Agile Leadership Microcredential: Online distance learning
Duration: 10 weeks
Credits: 10 Academic Credits (PG)
Delivery: All course content is delivered on Moodle, our virtual learning platform. You will converse with the tutors and fellow students in online forums.
Timetable: Fully online and flexible, with no scheduled classes to attend.
Fee: £625 per place (See Fees & Funding section below)
College: College of Science & Engineering
School: School of Computing Science
Next course start date: Monday 28th September 2026
Book nowAgile is a mindset and an alternative way of working. By adopting an Agile approach, teams can stay productive and focused on customer needs, learning to adapt to increasingly complex and uncertain environments while building resilience and sustainability for better outcomes. This course explores agile leadership principles and practices. It provides the knowledge and skills needed to lead successful teams, projects and product development in an agile environment. Reflective elements help students to assess and adapt their practices to the working environment and provide a basis for continuous improvement. IT organisations in particular often use agile approaches, and most of the research base for this course comes from the IT sector although it is applicable in any organisation.
Why this course
Using practice and research-based strategies, learners build their skills and knowledge of Agile working, helping them to:
- increase their leadership effectiveness
- improve team engagement and cohesion
- improve communication across teams and leadership levels
- reduce workplace stress
- reduce workplace conflict
- improve the quality and quantity of production
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Critically evaluate the principles, practices and challenges associated with agile leadership
- Apply agile leadership principles in practical, real-world situations
- Assess leadership style and agility and create a plan for further development of leadership skills
- Develop approaches for continuously improving leadership practices using agile strategies
- Learn from peers by reflecting on discussions, feedback, and shared experiences
This Microcredential course was oringinally developed in partnership with the Agile Business Consortium, which is the professional body for business agility and the body behind several certifications, including the AgilePM and Agile BA. The ABC continues to support the course in its next chapter with University of Glasgow. Learners who complete this course and want to take their development further may find the certification pathway a useful next step.
Course structure
This course explores the principles and practices of agile leadership and is designed to equip you with the skills needed to lead effectively in fast-paced and complex environments.
- Week 1: What is an Agile Leader? What do we mean by agility and agile culture? What type of agile leader are you? Introduction to the 9 principles of Agile Leadership and Case Study.
- Week 2: Principle 1 - Actions speak louder than words. What qualities are needed for agile leadership? Frameworks for leading with action. Building a team of effective people. Reflecting on team accountability.
- Week 3: Principle 2 - Improved quality of thinking leads to improved outcomes. High quality thinking in practice. Avoiding stressors. Using systems thinking. Becoming a critical thinker.
- Week 4: Principle 3 - Organisations improve through effective feedback. Effective feedback. Psychological safety. Building trust.
- Week 5: Principle 4 - People require meaning and purpose to make work fulfilling. Exploring engagement. The value of meaningful work. Motivation and self-determination theory. Introduction to the assessment.
- Week 6: Principle 5 - Emotion is a foundation to enhanced creativity and innovation. Emotional intelligence. Team safety. Resilience and wellbeing.
- Week 7: Principle 6 - Leadership lives at all levels of the organisation. Towards an agile culture. Servant leadership. Mentoring Exploring leadership potential.
- Week 8: Principle 7 - Leaders devolve appropriate power and authority. Power, influence, delegation and empowerment. Self-organising teams. High-performing Teams. Frameworks for empowerment.
- Week 9: Principle 8 - Collaborative communities achieve more than individuals. Elements of successful agile collaboration. Collaboration needs a diverse team. Trust is key to developing an agile culture. Communities of Practice.
- Week 10: Principle 9 - Great ideas can come from anywhere in the organisation. Allowing for constructive dissent. The power of neurodiversity in teams. Wrapping up. Preparing for the assessment.
By the end of this course, you will have developed the mindset and practical capabilities required to lead adaptive teams, respond confidently to change, and deliver value in dynamic organisational contexts.
Assessment
The summative assessment for the course comprises a 2000 word essay (80%) and a quiz (20%). The essay is based on analysis and reflection on a case study synthesising knowledge learned on the course. The quiz assesses knowledge of principles, practices and challenges associated with agile leadership.
Learners who choose to submit the assessment and attain a satisfactory grade will gain 10 Academic Credits. Learners who attend the course for their own interest or for Continued Professional Development can obtain a Certificate of Completion by engaging with the interactive material but without submitting the assessment.
Course alteration or discontinuation
The University of Glasgow endeavours
to run all courses as advertised. In exceptional circumstances, however, the University may withdraw
or alter a course. For more information, please see: Student contract.
Career prospects
The Agile Leadership course will benefit:
- Leaders at all levels who want to improve their knowledge of agile and are committed to organisational and cultural change
- Senior managers in the business, public and third sectors who are new to agile and business agility
- Those working in an agile environment who aspire to a leadership role, whether formal or informal, or who want to improve their knowledge.
Fees & funding
Course fee: £625 per place.
Alumni, volume-based (group) and former UofG SFC Upskilling learner discounts are available (please direct discount enquiries to Keir.Elder@glasgow.ac.uk)
Entry requirements
Learners are required to have some prior work experience before starting the course, as many of the activities draw on and encourage reflection on real-world experiences.
It is recommended that learners on this course have an undergraduate degree, or equivalent level qualification, from a recognised university. Learners should have an IELTS equivalent of 6.5.
Learners will not be asked to prove their academic or professional history.
