Select a delivery approach, such as Kanban or short planning cycles, matched to team size and uncertainty.
Project Management
Lightweight Project Management for Start-Ups and Scale-Ups
Apply just enough project management for a start-up or scale-up: prioritise under uncertainty, run lightweight planning and communication rhythms, and add structure as the team grows.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Start-ups rarely fail because they lacked a project plan, and they do not need one built for a much larger organisation either. This course is about finding the smallest amount of project structure that still gets things delivered when priorities change weekly, the team is small enough that everyone talks directly, and a full-time project manager is not yet justified. Participants learn to choose a delivery approach, such as a simple Kanban board or a short planning cycle, matched to team size and the level of uncertainty in the work, and to prioritise a roadmap using techniques such as RICE scoring or MoSCoW when there is more to do than capacity allows. Sessions cover running lightweight status and planning rhythms that do not consume a founder's or early team's limited time, tracking commitments without heavyweight reporting, and adapting plans when a pivot or a funding milestone changes priorities overnight. The course also addresses the transition point: recognising the signs that ad hoc coordination is breaking down, and introducing slightly more structure, dedicated coordination roles, tooling, formal intake, without importing an enterprise process wholesale. Participants finish able to run delivery with a minimum viable process today, and judge when and how much to scale that process as the company grows.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Prioritise a roadmap under constrained capacity using techniques such as RICE scoring or MoSCoW.
Run lightweight planning and status rhythms that do not consume disproportionate founder or team time.
Track commitments and dependencies without introducing heavyweight reporting or documentation.
Replan quickly when a pivot, funding milestone or urgent customer issue changes priorities overnight.
Recognise early signs that ad hoc coordination is breaking down as the team or workload grows.
Introduce additional process or coordination roles incrementally as the company scales.
Who Should Attend
Founders and early team members coordinating delivery without a dedicated project manager
First project or operations hires joining a start-up or scale-up
Engineering and product leads balancing delivery structure against speed
Scale-up operations leads deciding when to introduce formal project processes
Investors and advisors assessing delivery discipline in portfolio companies
Small consultancy or agency teams needing lightweight delivery structure
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Choosing a Right-Sized Delivery Approach
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Matching Process to Team and Task
- Assess team size, task uncertainty and delivery risk before choosing a planning approach.
- Compare simple Kanban boards, short planning cycles and ad hoc coordination for early-stage delivery.
- Identify the smallest set of practices needed to track commitments without slowing the team down.
- Avoid importing enterprise project processes that assume dedicated roles a small team does not have.
Session 2Tooling for Lightweight Delivery
- Select lightweight planning and tracking tools that match the team's size and technical comfort.
- Avoid tool sprawl by consolidating planning, communication and documentation into as few places as possible.
- Set minimal conventions for task status and ownership that the whole team actually follows.
- Review tooling choices periodically as team size and coordination needs change.
02Planning and Prioritising Under Uncertainty
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Prioritisation with Constrained Capacity
- Apply RICE scoring or MoSCoW to prioritise a roadmap when demand exceeds available capacity.
- Separate committed near-term work from a longer, more speculative roadmap horizon.
- Reassess priorities on a fixed short cycle rather than continuously reshuffling the backlog.
- Communicate prioritisation trade-offs clearly to stakeholders whose requests were not selected.
Session 2Planning for a Changing Roadmap
- Build short planning horizons that can absorb a pivot without discarding a large body of planning work.
- Identify dependencies and risks even within a lightweight plan to avoid late surprises.
- Set decision points where the roadmap is deliberately revisited against new evidence or funding milestones.
- Distinguish reversible decisions that can move fast from irreversible ones that need more scrutiny.
03Running Lightweight Execution and Communication Rhythms
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Status and Communication Rhythms
- Run brief, regular check-ins that surface blockers without becoming a lengthy status meeting.
- Use asynchronous written updates to reduce meeting load as the team grows beyond a few people.
- Set a simple escalation path for blockers that cannot be resolved within the team.
- Keep a lightweight decision log so key calls are not lost as the team scales or membership changes.
Session 2Tracking Commitments Without Heavy Reporting
- Track delivery commitments with a small number of metrics that reflect actual customer or business impact.
- Avoid reporting overhead that takes longer to produce than the work it describes.
- Flag at-risk commitments early using simple, visible signals rather than formal status reports.
- Review completed work briefly to capture lessons without a lengthy formal retrospective process.
04Scaling Process as the Team and Company Grow
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Recognising the Limits of Ad Hoc Coordination
- Identify signs that informal coordination is breaking down, such as missed dependencies or duplicated work.
- Distinguish growing pains that need more process from ones that need better prioritisation instead.
- Assess when task switching and unclear ownership are costing more time than added structure would.
- Involve the team in identifying which coordination gaps are actually causing delivery problems.
Session 2Introducing Structure Incrementally
- Introduce a dedicated coordination role only once informal coordination has demonstrably broken down.
- Add formal intake or prioritisation steps gradually rather than replacing the whole process at once.
- Pilot new process elements with one team before rolling them out company-wide.
- Revisit process choices at each significant growth stage rather than fixing them permanently early.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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