Four operational modules to structure project delivery, from agile framing to team building, in a banking environment.
SCRUM Fundamentals
The SCRUM framework and its friction points in a banking environment
Description
SCRUM is widely adopted in banking IT departments, but its application runs into constraints specific to the sector: compliance sign-off, regulatory acceptance cycles, dependencies on legacy systems. This two-day course teaches the framework as defined, then explicitly works the friction points with the banking environment. It follows one project case from beginning to end.
Learning objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Locate the roles, events and artefacts of the SCRUM framework
- Hold a role within a SCRUM team and understand its limits
- Facilitate the ceremonies and obtain the value expected from them
- Build and refine a product backlog
- Estimate and plan an increment realistically
- Reconcile the agile framework with a banking institution’s compliance requirements
Teaching methods and resources
Structured input followed by application exercises on a banking project case running through the course. Ceremony simulations, backlog writing workshops, collective estimation exercises. Reference materials on the SCRUM framework and a team diagnostic grid. Validation quizzes at each stage.
Course programme
1. Locating the framework and its foundations
- Distinguish predictive and empirical approaches
- Understand the three pillars: transparency, inspection, adaptation
- Identify what SCRUM prescribes and what it leaves open
- Spot the contexts where the framework is not suitable
Practical work: positioning quiz on project situations. Discussion of cases where the agile framework adds nothing.
2. Understanding the roles and their boundaries
- Locate the responsibilities of product owner, scrum master and team
- Address the frequent confusion between project manager and product owner
- Organise the relationship with stakeholders outside the team
- Identify the signs of a role poorly held
Practical work: allocation of roles on a banking project case, then analysis of the overlaps identified.
3. Building and refining the product backlog
- Write backlog items the team can actually use
- Define acceptance criteria and the definition of done
- Order the backlog by value and risk
- Organise refinement without spending excessive time on it
Practical work: writing a product backlog for a real banking need, then cross-review between subgroups.
4. Running a sprint
- Facilitate planning and obtain a realistic commitment
- Hold the daily scrum without it becoming a progress report
- Conduct the review and gather useful feedback
- Run a retrospective that produces actions
Practical work: simulation of a complete sprint in accelerated time, with the four ceremonies in sequence and a collective debrief.
5. Making SCRUM work in a banking environment
- Reconcile increments with regulatory acceptance cycles
- Handle dependencies on existing systems
- Document enough to satisfy audit without burdening the team
- Report progress to a traditional project governance
Practical work: building a reporting arrangement compatible with traditional project governance. Presentation and discussion of the compromises.
Participants
Project, programme and portfolio managers, system and data architects, business analysts.
Prerequisites
No prerequisite. Prior involvement in a project, even a predictive one, makes the simulations easier.
Trainer credentials
The experts who deliver our courses are specialists in the subjects covered. They are validated by our teaching teams on both subject knowledge and teaching ability, for each course they deliver. They have at least ten years of experience in banking or consulting and hold, or have held, positions of responsibility.
Assessment
The trainer assesses progress throughout the course through quizzes, case studies and simulations. Participants also complete a positioning test before and after the course to validate the skills acquired.
Teaching resources and materials
- Audiovisual aids, documentation and course materials, applied practical exercises with worked solutions, case studies and presentation of real cases.
- At the end of each course, Helios Advisory provides participants with a course evaluation questionnaire, which is then analysed by our teaching teams.
- An attendance sheet per half-day is provided at the end of the course, together with a certificate of completion where the participant has attended the full session.
Enrolment and lead times
Enrolment is finalised with our teaching team. Send us your request through the contact form: we will confirm the next available sessions and the enrolment arrangements suited to your situation.
Accessibility
For any question or requirement relating to accessibility, contact us through the contact form. Each situation is reviewed with you so that the course arrangements can be adapted.
Transformation Project Business Environment
Assessing organisational complexity before committing resources
Description
Transformation projects rarely fail for technical reasons: they fail because their organisational complexity was not assessed before resources were committed. This two-day course provides the methods for making that assessment upfront: stakeholder mapping, identification of dependencies between workstreams, and detection of success conditions that are not in place.
Learning objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Assess the organisational feasibility of a transformation project
- Map stakeholders and their actual positions
- Identify dependencies between workstreams before they block progress
- Spot missing success conditions and escalate them
- Locate a project within the organisation’s portfolio and priorities
- Formulate a recommendation to proceed, postpone or abandon
Teaching methods and resources
Methodological input illustrated by real transformation projects, both completed and halted. Mapping workshops, dependency analysis exercises, case studies. Organisational feasibility assessment grid and stakeholder matrix. Peer exchange between participants.
Course programme
1. Understanding what makes transformations fail
- Distinguish technical, organisational and political causes
- Spot the warning signals already present at framing stage
- Locate the sponsor’s role and the consequences of their absence
- Identify projects launched for the wrong reasons
Practical work: guided analysis of two transformation projects, one completed and one halted. Identification of the tipping points.
2. Mapping stakeholders
- List the actors concerned beyond the official sponsors
- Distinguish stated position from real interest
- Identify useful opponents and fragile supporters
- Build a differentiated engagement strategy
Practical work: stakeholder mapping of a banking project, positioned on an influence-interest matrix.
3. Identifying dependencies
- Spot dependencies between workstreams, systems and teams
- Distinguish blocking dependencies from deferrable ones
- Identify resources shared with competing projects
- Organise dependency tracking over time
Practical work: building a dependency map for a programme comprising four workstreams. Identification of the critical path.
4. Locating the project in its environment
- Position the project within the portfolio and its priorities
- Assess the absorption capacity of the teams involved
- Identify the applicable regulatory and continuity constraints
- Anticipate the effects on existing processes
Practical work: assessment of the absorption capacity of a business unit on which three projects converge.
5. Concluding and recommending
- Formulate a recommendation to proceed, postpone or abandon
- Document assumptions and success conditions
- Defend a postponement before an impatient sponsor
- Organise the periodic review of the recommendation
Practical work: drafting a recommendation note, then presenting it to a simulated steering committee.
Participants
Project, programme and portfolio managers, system architects, business analysts.
Prerequisites
Experience of taking part in a corporate project. No academic prerequisite.
Trainer credentials
The experts who deliver our courses are specialists in the subjects covered. They are validated by our teaching teams on both subject knowledge and teaching ability, for each course they deliver. They have at least ten years of experience in banking or consulting and hold, or have held, positions of responsibility.
Assessment
The trainer assesses progress throughout the course through quizzes, case studies and simulations. Participants also complete a positioning test before and after the course to validate the skills acquired.
Teaching resources and materials
- Audiovisual aids, documentation and course materials, applied practical exercises with worked solutions, case studies and presentation of real cases.
- At the end of each course, Helios Advisory provides participants with a course evaluation questionnaire, which is then analysed by our teaching teams.
- An attendance sheet per half-day is provided at the end of the course, together with a certificate of completion where the participant has attended the full session.
Enrolment and lead times
Enrolment is finalised with our teaching team. Send us your request through the contact form: we will confirm the next available sessions and the enrolment arrangements suited to your situation.
Accessibility
For any question or requirement relating to accessibility, contact us through the contact form. Each situation is reviewed with you so that the course arrangements can be adapted.
Planning Predictive and Agile Projects
Building a complete plan and choosing the approach that fits the context
Description
Planning is neither producing a Gantt chart nor filling a product backlog. This two-day course covers the planning knowledge areas and subsidiary plans, in both predictive and agile approaches, and works above all on choosing between them according to the project context.
Learning objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Build a complete project plan and its subsidiary plans
- Draw up a realistic schedule and identify its critical path
- Estimate effort and duration while making assumptions explicit
- Choose between predictive, agile or hybrid approaches according to context
- Plan resources, quality, risks and communication
- Keep the plan current without spending disproportionate time on it
Teaching methods and resources
Methodological input followed by application exercises on a case running through the course. Schedule-building workshops, estimation exercises, approach comparisons. Subsidiary plan templates and an approach selection grid. Validation quizzes by knowledge area.
Course programme
1. Framing before planning
- State the project scope and its exclusions
- Build the work breakdown structure
- Identify deliverables and their acceptance criteria
- Handle unarbitrated scope requests
Practical work: building a work breakdown structure for a banking project, then cross-review.
2. Building the schedule
- Sequence activities and identify dependency links
- Estimate durations and make the assumptions explicit
- Determine the critical path and available float
- Handle imposed date constraints
Practical work: drawing up a schedule with critical path identification, then analysis of the effect of a delay on a given task.
3. Estimating effort and cost
- Compare estimation techniques and their fields of validity
- Estimate collectively to reduce individual bias
- Build a reasoned contingency reserve
- Revise an estimate during the project
Practical work: collective estimation of a work package using two different techniques, then comparison of the variances.
4. Drawing up the subsidiary plans
- Plan resources and handle assignment conflicts
- Define a quality arrangement proportionate to what is at stake
- Build the risk register and the associated responses
- Organise project communication
Practical work: drafting two subsidiary plans of the participant’s choice on the running case, followed by presentation.
5. Choosing and combining approaches
- Identify the characteristics that point towards predictive or agile
- Build a coherent hybrid approach
- Plan on a rolling horizon without losing the overall view
- Keep the plan current in a sustainable way
Practical work: reasoned selection of an approach for three projects with contrasting profiles. Collective discussion of the criteria used.
Participants
Project, programme and portfolio managers, planning officers.
Prerequisites
Knowledge of basic project management concepts. No prior certification required.
Trainer credentials
The experts who deliver our courses are specialists in the subjects covered. They are validated by our teaching teams on both subject knowledge and teaching ability, for each course they deliver. They have at least ten years of experience in banking or consulting and hold, or have held, positions of responsibility.
Assessment
The trainer assesses progress throughout the course through quizzes, case studies and simulations. Participants also complete a positioning test before and after the course to validate the skills acquired.
Teaching resources and materials
- Audiovisual aids, documentation and course materials, applied practical exercises with worked solutions, case studies and presentation of real cases.
- At the end of each course, Helios Advisory provides participants with a course evaluation questionnaire, which is then analysed by our teaching teams.
- An attendance sheet per half-day is provided at the end of the course, together with a certificate of completion where the participant has attended the full session.
Enrolment and lead times
Enrolment is finalised with our teaching team. Send us your request through the contact form: we will confirm the next available sessions and the enrolment arrangements suited to your situation.
Accessibility
For any question or requirement relating to accessibility, contact us through the contact form. Each situation is reviewed with you so that the course arrangements can be adapted.
Building and Developing a Project Team
Leading a team you did not choose, without line authority
Description
A project team brings together people who did not choose one another, for a limited period, with no line authority held by the person leading them. This two-day course addresses that particular situation: how to assemble the team, support its move towards maturity, and resolve deadlocks without being able to fall back on hierarchical authority.
Learning objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
- Assemble a project team around the skills genuinely required
- Support the team through its successive maturity phases
- Allocate roles and clarify what is expected of each member
- Resolve deadlocks without escalating to the hierarchy
- Conduct difficult conversations within the team
- Sustain engagement over the length of a long project
Teaching methods and resources
Input illustrated by real team situations. Simulations, role plays on difficult conversations, role allocation workshops. Team maturity diagnostic grid and skills matrix. Peer exchange between participants.
Course programme
1. Assembling the team
- Identify the skills genuinely required, beyond the usual profiles
- Negotiate resource assignment with business departments
- Handle partial assignments and their effects
- Organise the arrival and induction of new members
Practical work: building a skills matrix for a given project, then a simulated assignment negotiation with a business department.
2. Supporting the move to maturity
- Locate the successive phases of team formation
- Recognise the storming phase and go through it rather than avoid it
- Set the working rules collectively
- Adapt the leadership style to the maturity reached
Practical work: diagnosis of a team’s maturity phase from described situations. Selection of the appropriate leadership style.
3. Clarifying roles and expectations
- Allocate responsibilities without overlap or gaps
- Express expectations in verifiable terms
- Handle gaps between the role assigned and the role actually held
- Organise delegation within the team
Practical work: drawing up a responsibility matrix for a work package, then identifying the ambiguous areas.
4. Resolving deadlocks
- Distinguish technical disagreement, relational tension and skills gap
- Conduct a corrective conversation without line authority
- Handle a member who withdraws or opposes
- Escalate at the right moment and in the right way
Practical work: role plays on three deadlock situations, with a collective debrief on how the conversation was conducted.
5. Sustaining engagement over time
- Maintain motivation on a long or repetitive project
- Recognise contribution without a remuneration lever
- Handle team fatigue and periods of overload
- Organise project closure and the exit of members
Practical work: building an action plan for a team losing engagement, described in a case. Presentation and discussion.
Participants
Project managers, team leaders, product owners, branch managers.
Prerequisites
Holding or preparing for a team leadership role. No academic prerequisite.
Trainer credentials
The experts who deliver our courses are specialists in the subjects covered. They are validated by our teaching teams on both subject knowledge and teaching ability, for each course they deliver. They have at least ten years of experience in banking or consulting and hold, or have held, positions of responsibility.
Assessment
The trainer assesses progress throughout the course through quizzes, case studies and simulations. Participants also complete a positioning test before and after the course to validate the skills acquired.
Teaching resources and materials
- Audiovisual aids, documentation and course materials, applied practical exercises with worked solutions, case studies and presentation of real cases.
- At the end of each course, Helios Advisory provides participants with a course evaluation questionnaire, which is then analysed by our teaching teams.
- An attendance sheet per half-day is provided at the end of the course, together with a certificate of completion where the participant has attended the full session.
Enrolment and lead times
Enrolment is finalised with our teaching team. Send us your request through the contact form: we will confirm the next available sessions and the enrolment arrangements suited to your situation.
Accessibility
For any question or requirement relating to accessibility, contact us through the contact form. Each situation is reviewed with you so that the course arrangements can be adapted.
Practical information
The following applies to every programme presented on this page.
Funding
Several funding routes exist and depend on your professional situation: skills development plan, sector funding bodies, or direct company funding. Contact us so we can work out the most suitable option together.
Timetable
Courses run from 9.00 to 17.30, with a lunch break of one hour to an hour and a half. Participants are welcomed from 8.45. Breaks and lunches are provided. For four or five day courses, sessions finish at 16.00 on the final day.
Dates and locations
In-company and open sessions are arranged on request, at our premises, at yours, or remotely. Contact us for the next available dates and to agree the format best suited to your teams.
A question or a specific requirement?
Every programme can be adapted to your context, your sector and the level of your teams. We will come back to you with a tailored proposal, a schedule and a price matching your request.
This programme is an original work designed by the teaching teams of Helios Advisory. Any reproduction, representation, adaptation or exploitation, in whole or in part, without prior written authorisation, is strictly prohibited.