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Professional Agile Leadership with Evidence-Based Management (PAL-EBM) Certification Course

Learn to apply Evidence-Based Management for agile leadership, focusing on empiricism, customer value, key metrics, and data-driven decision-making to achieve business goals.

AdvancedScrum.orgTraditional (Full Day) · Traditional (Half Day) · Immersive

What changes for your team

  • Stop guessing what agile is worth
  • Measure outcomes, not activity
  • Turn strategy into tested progress

Immersive training pays back differently to a two-day course. Sessions spread across several weeks mean each idea is applied in your real work before the next one lands — so capability builds instead of fading under a backlog. Why immersive produces better returns →  ·  Other formats available in the panel above.

Course Code: PAL-EBM

Overview

Enhance your leadership skills by learning to apply the Evidence-Based Management (EBM) framework to drive business agility, improve customer value, and achieve strategic goals through empiricism and intentional experimentation.

Target Audience

  • Product Owners
  • Product Managers
  • Managers
  • Entrepreneurs
  • Executives
  • Scrum Masters
  • Change Leaders
  • Consultants

Learning Outcomes

  • Apply empiricism to set and achieve strategic goals, managing complexity through experimentation and adaptation.
  • Create a culture of self-management and autonomy using clear goals, appropriate measures, and trust.
  • Shift focus from traditional team performance metrics to customer-centric outcomes.
  • Use the four Key Value Areas (Unrealized Value, Current Value, Time-to-Market, Ability to Innovate) for evidence-based decision-making.
  • Understand how goals and measures influence behaviors, culture, and values.
  • Enable organizations to embrace empiricism as a leadership approach.
  • Correlate market leadership and sustainability with curiosity, adaptation, and empiricism.
  • Focus measurements on improving market value and operational capabilities using EBM.

Course Topics

  • Evidence-Based Management (EBM) Framework
  • Empiricism and Agile Leadership
  • Setting and Measuring Strategic Goals
  • Key Value Areas (KVAs)
  • Customer-Centric Metrics
  • Organizational Agility and Continuous Improvement
  • Enabling Self-Management and Autonomy
  • Evidence-Based Decision-Making

Certification

Includes a free attempt at the Professional Agile Leadership – Evidence-Based Management (PAL-EBM) certification exam.

Frequently Asked Questions

The PAL-EBM course is designed for leaders, managers, Product Owners, Scrum Masters, consultants, and others responsible for driving business agility or measuring the impact of agile transformation. It’s not geared toward those looking for basic Scrum mechanics or people without influence on business outcomes or team direction.

The course includes a free attempt at the PAL-EBM certification assessment. This is an online exam requiring an 85% passing score, and if you take it within 14 days and don’t pass, you get a second attempt at no extra cost.

You’ll work on problems like shifting from output-based to customer outcome-focused measurement, using metrics to support experimentation and adaptation, and addressing leadership obstacles to real business agility. The course explores how to diagnose and improve across the four Key Value Areas relevant to your organisational context.

No specific qualifications are required, but PAL-EBM is aimed at current or aspiring agile leaders with experience working in or around agile teams and organisations. Background in Scrum or leadership helps you get the most out of it.

PAL-EBM runs as either an in-person course over two consecutive days or as a live, remote class spread out over several shorter sessions. Both formats deliver the same content and certification opportunity.

Syllabus

Here is exactly what your team will cover, and how we deliver it. Every format teaches the same modules; what changes is how the time is spread and what happens between sessions:

Immersive RecommendedTraditional (Full Day)Traditional (Half Day)
Sessions 8 sessions 2 days 4 half-days
Each session 4h: 2h reflect + 2h learn 8h incl. breaks and lunch 4h incl. breaks
Total time with an expert 32h 16h 16h
New concept and practice
incl. breaks		 16h 16h 16h
Facilitated reflection
what happened when you tried it		 16h — —
~Expert time per topic
breaks removed		 ~6h40
3h20 reflect + 3h20 learn		 ~3h ~3h20
Time to apply between sessions 1–2 working weeks (≈36–72h) Overnight Half a working day (≈4h)

Each immersive session follows a learning cycle: reflect on what happened when you applied the last concept, learn the next one and practise it, then take it back to work as an outcome-based assignment. It is designed for triple-loop learning, so participants do not just change what they do; they question why they do it and how they see their organisation.

Need more support? The immersive experience can be combined with additional coaching, consulting or mentoring to create a Mentor Program for your team.

Choose a format above to see how the modules group into sessions.

Session 1 · 2h facilitated reflection + 2h new concept and practice · 10m break each hour

Introductions & Goals, Evidence, and Empiricism

Module 1

Learn a new concept

Welcome and introductions followed by an exploration of the foundations of Evidence-Based Management, including understanding goals, evidence, and empiricism as the cornerstone of effective leadership and decision-making.

Outcome-based assignment: Understanding Your Current Measurement Approach · Immersive only

Ask Evaluate your organization’s current approach to measurement and goal setting. Identify examples of how measurements have influenced behavior, both positively and negatively.
For example, you might:
  • Review your organization’s current key performance indicators (KPIs) and discuss how they influence team behavior
  • Identify instances where measurements led to unintended consequences in your organization
  • Document examples of empirical decision-making vs. plan-driven decisions in your current work environment
  • Discuss with stakeholders how they currently define and measure success
→ Reflected on at the start of Module 2: Goals: Understanding Why

Session 2 · 2h facilitated reflection + 2h new concept and practice · 10m break each hour

Session 3 · 2h facilitated reflection + 2h new concept and practice · 10m break each hour

Goals: Understanding Why

Module 2

Facilitated reflection: Understanding Your Current Measurement Approach · Immersive only

Facilitated reflection: Understanding Your Current Measurement Approach

Learn a new concept

Deep dive into goal setting using Evidence-Based Management principles. Understanding the importance of clear, measurable goals and how they connect to organizational outcomes and customer value.

Outcome-based assignment: Defining Strategic Goals with EBM · Immersive only

Ask Work with your team to define clear strategic goals using Evidence-Based Management principles. Connect these goals to customer value and business outcomes.
For example, you might:
  • Facilitate a session to define or refine your product/organizational goals using EBM principles
  • Map current initiatives to strategic outcomes rather than outputs
  • Identify gaps between current measurements and desired business outcomes
  • Create a hypothesis about how achieving specific goals will impact customer value
→ Reflected on at the start of Module 3: Evidence: Focusing on Value

Session 4 · 2h facilitated reflection + 2h new concept and practice · 10m break each hour

Session 5 · 2h facilitated reflection + 2h new concept and practice · 10m break each hour

Evidence: Focusing on Value

Module 3

Facilitated reflection: Defining Strategic Goals with EBM · Immersive only

Facilitated reflection: Defining Strategic Goals with EBM

Learn a new concept

Exploring the four Key Value Areas (KVAs) of Evidence-Based Management: Current Value, Unrealized Value, Ability to Innovate, and Time-to-Market. Learn how to use evidence and metrics to focus on customer and business value.

Outcome-based assignment: Mapping Your Organization to the Four KVAs · Immersive only

Ask Assess your organization’s current state across the four Key Value Areas and identify metrics that would provide evidence of improvement in each area.
For example, you might:
  • Map your current metrics to the four KVAs (Current Value, Unrealized Value, Ability to Innovate, Time-to-Market)
  • Identify which KVA is most critical for your organization’s success
  • Create a hypothesis about how improving in each KVA would impact your business
  • Design experiments to test assumptions about value creation in your organization
→ Reflected on at the start of Module 4: Empiricism: Inspect and Adapt with EBM & Getting Started

Session 6 · 2h facilitated reflection + 2h new concept and practice · 10m break each hour

Session 7 · 2h facilitated reflection + 2h new concept and practice · 10m break each hour

Empiricism: Inspect and Adapt with EBM & Getting Started

Module 4

Facilitated reflection: Mapping Your Organization to the Four KVAs · Immersive only

Facilitated reflection: Mapping Your Organization to the Four KVAs

Learn a new concept

Learn how to implement empirical practices using Evidence-Based Management. Focus on inspection, adaptation, and continuous improvement. Practical guidance on getting started with EBM in your organization.

Outcome-based assignment: Create Your EBM Implementation Plan · Immersive only

Ask Develop a practical plan for implementing Evidence-Based Management in your organization, starting with small experiments and building towards broader adoption.
For example, you might:
  • Design your first EBM experiment with clear hypotheses and success criteria
  • Identify stakeholders who need to be involved in your EBM implementation
  • Create a timeline for implementing EBM practices in your organization
  • Define how you will measure the success of your EBM implementation
  • Plan regular inspection and adaptation cycles for your EBM journey
  • Identify potential obstacles and strategies to overcome them
→ Reflected on at the start of Catchup & After

Session 8 · 2h facilitated reflection + 2h new concept and practice · 10m break each hour

Catchup & After · Immersive only

Catchup & After

Facilitated reflection: Create Your EBM Implementation Plan

Facilitated reflection: Create Your EBM Implementation Plan

Two weeks after completion, participants are invited to join a follow-up catch-up session designed to address any remaining questions, ideas, or challenges that have emerged since the training. This session provides an opportunity to reflect on your experiences applying the concepts learned in the course, share insights, and receive additional support.

* Assignments are part of our Immersive Training Programs, encouraging participants to apply their learning practically between sessions for a more hands-on experience.

What people who took this course said

I had a great PAL-EBM training with Martin. The learning experience he provided us connected all the dots of goals, activities, outputs, outcomes and metrics into a clear picture. It helped me pass the certification exam, and to incorporate EBM into my strategic and quarterly planning services.

Luka Matić Reviewed

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