The Office of Operations focuses on professional development opportunities for state employees to ensure that they have the skills to succeed in the administration of a responsive, relevant and bold state government. To ensure employees are provided with the skills to succeed, the Operations team provides training in Agile project management techniques, Contract Management, Lean process improvement, Change Management, and Human-Centered Design to the state workforce.
Human-Centered Design
In this course, learners will gain an overview and working knowledge of Human-Centered Design and how it will benefit them in their state government roles. This self-paced training is 20 seated hours. The course consists of text and audio-based lectures with hyperlinks to additional reading materials and Information embedded and linked videos relevant to the learning materials interactive exercises & quizzes throughout to help reinforce information acquisition.
Human-Centered Design students will:
- Define Human-Centered Design (HCD)
- Identify the importance of HCD in the workplace and recognize the positive effect it will have on the constituents you serve.
- Compare and contrast HCD and Design Thinking
- Evaluate and engage with all of the steps in the HCD process
- Identify all steps in the HCD process and how they apply to a specific problem or issue.
- Examine and develop personas
- Identify and create an empathy map
- Apply these practices to design the day-to-day aspects of the government to meet the needs of all the people of Colorado.
Who Will Benefit Most From This Course? All State employees, especially those working on products and services that benefit the direct public.
Cost: Free
Agile
Agile Management Pathways:
This self-paced course is offered by Colorado State University (CSU) Global and is entirely online via the CSU Global online and is approximately 15 seated hours.
Who Will Benefit Most From This Course? All state employees (entry-level to intermediate-level) and individual contributors who are new to Agile and aspire to perform in leadership positions.
Cost: Free
This course is part of the CSU Global Professional Series, a four course program ending with a virtual proctored exam. Upon completion of the full program and passing the exam, learners will earn 6 transferable undergraduate credit hours. These credits may be applied toward undergraduate degree programs in Project Management or Organizational Leadership, applied as elective credits for other degree programs at CSU Global, or transferred to other undergraduate programs. Other courses in this series include:
- Change Management
- Lean
- Contract Management
Applying Professional Scrum:
This two day virtual course provided by MGT Consulting Group is for those who have no background with the Agile framework. The course covers the introductory principles of scrum and provides the foundational knowledge needed to work with Scrum in a highly practical way. The course is a combination of instruction and team-based exercises. During the exercises, students work in Scrum Teams over a series of Sprints to learn Scrum while using Scrum. They experience first-hand how the Scrum framework improves their ability to deliver value compared to traditional methods. This course was previously known as Professional Scrum Foundations. (The course fee includes a code for the Professional Scrum Master certification exam via scrum.org).
Who Will Benefit Most From This Course? Intermediate-level individual contributors to first time leaders with little to no background in Agile.
If you are interested in learning more about course availability, please reach out to the Operations team.
Cost: $750 Scholarship Available
Professional Scrum Master (PSM):
This two-day virtual course provided by MGT Consulting Group culminates in a Scrum Master Certification Exam via scrum.org. A Scrum Master functions as a coach and facilitator for an Agile project team. The Scrum Master is 100% dedicated to a specific project while it is in progress. This course covers the principles and (empirical) process theory underpinning the Scrum framework, and the role of the Scrum Master in it. This course is a combination of instruction and team-based exercises, and teaches what is at the heart of the Scrum and Agile movement.
Who Will Benefit Most From This Course? Individual contributors who are ready to make the jump to leadership positions to seasoned first-time leaders who have completed the Applying Professional Scrum. This course will be especially useful for process improvement and performance management professionals as well.
If you are interested in learning more about course availability, please reach out to the Operations team.
Cost: $950 Scholarship Available
Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO):
This two-day virtual course provided by MGT Consulting Group culminates in a Product Owner Certification Exam via scrum.org. A Product Owner functions as a subject matter expert for the product to be delivered on an Agile project team. The Product Owner should have direct access to all stakeholders and have the capacity to collect feedback continuously while a project is in progress and provide direction to the scrum team.
Being a professional Product Owner encompasses more than writing requirements or managing a Product Backlog. Product Owners need to have a concrete understanding of all product management aspects, including but not limited to product ownership, that drives value from their products. This course focuses on all of these areas to teach students how to maximize the value of products and systems. In this course, students will develop and solidify their knowledge of being a Product Owner through instruction and team-based exercises.
Who Will Benefit Most From This Course? Experienced agile practitioners who are current product leaders for the State or aspiring to be.
If you are interested in learning more about course availability, please reach out to the Operations team.
Cost: $1,150 Scholarship Available
Contract Management
State of Colorado Contract Management:
This self-paced course offered by Colorado State University (CSU) Global is the perfect place to start for learners who are new to Contract Management. The course is entirely online via the CSU Global online and is approximately 15 seated hours.
Who Will Benefit Most From This Course? Anyone who manages contracts, task orders, scopes of work, or any type of agreement that requires an awareness of the State's fiscal rules. Individual contributors who interface with and source vendors as well as leaders who manage direct reports who interface with and source vendors who are new to contract management.
Cost: Free
This course is part of the CSU Global Professional Series, a four course program ending with a virtual proctored exam. Upon completion of the full program and passing the exam, learners will earn 6 transferable undergraduate credit hours. These credits may be applied toward undergraduate degree programs in Project Management or Organizational Leadership, applied as elective credits for other degree programs at CSU Global, or transferred to other undergraduate programs. Other courses in this series include:
- Agile
- Lean
- Change Management
Change Management
Leading and Managing Change:
This self-paced course offered by Colorado State University (CSU) Global is the perfect place to start for learners who are new to Change Management. The course is entirely online via the CSU Global online and is approximately 15 seated hours.
Who Will Benefit Most From This Course? Individual contributors who are ready to make the jump to leadership positions to first-time leaders
Cost: Free
This course is part of the CSU Global Professional Series, a four course program ending with a virtual proctored exam. Upon completion of the full program and passing the exam, learners will earn 6 transferable undergraduate credit hours. These credits may be applied toward undergraduate degree programs in Project Management or Organizational Leadership, applied as elective credits for other degree programs at CSU Global, or transferred to other undergraduate programs. Other courses in this series include:
- Agile
- Lean
- Contract Management
Lean
Lean Process Improvement and Excellence:
This self-paced course offered by Colorado State University (CSU) Global is the perfect place to start for learners who are new to Lean. The course is entirely online via the CSU Global online and is approximately 15 seated hours.
Who Will Benefit Most From This Course? This course will be extremely helpful for anyone who wants to understand how they can do work more efficiently. Entry-level to intermediate-level individual contributors who are new to Lean and aspire to perform in leadership positions will also find this course very helpful.
Cost: Free
This course is part of the CSU Global Professional Series, a four course program ending with a virtual proctored exam. Upon completion of the full program and passing the exam, learners will earn 6 transferable undergraduate credit hours. These credits may be applied toward undergraduate degree programs in Project Management or Organizational Leadership, applied as elective credits for other degree programs at CSU Global, or transferred to other undergraduate programs. Other courses in this series include:
- Agile
- Change Management
- Contract Management
The Results-Driven Manager
This self-paced, online course is offered by John M. Bernard and provides a MasterClass in results-driven government. Results-driven management is based in Lean, and seeks to tap into existing talent within a state's workforce to deliver improvements and measurable results.
This work is provided across several self-paced modules, with opportunities for individuals to apply the concepts they're learning in the course to their day-to-day work.
Who Will Benefit Most From This Course? Anyone who leads a team of 5 or more and up.
For more information, visit the website here.
To join as a State of Colorado employee, Enroll Here.
Cost: Scholarships available
