AgileSHIFT helps prepare organizations – and the people in them – for this transformation by creating a culture of enterprise agility. But this isn’t driven by simply adopting Agile methods or tools – it means understanding the ethos and behaviors required for change and leveraging them across the entire organization. 

AgileSHIFT works by: 

• Encouraging the whole organization to appreciate the need for change; 

• Illustrating how enterprise agility can benefit them; 

• Demonstrating how common agile ways of working can contribute to enterprise agility; and 

• Providing a simple Agile framework which relies on an iterative delivery approach. 

What’s in the course? 

This course is aligned to the Axelos AgileSHIFT syllabus and will help you: 

• Understand why organizations need to create a culture of enterprise agility in response to a changing context;  

• Describe the key concepts of the AgileSHIFT framework; and 

• Define the AgileSHIFT delivery approach. 

It covers everything you need to know to pass the AgileSHIFT exam and has 10 modules. 

• The first one looks at the changing context organizations operate in and the ‘tech-shift’ which has led to tech-centric working methods. It then highlights the threat of disruptors who take advantage of the opportunities arising from change before outlining the concept of a delta or ‘threat gap’ and how organizations can use this to create better value. 

• After that, the second module highlights the importance of effective working methods to challenge market disruptors and the advantages of AgileSHIFT to be realized. It introduces the concept of enterprise agility before looking at how AgileSHIFT can be used to facilitate multimodal working. 

• Then the third module outlines how individuals can be empowered to make small, incremental changes that work towards organizational transformation. It then develops the concept of value by describing the importance of co-creating value with customers and other stakeholders. 

• The fourth module looks at the complexity of organizations and the role internal and external teams, and stakeholders play in co-creating value. It then highlights the importance of strategic organizational alignment and the critical role of middle managers in facilitating change. 

• The fifth module then defines the AgileSHIFT principles which reflect the fundamental attitudes and behaviors that underpin successful change.  

• Leading on from that, the sixth module defines the five AgileSHIFT practices – the broad themes that should be applied to any work being done using an AgileSHIFT approach. 

• The seventh module looks at the AgileSHIFT team roles and the skills a team member needs in today’s technology-driven world. Then it looks in more detail at the critical roles of the AgileSHIFT coach and the AgileSHIFT sponsor before highlighting how a multi-specialist approach affects the way individuals contribute to the creation of value. 

• Then the eighth module is about putting it into practice through the AgileSHIFT workflow. It describes how decisions are made and how work is aligned to the business objectives, before defining each task in an AgileSHIFT iteration. 

• The ninth module shows you some practical tools and techniques you can use to help you work in an agile way.  

• And finally, the tenth module summarizes everything and helps you get ready for the exam. It has a mock exam paper and some useful guidance on how you should approach it. 

Getting the most from this course 

Each module delivers the knowledge you need through video presentations and reference guides, which are supported by quizzes to help you check your understanding as you go through the course. You can do the quizzes as many times as you like, and you’ll be given feedback after each question so you can check how well you’re getting on. 

The course is designed to help you apply AgileSHIFT when you get back to work and there are some important resources that you should use alongside the videos to support this: 

• The Reflective Activities give you the chance to think about what AgileSHIFT means to you and how you can put the principles, practices and processes to best use at work. Each activity is associated with an important aspect of AgileSHIFT and they’re signposted at the end of each video where you see this icon. 

• The Making It Real examples support the videos by providing case studies of AgileSHIFT at work. These are signposted at the end of each video where you see this icon. 

• And there’s a Glossary to explain the key terms used in the AgileSHIFT framework.  

Before you start, take some time to look through these resources and work out how you’re going to use them. You review them online or save them on your computer.  

There are also two other guides that you might find useful. The Brief History of Agile and Lean will help you place AgileSHIFT in the broader context and the Useful Resources guide has links to websites, resources and other publications that might help you implement agile ways of working.  

Working through the course 

You’ll have your own approach to learning – but here’s a few ideas that might help you get the most from this course: 

• Try to complete the whole thing in three months – that way, you’ll still remember what you learn at the start when you take the exam. 

• Try to complete an entire module at a time – or, if you can’t, a complete video.  

• Do the quizzes as you go – they’ll help you consolidate what you’ve picked up and tell you which areas you need to go through again. 

Tell us what you think  

One last thing. Feedback on this course is important to us and future learners. If you’ve got anything to say – good or bad – let us know.