Agile Project Management: Agile-as-a-Culture, beyond the SCRUM
Agile Project Management: Agile-as-a-Culture, beyond the SCRUM
Learn how to foster agility through mindset, leadership, and organizational behavior.
Introduction to Management Engineering Series
This MOOC is part of the Introduction to Management Engineering series, which is designed to introduce prospective master students and people interested in managerial disciplines into the key fundamentals of Management Engineering. Through an analytical and engineering approach, the series provides basic concepts and language in the areas of Strategy, Economics, Financial Accounting, Organization, and Operations Management.
The series is the result of a collaborative design between METID, the unit of Politecnico di Milano devoted to teaching and learning innovation, and the Study Course in Management Engineering.
See the full seriesCourse description
Agile has evolved beyond tools and frameworks—it's now a culture that shapes how organizations behave, make decisions, and navigate complexity. This course explores agility as a mindset, highlighting how leadership, team dynamics, and feedback loops create the conditions for continuous learning and adaptation. Through real-world examples from companies like Spotify, GE, Saab, and Moderna, learners will understand how to embed agility into organizational culture. You will discover the human side of Agile: servant leadership, enabling roles, team alignment, and the practices that empower autonomous, purpose-driven teams. This course provides the mindset and cultural foundations to support Agile practices at scale.
Total workload of the course: 10 hours
This MOOC is provided by Politecnico di Milano.
This MOOC was produced as part of the Edvance project – Digital Education Hub per la Cultura Digitale Avanzata. The project is funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU, Component 1, Investment 3.4 “Didattica e competenze universitarie avanzate".
Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Understand the concept of Agile-as-a-Culture and how it differs from Agile as a framework.
ESCO: agile project management - Recognize the role of mindset, leadership, and trust in enabling Agile teams.
- Evaluate how hybrid models integrate Agile and traditional project management principles.
ESCO: agile project management ESCO: hybrid model ESCO: project management principles - Apply principles of servant and enabling leadership to support Agile transformation.
- Use feedback and cultural alignment tools to enhance team performance and autonomy.
ESCO: giving feedback - Reflect on real-world applications of Agile culture across industries and contexts.
Prerequisites
This course follows the previous ones "Project Management beyond planning and control", "Life cycle and project planning" and “Control and replan using Earned Value and Risk Management”.
No prior knowledge is required: attendance of the previous courses is not compulsory, but it is recommended.
Activities
Over and above consulting the content, in the form of videos and other web-based resources, you will have the opportunity to discuss course topics and to share ideas with your peers in the Forum of this MOOC. The forum of this MOOC is freely accessible, and participation is not guided; you can use it to compare yourself with other participants, or to discuss course contents with them.
Section outline
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Explore the mindset shift behind Agile. Move beyond frameworks and learn how culture, behavior, and awareness shape adaptive organizations.
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Discover how leading companies like Saab, GE, Moderna, and Spotify blend structure with flexibility through real hybrid Agile applications.
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Understand the leadership styles and cultural enablers that sustain Agile teams—servant leadership, feedback loops, and enabling roles.
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Analyze agility as both necessity and opportunity, and understand how industries transform under pressure, starting with the music industry.
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Video transcripts Folder
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Assessment
Your final grade for the course will be based on the results of your answers to the assessed quizzes. You have an unlimited number of attempts at each quiz, but you must wait 15 minutes before you can try again. You will have successfully completed the course if you score 60% (or higher) in each one of the assessed quizzes. The maximum score possible for each quiz is given at the beginning of the quiz. You can view your score in the quiz on your last attempt or on the 'Grades' page.
Certificate
You can achieve a certificate in the form of an Open Badge for this course, if you reach at least 60% of the total score in each one of the assessed quizzes and fill in the final survey.
Once you have completed the required tasks, you will be able to access ‘Get the Open Badge’ and start issuing the badge. Instructions on how to access the badge will be sent to your e-mail address.
The Badge does not confer any academic credit, grade or degree.
Information about fees and access to materials
You can access the course completely online and absolutely free of charge
Course faculty
Tommaso Buganza
Teacher
Tommaso Buganza is Associate Professor of Leadership and Innovation at the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano where he also is co-founder of LEADIN'Lab, the Laboratory for Leadership, Design and Innovation. He is a lecturer in Innovation Management and Project Management, responsible for the Project Management Academy and coordinator of the innovation and training area at MIP (Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business). He is scientific director of IDeaLs the global research platform of Politecnico di Milano that pioneers new ways to engage people to make innovation happen with companies. He co-founded Symplatform, the symposium on digital platforms that aims to foster a constructive discussions among scholars and practitioners.
Daniel Trabucchi
Teacher
Daniel Trabucchi is Assistant Professor at the School of Management, Politecnico di Milano, where he also serves as a senior researcher in the LEADIN’Lab, the Laboratory for LEAdership, Design and INnovation. He works on Innovation Management, he teaches and studies the fields of Platform Thinking, Agile Project Management and the Human side of Innovation (with a strong focus on engagement within the research platform IDeaLs). He co-founded Symplatform, the symposium on digital platforms that aims to foster a constructive discussions among scholars and practitioners.
Contact details
If you have any enquiries about the course or if you need technical assistance please contact pok@polimi.it. For further information, see FAQ page.