PMI is AGILE!

PMI is AGILE!

Author: Agnieszka Skalska, PMP®
	11+ years of experience in global business transformations, project and program management. Executed over 20 projects for financial services, management consulting and manufacturing industries. Solid business acumen in Operational Excellence, Project Management, Change Management and Information Technology. Always following the fundamental values of integrity, innovation and collaboration. Growth Mindset.

 All around the world there is a lot of buzz about the need for agility. Most of the organizational structures and processes that have been developed more than a century ago, now seems to be outdated. They were built for control and stability, not for innovation and speed. Of course, there is no one standard solution that works for every company and for sure agile is also not a cure for every disease. Every team should explore what works the best for them and decide on their way of working. As a global economy has started to evolve rapidly, one thing is certain, the project management techniques must be adjusted, combined, and/or tailored. PMI is responding to these needs by incorporating all Agile Practices into one approach, called Disciplined Agile. 

Picture 1. Disciplined Agile Concept. (Source 1) 

Disciplined Agile a tool kit that harnesses hundreds of Agile practices to guide you to the best way of working for your team or organization. (Source 2) Disciplined Agile is not a framework, but rather a toolkit that focuses on the decisions you need to consider, the options available to you, and the trade-offs associated with these options. It shows you how to effectively combine strategies from Scrum, Kanban, SAFe®, and many other approaches in a tailorable and scalable manner. Organizations that adopt Disciplined Agile go to market sooner, deliver value faster and make their customers happier. (Source 3) 

PMI offers five types of Agile certifications:

Picture 2. PMI Agile Certifications. (Source 1) 

Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) certification will help you to understand the DA mindset and its underlying principles, such as pragmatism, the power of choice, and adapting to context. It gives an opportunity to learn about the fundamentals of agile and lean, and how to use both approaches to produce business value. It presents multiple agile and lean techniques from methods such as Scrum, Kanban, SAFe®, and more. You will learn how to put these techniques into action and ensure effective implementation. (Source 4)

Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) certification takes a deep dive into the DA tool kit to develop a comprehensive understanding of the hundreds of practices and strategies it contains and the trade-offs of applying them. It shows how to apply the DA tool kit to guide teams in choosing and evolving your best way of working (WoW) in any situation. After the course you will feel comfortable with using the DA tool kit to solve complex challenges commonly encountered in both software and operational business teams. You will learn how to lead agile teams through key enterprise activities, such as planning, coordinating, and reporting, and be ready to show your improvements in areas where your organization is struggling. You will get a deep understanding of how to improve value delivery for your customers by empowering others in your organization, nurturing emotional intelligence, and resolving conflicts. (Source 5)

Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant (DAVSC) certification gives an opportunity to determine the best place for an organization to start – portfolio management, product management or development area. As a DAVSC, you will be equipped with a tool kit to tailor an organization’s improvement plan based on the unique needs. It gives an ability to train an organization to continue to improve on their own and get know how to accelerate value delivery at scale. (Source 6)

Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC) certification helps to understand how to align teams with organizational strategies and goals to enable agile transformation. It provides guidance how to facilitate culture change/ transformation and how to accelerate process improvement. It teaches how to master the Disciplined Agile tool kit and show teams the best Way of Working (Choose Your Wow) in the situation they currently face. (Source 7)

PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® certification is created by agilists for agilists. The PMI-ACP spans many approaches to agile such as Scrum, Kanban, Lean, extreme programming (XP) and test-driven development (TDD.) It will increase your versatility, wherever your projects may take you. (Source 8)

               ⇒ Building True Agility Across Your Business Starts at PMI! ⇐               

To sum up, here are 3 Top Reasons for Attaining a Disciplined Agile Certification:

• Increase your knowledge. DA certification requires a comprehensive understanding of Disciplined Agile Delivery, which in turn describes how all aspects of agile principles and practices fit together in an enterprise-class environment.

• Demonstrate your professionalism. DA certification indicates to employers your dedication to improving your knowledge and skills.

• Advance your career. As you demonstrate your increased knowledge base and leadership, DA certification can help you attain that new position or role.

 Video 1 : The Business Agility Starts Here (Source 2) 

List of Sources:

1. https://youtu.be/0aXstBAs_U4 
2. Foundation for Business Agility | Disciplined Agile (pmi.org)
3. Agile Certifications (pmi.org)
4. Disciplined Agile Scrum Master DASM (pmi.org)
5. Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master Certification | PMI
6. Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant Certification | PMI
7. Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC) Certification | PMI
8. Agile Certified Practitioner | PMI-ACP