Leadership for Agile and Traditional Projects Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Project Managers, Programme Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-AP-031

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience working on projects, programmes, product initiatives or operational change.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Projects rarely follow a single delivery model. Banks may run a regulatory remediation programme through stage gates while product teams use Scrum; public agencies may procure through formal controls while suppliers work iteratively; multinationals may combine capital-project schedules with agile digital releases. Leaders must provide direction, governance and assurance without slowing learning, obscuring accountability or treating every project as identical. This course addresses the practical leadership decisions required when predictive, agile and hybrid approaches operate together.

Participants examine how leadership accountabilities change across predictive, iterative, incremental and hybrid life cycles. They apply Situational Leadership II, RACI, stakeholder mapping, conflict-resolution methods, Scrum accountabilities, Kanban flow measures and PMBOK performance domains. The course develops the ability to establish decision rights, adapt governance, lead cross-functional teams, manage stakeholder expectations and intervene when delivery performance deteriorates. Attention is given to regulated, complex and politically visible projects where assurance, transparency and delivery pace must coexist.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with facilitated case analysis, group exercises, leadership simulations and structured application planning. Cases reflect programmes such as a core-banking upgrade, public-sector service transformation, ERP deployment and digital product release. Participants leave with a practical leadership playbook containing a project leadership charter, governance map, stakeholder engagement plan, conflict-response checklist, team operating agreement and personal application plan. The course suits experienced project personnel moving into leadership responsibilities and managers who sponsor or govern mixed-method delivery portfolios.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess project contexts using predictive, agile and hybrid life-cycle criteria
  • Establish decision rights using RACI matrices, delegation levels and escalation paths
  • Adapt leadership behaviour using Situational Leadership II and team maturity signals
  • Design fit-for-purpose governance using PMBOK performance domains and assurance controls
  • Lead Scrum, Kanban and hybrid teams through clear accountabilities and operating agreements
  • Manage stakeholder engagement through power-interest analysis, communication planning and expectation setting
  • Resolve delivery conflict using interest-based negotiation, escalation protocols and retrospective evidence
  • Create a project leadership playbook for immediate workplace application

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Lead mixed-method teams with clearer authority and behavioural flexibility
  • Handle stakeholder pressure without bypassing agreed governance controls
  • Run more effective decision, escalation and retrospective conversations
  • Translate agile delivery evidence into language suitable for sponsors and PMOs
  • Build a reusable leadership playbook for current and future assignments

For your organisation

  • Improves alignment between agile teams, project managers, PMOs and sponsors
  • Reduces delays caused by unclear decision rights and escalation routes
  • Strengthens governance without imposing unnecessary controls on iterative delivery
  • Improves visibility of delivery risks, dependencies and stakeholder commitments
  • Builds a common leadership approach across transformation and operational projects

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can select leadership approaches suited to predictive, agile and hybrid project contexts.

  • Project life cycles compared: predictive, iterative, incremental, agile and hybrid delivery
  • PMBOK performance domains linked to leadership accountabilities and decision rights
  • Scrum accountabilities contrasted with project manager responsibilities in hybrid teams
  • Tailoring governance to uncertainty, compliance obligations and delivery cadence
  • Authority boundaries mapped using RACI, delegation levels and escalation paths
  • Leadership stance adjusted between directing, coaching, facilitating and supporting

Participants can adapt leadership behaviour to team capability, motivation and delivery conditions.

  • Situational Leadership II applied to team competence and commitment
  • Psychological safety behaviours that encourage early risk and issue reporting
  • Team working agreements covering availability, decisions, feedback and conflict
  • Trust built through reliability, transparency, competence and respectful challenge
  • Motivation diagnosed using autonomy, mastery, purpose and workload signals
  • Inclusive meeting practices that reduce dominance and untested assumptions

Participants can design governance arrangements that provide control without obstructing delivery flow.

  • Governance layers defined for portfolio, programme, project and delivery teams
  • RACI matrices distinguish accountable decisions from consulted technical input
  • Stage-gate controls integrated with sprint reviews and release decisions
  • Delegated authority thresholds set for scope, budget, risk and change
  • Escalation paths triggered by tolerance breaches, dependencies and unresolved decisions
  • Assurance evidence selected from plans, backlogs, metrics, risks and benefits

Participants can lead agile delivery teams while preserving Scrum roles, flow and inspection routines.

  • Scrum values translated into observable leadership behaviours and team norms
  • Product Owner, Scrum Master and developers' accountabilities clarified
  • Sprint goals used to focus priorities and expose delivery trade-offs
  • Backlog refinement supports shared assumptions, sequencing and acceptance criteria
  • Servant leadership removes impediments without taking team decisions away
  • Kanban flow metrics reveal bottlenecks, work-in-progress and ageing work

Participants can lead realistic planning and dependency management across agile and traditional work.

  • Integrated milestone plans connect releases, approvals, procurement and operational readiness
  • Dependency mapping identifies predecessor work, interfaces, constraints and owners
  • Rolling-wave planning separates near-term commitments from longer-term forecasts
  • Critical path analysis applied where fixed-date dependencies determine completion
  • Capacity assumptions tested against skills, availability, throughput and external constraints
  • Commitment conversations distinguish estimates, forecasts, targets and approved baselines

Participants can build stakeholder engagement approaches that secure timely decisions and sustained support.

  • Power-interest grids prioritise sponsor, regulator, customer and supplier engagement
  • Stakeholder personas identify concerns, influence routes and preferred communication
  • Communication plans specify purpose, audience, owner, frequency and channel
  • Sponsor briefings frame decisions, options, consequences and recommendation clearly
  • Expectation management addresses scope assumptions, uncertainty and delivery confidence
  • Difficult conversations prepared through interests, evidence, boundaries and requests

Participants can lead evidence-based risk, issue and assurance conversations throughout delivery.

  • Risk registers distinguish threats, opportunities, assumptions, issues and dependencies
  • Risk appetite and tolerance thresholds guide escalation and management action
  • Root cause analysis uses Five Whys, fishbone diagrams and evidence
  • RAID logs create ownership, due dates and visibility for delivery controls
  • Agile indicators combine burn-down trends, throughput, defects and blocked work
  • Assurance reviews test governance adherence, benefit evidence and delivery readiness

Participants can resolve project conflict while protecting relationships, accountability and delivery outcomes.

  • Conflict sources diagnosed across priorities, resources, roles, values and information
  • Thomas-Kilmann modes selected according to stakes, relationships and time pressure
  • Interest-based negotiation separates positions from underlying needs and constraints
  • Constructive challenge tests assumptions, evidence, options and unintended consequences
  • Escalation conversations frame impact, prior actions, decision required and deadline
  • Retrospective evidence converts recurring friction into agreed process improvements

Participants can coordinate delivery leadership with adoption, transition and operational readiness needs.

  • Change impact assessments identify affected roles, processes, systems and controls
  • ADKAR elements inform communication, training, reinforcement and adoption actions
  • Operational readiness criteria cover support, access, data, procedures and capacity
  • Transition plans assign handover responsibilities, acceptance evidence and support periods
  • Benefits ownership connects project outputs to measurable operational outcomes
  • Resistance signals addressed through listening, local champions and targeted interventions

Participants can create a practical leadership action plan for a current project or programme.

  • Leadership self-assessment identifies strengths, blind spots and development priorities
  • Project leadership charter states purpose, behaviours, authority and decision principles
  • Personal stakeholder map identifies relationships requiring immediate attention
  • Governance improvement actions prioritised by delivery risk, effort and sponsor support
  • Thirty-day action plans define commitments, measures, review dates and accountability
  • Peer feedback converts observed leadership behaviours into specific improvement actions

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Project leadership charter template
  2. Hybrid governance and decision-rights map
  3. Stakeholder engagement plan template
  4. Team operating agreement checklist
  5. Conflict and escalation response checklist
  6. Thirty-day leadership action plan

Who should attend

  • Project Managers — need to lead predictive, agile and hybrid delivery teams
  • Programme Managers — need consistent leadership across dependent projects and workstreams
  • PMO Managers — need governance methods suited to mixed delivery approaches
  • Product Owners — need to align product decisions with project controls and stakeholders
  • Functional Managers — need to support staff assigned to cross-functional project teams
  • Project Sponsors — need clearer oversight, decision rights and escalation routes

Skills and tools covered

Hybrid project leadershipGovernance designStakeholder engagementAgile team leadershipConflict resolutionDelivery assurance

Tools and standards

PMBOK Guide, Scrum Guide, Kanban Method, Situational Leadership II

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce leadership frameworks, governance methods and agile accountabilities. Facilitated case work examines realistic delivery tensions, including a regulated technology change, a public-service transformation and a hybrid product release. Group exercises use stakeholder maps, RACI matrices, governance scenarios and conflict-response planning. Simulations place participants in sponsor, project manager, product owner and team-lead roles. Each participant completes structured application planning, translating course methods into actions for a current project or programme.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience working on projects, programmes, product initiatives or operational change. They should recognise common project terms such as scope, schedule, risks, stakeholders, milestones and governance. Familiarity with either agile methods or traditional project management is helpful, but deep expertise in both is not assumed. Participants do not need a formal project management certification, prior Scrum certification, technical delivery experience or responsibility for a large project team. The course focuses on leadership judgement, team management and governance decisions rather than software configuration or detailed scheduling techniques.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have worked on projects, programmes, operational change or product delivery and know basic project terminology. Formal project management or Scrum certification is not required.

Bring details of a current or recent project, including its stakeholders, delivery approach and recurring leadership challenges. Sensitive information can be anonymised before discussion.

The course is designed for project managers, programme managers, PMO personnel, product owners, functional managers and sponsors. It is particularly useful where agile and traditional approaches must work together.

Scrum Master courses focus primarily on the Scrum framework, while PRINCE2 courses focus on structured project management controls. This course concentrates on the leadership decisions, behaviours and governance needed across predictive, agile and hybrid delivery.

Participants build a leadership charter, governance map, stakeholder plan and thirty-day action plan around a current project or programme. These materials can be refined with sponsors, PMO colleagues and delivery teams after the course.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days cover ten connected modules through briefings, cases, group work, simulations and application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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