Best Free Business MOOCs In July

Managing An Agile Team

School: University of Virginia

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: REGISTER HERE

Start Date: July 3, 2017

Workload: No Specified

Instructor: Alex Cowan

Credentials: Alex Cowan is the managing director of Synapse Partners, a Bay Area firm that includes both a consulting and a venture capital practice. He is also a Batten Fellow and adjunct faculty member at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, where he teaches courses in software design and development. Before entering academia, he launched five companies, most notably Leonid Systems.

Graded: Students can choose to explore course videos, discussions, and ungraded assignments for free, but they won’t be able to submit graded assignments, earn a certificate, or complete a specialization without paying a $99 fee.

Description: “Agile” has emerged as a framework with different meanings to different people. And maybe that’s because the methodology has been translated into everything from coding to hiring. For most, it is a series of practices and processes designed to focus on working products and shorter development timeframes; foster interaction and collaboration between stakeholders; and create a flexible environment where changes can be quickly implemented.  In this course, students will understand how to apply agile principles in the context of managing people and projects.

In particular, students will learn how to “support [a] team’s transition from traditional approaches to agile; create an agile-friendly environment across disciplines; apply key practices from scrum (without going overboard on “agile orthodoxy”); identify and manage outside stakeholder needs; and design and run iterations that drive to value.”

Review: “Great course with a very good mix of theory, practice and real-world practitioners. I believe this course will be especially helpful for teams transitioning to agile and for “classical” project managers. The age of “command and control” has passed and Agile is a great iteration on top of this management style. Great teacher, great content and great course!” For additional reviews, click here.

Additional Background: This is the third part of the University of Virginia’s “Agile Development” specialization, which includes courses on design springs, design thinking, and design experimentation. To learn more about these courses and register for them, click here.