Course 5 — Agile Project Management

Course 5 of the Google PM Certificate. Deep dive into Agile — philosophy, Scrum framework (roles, events, artifacts), user stories, estimation, value delivery, organizational change, and scaled Agile.

The four phases

Phase 1 — Fundamentals of Agile

• Waterfall — sequential/linear ordering of phases.
• Agile — ability to move quickly, adapt, change. Iterative approach.
• Agile PM — approach embodying agility, based on the agile-manifesto.
• Agile draws heavily on Lean manufacturing.
• Agile ≠ Waterfall: Agile was created in response to strict linear process. Agile embraces uncertainty, seeks faster customer feedback, streamlines without reducing quality, reduces waste.
• Aspects of a project: requirements, documentation, deliverables.
• agile-manifesto — 4 values + 12 principles grouped into 4 themes (Value Delivery, Business Collaboration, Team Dynamics/Culture, Retrospectives/Continuous Learning).
• vuca — Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity. High VUCA → Agile works best.
• Scrum is introduced: framework for developing/delivering complex products. Key terms: Product Backlog, Sprint, Daily Scrum, Scrum Master, Product Owner, Development Team.
• Why Scrum is popular: clear roles, regular meetings/delivery, Agile-aligned, free and widely supported.
• Founding principles of Scrum (rugby-inspired): built-in instability, self-organizing teams, overlapping work, multi-learning, subtle control, shared learning.
• kanban — visual board (“kan-ban” = “sign-board”). WIP limits, flow.
• Extreme Programming (XP) — best practices taken to extremes. Designing/coding/testing/listening. Pair programming, continuous integration, avoid big design upfront, write tests not requirements.
• Lean 5 principles: define value → map value stream → create flow → establish pull → pursue perfection.
• Blending approaches. Waterfall and Agile can be combined when stakeholders prefer traditional but the team uses Scrum, when regulation demands traditional, or when integrating with a traditional vendor.
• Spotify model — Squads, Tribes, Chapters, Guilds. Designed for scaling while preserving autonomy. Not a one-size-fits-all.

Phase 2 — Scrum 101

See scrum-framework for the full framework.

• Scrum Guide — source of truth at Scrumguides.org.
• Agile is the mindset; Scrum is the framework that brings it to life.
• Scrum theory: 3 pillars (Transparency, Inspection, Adaptation), 5 values (Commitment, Courage, Focus, Openness, Respect).
• Empiricism — true knowledge comes from lived experience. Built on the 3 pillars.
• Iterative — repeating cycles. Incremental — work divided into chunks that build on each other.
• Scrum roles:
  • Scrum Master — process coach, facilitates events, removes blockers, shields the team.
  • Product Owner — builds the right thing; owns and prioritizes the Product Backlog; maximizes value.
  • Development Team — builds the thing right; self-organizing, cross-functional.
• Mission vs vision. Mission = why we’re doing the work. Product vision = what the work will be like when done.

Phase 3 — Implementing Scrum

• Product Backlog — single source of truth for work. Living, owned by Product Owner, prioritized. Each item has description, value, order, estimate.
• user-stories-and-invest — “As a [user], I want [action] so that I can [value].” Must meet INVEST (Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, Testable).
• Epic — collection of related user stories.
• Acceptance criteria — checklist for “done”.
• Backlog refinement — keeping the backlog described, estimated, prioritized.
• Relative estimation — compare effort, not precise time. Techniques: Planning Poker™, Dot Voting, Bucket System, Large/Uncertain/Small, Ordering, Affinity Mapping.
• T-shirt sizes (XS–XXL) — simple, for new teams.
• Story points (Fibonacci) — detailed, for experienced teams.
• Sprints — fixed time period (up to 1 month) turning ideas into value. No changes that threaten the goal; quality maintained; backlog can be refined mid-sprint. Only the Product Owner can cancel.
• Scrum events / 5 ceremonies:
  • Sprint — the container for all other events
  • Sprint Planning — confirm capacity, plan the sprint, define sprint goal
  • Daily Scrum — 15 min, sync and prioritize
  • Sprint Review — demo, inspect, review backlog
  • Sprint Retrospective — reflect, identify improvements (up to 3 hours)
• Definition of Done (DoD): peer-reviewed, passes testing, documented, acceptance criteria met, PO accepts.
• Product Increment — output of a Sprint. Tested, usable, potentially releasable.
• MVP — smallest product version that delivers value and enables feedback. Made of one or more increments.
• Burndown chart — time vs work done/remaining.
• Velocity — how many points the team burns down per sprint.
• Kanban boards — visualization, WIP limits, flow of work.

Phase 4 — Applying Agile in the organization

• Value delivery — working solutions delivered frequently. Signs of trouble: missed dates, burnout, too much WIP. Solutions: more demos, retrospectives, clear “done”, fewer stories per sprint.
• Business collaboration. Signs: overwhelmed with feedback/changes, us vs them mentality. Solutions: more demos, solution design sprint, only introduce backlog changes between sprints.
• Team dynamics & culture. Signs: low morale, too much or too little conflict. Solutions: brainstorming, pairing, training, retrospectives, Six Hats thinking.
• value-roadmap — product vision + product roadmap + release plans.
• Responding to change. Evaluate triple constraint impact → decide (PO owns) → implement (update artifacts, communicate, track).
• change-management — the influencer change framework and organizational change.
• Coaching vs managing. Agile prefers coaching (develops independence) over managing (gives direction). Both are needed.
• DevOps — org/cultural movement to increase delivery velocity, service reliability, shared ownership.
• Business agility — Agile principles in wider management.
• scaling-agile-frameworks — SAFe, Scrum of Scrums, LeSS, DAD, Spotify. Treat as guides, not rulebooks.
• Introducing Agile to a team: start small, listen, be strategic, find allies.

Connections

• course-4-project-execution — previous
• course-6-applying-pm-in-real-world — next
• All Agile concept pages linked above.

Source References

• google-project-management-course