“Agile” is a buzzword in business today because it works. Its people-centered approach relies on shared values, communication, and collaboration—but that starts at the top and trickles throughout the organization. Leadership is vital to making Agile work.
Let’s look at five ways to jumpstart your Agile leadership approach.
1. Create the Right Environment
Creating an environment where people can take risks, experiment, fail, and learn is important if teams are going to continuously improve. An environment where people are afraid to make mistakes is one that’s bound to fail. Leaders should foster a productive culture—one where the workplace is engaging and people feel motivated and accountable.
2. Remove Organizational Impediments
Leaders should strive to make work more streamlined and efficient. Over 70 percent of Agile practitioners say there’s tension between their teams and the rest of the organization. That’s why you need to take steps to remove obstacles that slow teams down, enabling them to be effective and high-performing instead.
Identify Opportunities
Start by identifying where the wheels are falling off. It could be as straightforward as establishing communication channels to get team feedback. Maybe you need to get people on the same page to work toward agreed-upon priorities across the organization. It could even help to appoint a leader to identify and find solutions to critical issues, allowing a team to improve and be its best.
Take Action
Observing a problem without doing anything to help is a little like rubbernecking on the highway. Immediate action isn’t always the answer because change is holistic, but Agile leadership needs to go the extra mile to remove impediments. Are disruptive change request processes slowing product delivery? Change or eliminate them if you can. Virtual teams not staying in touch? Implement regular Zoom meetings.
3. Be Transparent
We can’t overstate the importance of transparency in Agile practices. From knowing which backlog items team members are working on to clearly understanding what “done” means, transparency creates clarity and trust.
Be a Shining Example
Agile leadership needs to set the gold standard within your organization. Transparency can be messy at times, revealing dysfunction in different parts of the organization—but it gives you opportunities to improve, too.
4. Communicate the Vision
Is your team self-organizing? It’s a big help to know that they can take the reins and finish their sprint goals independently, but even the best workers need to come up for air to hear from their leaders and make sure they are headed in the right direction.
Agile leaders need to communicate the overall organizational vision so the team can understand how they fit into the bigger picture—but don’t make it one-sided! It’s called a “communication loop” for a reason, and teams should feel comfortable asking questions and raising organizational impediments.
5. Trust Your Team
Ever have your manager stand over your shoulder as you fixed a problem? Or just a helicopter boss who monitored your entire workday? It probably wasn’t your favorite thing, and your team will likely feel the same way.
Help Teams Adapt and Thrive
Teams perform better when you don’t micromanage them and tell them how to do their work. Micromanagement hurts teams, from limiting autonomy and creativity to creating self-doubt.
You hired them because they’re good at what they do. Agile processes enable your team to perform even better. Once they get into a rhythm, stand back and empower your team to adapt the way they work to be more effective.
Adopt an Agile Mindset
If your team is new to Agile, it may take time to get up to speed, but you can make things easier by starting with a few good habits. The right work environment, transparency, and faith in your team go a long way.
With these methods in place, you’ll be primed for deeper Agile strategy—and Project Brilliant can help! Our Agile leadership services help you:
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Create an Agile culture
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Transcend ineffectual habits
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Boost performance
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Be proactive
Sound like the right fit to elevate your leadership skills and your organization? Get in touch to schedule a meeting and see how Project Brilliant can help.
