frequently. Traditional projects use a ‘waterfall’ approach – work progresses only after meeting predefined targets.
If you are flexible, adaptable and enjoy working collaboratively, you might already be suitable for an agile career.
Low barriers to entry
Enterprise-level roles
Complex enterprise-level projects often require integration with other activities beyond the scope of the agile teams.
Fulfilling an enterprise-level agile project management role requires detailed knowledge of how agile can interface with other agile and non-agile approaches to project development.
These roles are reserved for agile experts capable of creating new (and sometime never seen before) solutions to complex issues.
Team-level roles
Most agile project managers begin their career in a team-level role, responsible for sourcing the appropriate tools, resources, and staff, to boost team effectiveness and efficiency.
They act as ‘servant-leaders,’ helping optimise the project team’s efficiency outside of time-boxed increments but otherwise keeping out the way, so developers have the autonomy to tackle problems they see fit.
Career progression
Agile project management can make a great career progression path for existing roles. Project managers, procurement managers, contract officers, administrators, and other professionals can move into agile project management.
An agile project management career can provide opportunity for growth, learning and personal development.
How can AgilePM help you start a career?
In response to the growing demand for qualified agile project managers, the Agile Business Consortium, together with APMG International, developed the AgilePM qualifications scheme.
Holistic approach
Based on the AgilePM Handbook (a subset of the DSDM Agile Project Framework), AgilePM offers a holistic approach to agile management, which covers the entire agile project lifecycle.
The advantage that AgilePM holds over other equivalent qualifications is that while other agile courses may cover individual methods and frameworks, AgilePM teaches students a broad range of skills applicable through the entire agile project lifecycle.
Easy integration with other methods
You can use AgilePM alone or in conjunction with other agile and non-agile approaches, including Scrum, PRINCE2, and PRINCE2 Agile.
If you want to begin your career as an agile project manager and or looking to enhance your CV with a well-known agile project management qualification, look no further than AgilePM.
Learn to manage agile projects effectively
A 2021 survey by APM (the Association for Project Management) showed that 66% of project managers see agile as a key asset to project managers in the future [2].
As Agile’s influence on the project management industry continues to grow, more project professionals have learned new agile tools and frameworks so they can better adapt to changing demands.
Benefits of Agile
Some key benefits often attributed to Agile include greater value realisation, faster speed to market, improved collaboration, and improved customer satisfaction. In agile, products are delivered early and incrementally.
Each iteration enables users to give feedback which is incorporated into the product in later development. This helps to ensure quality from the start, and helps teams deliver valuable products.
Since its introduction in 2010, AgilePM has established itself as the leading framework and qualifications scheme for agile project management.
Practical framework
Based on the Agile Business Consortium’s Agile Project Framework, AgilePM guidance offers a practical agile methodology that combines the standards and visibility favoured by traditional project managers with the flexibility and responsiveness provided by Agile.
Scalable corporate solutions
AgilePM offers a structured and scalable corporate Agile solution based on decades of proven practice. AgilePM is the perfect way to support adopting or improving agile project management practices in organisations.
How can AgilePM improve my ability to manage projects?
Benefits of AgilePM
The AgilePM qualifications scheme was developed by the Agile Business Consortium in partnership with APMG International and provides several key benefits over equivalent qualifications:
- AgilePM is practical
AgilePM directly addresses many of the common risks faced by project managers. The Project Approach Questionnaire helps create a shared understanding of project risks and how they can be avoided. - AgilePM addresses the full project lifecycle
The informality of many agile approaches often does not suit many organisations with established methods for approaching projects and programmes. AgilePM offers a flexible approach that still retains many formal project delivery concepts. - AgilePM includes change management practices
AgilePM goes a step further than most other project management approaches, detailing how products will be implemented. This is integral to the AgilePM lifecycle and ensures that users are supported once the products are made available. - AgilePM incorporates other agile practices
AgilePM incorporates a range of popular agile practices to support effective product development. Such as MoSCoW prioritisation, timeboxing and iterative development.
If you enrol in an AgilePM Foundation & Practitioner course today, you’ll learn all this and more. The compete AgilePM syllabus covers those topics needed for you to begin managing agile projects effectively.
Advance your career with an AgilePM qualification
One flaw of many agile methods is their lack of guidance regarding traditional project management duties. This is something that is addressed by AgilePM by building project management processes into its framework.
Understanding multiple approaches
Despite what many say, agile is not the ‘end-all-be-all’ solution to project management. In many industries, dispensing the reliability and predictability of traditional project management often has disastrous results.
While learning how to apply a pure-agile approach can certainly pay dividends, project managers need to have a holistic understanding of multiple approaches.
AgilePM complements existing knowledge
If you have existing project management experience, AgilePM will provide you with a broader view of project management that compliments your existing knowledge.
What if you must lead a project with non-Agile aspects? What if your agile project relies on products produced by non-Agile projects?
These are the questions AgilePM seeks to answer by offering a mix of both project governance and iterative development so you can find the solution that best suits your project.
Learning every aspect of project management can teach you how to manage projects with non-Agile aspects and help you better interface with the broader organisation where Agile has not yet penetrated.
Professional development
Earning an AgilePM qualification shows employers that you’re committed to furthering your professional career and taking an active interest in developing your skillset with the latest advances in agile project management.
These are important aspects that potential future employers are looking for in more experienced candidates. What’s more, our Agile Project Management courses have won awards, so you can know that you’re in competent hands when you learn with us.
Global employment opportunities
AgilePM qualifications can help take your career to the next level. Thousands of organisations need AgilePM-qualified project managers to help facilitate agile transformation, manage change projects, and improve product delivery.
AgilePM is internationally recognised, allowing you to take your skills and experience abroad.
Recent surveys show that the median salary of qualified agile project managers is £51,000 per annum [3], with the opportunity for career advancement and increased salary as you gain experience.
About our training
Knowledge Train is an accredited training organisation for Agile Project Management (AgilePM).
Trainers
Our trainers have years of applied experience in agile project management and the skills needed to help others learn from their experience.
We hire trainers who can engage and motivate our students and help them learn the intricacies of each subject.
Our rigorous selection process for trainers and ongoing improvements means you can be assured you’ll get the best learning experience available.
For more information about instructor-led training courses which lead to an AgilePM qualification, see our AgilePM courses page. For self-paced AgilePM online courses see our AgilePM online courses page.
References
[1] PMI | 2017 | Project Management Job Growth and Talent Gap 2017-2027 | PMI [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.pmi.org/learning/careers/job-growth [Accessed 19 May 2022].
[2] www.apm.org.uk. 2022. No page title. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.apm.org.uk/media/48657/apm_salary_and_market_trends_survey_2021_report-final.pdf [Accessed 19 May 2022].
[3] Glassdoor. 2022. Salary: Agile Project Manager (May 2022) | Glassdoor. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/agile-project-manager-salary-SRCH_KO0,21.htm?clickSource=searchBtn [Accessed 19 May 2022].
[4] 15th Annual State Of Agile Report | Digital.ai. 2022. 15th Annual State Of Agile Report | Digital.ai. [ONLINE] Available at: https://digital.ai/resource-center/analyst-reports/state-of-agile-report. [Accessed 07 June 2022].
