Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
Government programmes are asked to deliver digital services and policy outcomes quickly while meeting strict requirements for accountability, procurement and audit. Pure agile methods can clash with annual budgets and approval gates, while fully predictive plans struggle when requirements are still emerging. This Core Concept course equips managers to choose, tailor and govern agile and hybrid delivery so that teams keep momentum and decision-makers keep control. Participants test each approach on public sector cases and leave with a Hybrid Delivery Approach for a programme of their own.
Course Objectives
- Assess which delivery approach suits a public programme or project using recognised complexity and suitability tools
- Apply Scrum, Kanban and PRINCE2 Agile practices inside a programme structured in MSP tranches
- Build and prioritise a product backlog and release plan that reflect policy outcomes and mandatory requirements
- Design hybrid governance, reporting and assurance arrangements that satisfy accountability without slowing delivery teams
- Manage the procurement, multi-supplier and legacy system dependencies that commonly derail agile delivery in public bodies
- Produce a Hybrid Delivery Approach for an own programme, ready for programme board endorsement
Target Audience
- Programme and project managers delivering public sector change and digital services
- Product and service owners accountable for policy or citizen outcomes
- PMO and portfolio office managers adapting governance for agile delivery
- Delivery managers coordinating agile teams within larger programmes
- Commercial and procurement managers contracting for agile and outcome-based delivery
- Assurance and audit managers reviewing iterative programmes
Course Outline
Day 1: Delivery Approaches in the Public Sector
- Predictive, Iterative, Incremental and Adaptive Life Cycles in ISO 21502
- Agile Manifesto Values and Principles in a Public Service Context
- Delivery Approach Suitability Assessment Using the Stacey Complexity Matrix
- Cynefin Framework for Classifying Programme Problems
- Current-State Agility Assessment of a Government Programme
Day 2: Agile, Hybrid and Programme Frameworks
- Scrum Guide 2020: Accountabilities, Events and Artefacts
- Kanban Method: Visualising Flow and Limiting Work in Progress
- PRINCE2 Agile: Tolerances, Management Stages and Agile Behaviours
- MSP Programme Tranches Combined with Agile Release Cycles
- Scaling Options Compared: SAFe, LeSS and Disciplined Agile
Day 3: Planning and Governing Hybrid Delivery
- Product Vision, Outcome Statements and Product Backlog Construction
- User Story Writing with INVEST and Acceptance Criteria
- MoSCoW Prioritisation and Timeboxed Release Planning
- Hybrid Governance Model: Stage Gates Around Agile Delivery Teams
- Burn-Up Charts, Velocity and Cumulative Flow Reporting to Programme Boards
Day 4: Contracts, Controls and Failure Patterns
- Fixed Budget, Flexible Scope Contracting and Outcome-Based Procurement
- Agile Assurance Reviews and Definition of Done Controls
- Security and WCAG 2.2 Accessibility Requirements in the Backlog
- Legacy System Dependencies and Multi-Supplier Integration Risk Register
- Hybrid Failure Patterns: Water-Scrum-Fall and Cargo-Cult Agile Diagnosis
Day 5: Case Work and the Hybrid Delivery Approach
- Digital Citizen Service Case: Choosing and Defending a Delivery Approach
- Infrastructure Programme Case: Integrating Agile Workstreams into a Predictive Plan
- Tailoring Decision Record for an Own Programme
- Hybrid Delivery Approach Drafting
- Programme Board Challenge Session and Approach Defence
Skills You Will Gain
- Delivery Approach Tailoring
- Product Backlog Management
- Release Planning
- Hybrid Governance Design
- Agile Contracting
- Flow Metrics Reporting
- Agile Assurance
- Multi-Team Coordination
Why Attend This Course
- Return to work with a Hybrid Delivery Approach for a live programme, already challenged by a mock programme board
- Answer the accountability questions that finance and audit functions ask of agile teams, with evidence they accept
- Avoid water-scrum-fall and the other patterns that reduce agile adoption to ceremony
- Learn from public sector managers in other countries delivering digital services and infrastructure
Conclusion
Public programmes need the speed and learning of agile delivery without losing the control and transparency that public money demands. This course moves from choosing a delivery approach, through the agile, hybrid and programme frameworks, to backlog planning, governance, contracting and the failure patterns that undermine hybrid delivery. The final day turns that material into a Hybrid Delivery Approach that participants take back to their programme board, giving them a tailored and defensible way to combine agile teams with formal governance.