At its core, Agile is a fundamental shift in management. An Agile management approach becomes more efficient and responsive to customer needs than traditional management. Effective use of this framework implies a holistic change in culture, structure, and leadership roles, often making Agile difficult for organizations to grasp. Agile methodology can only succeed as an add-on to existing processes.
Agile is a movement. It’s not just a framework or a mindset but implies a new way of thinking. Teams work in synchronization. Work is done by everyone together, continuously. Agile focuses on processes, tools, and methodologies, but as the Agile Manifesto states: “while things are important, people are more important.” Without regard to Agile as an all-encompassing movement for an organization, tools and processes achieve little.
Leaders who use an Agile management approach spend less time reviewing their team’s work and instead add value by adapting corporate strategies, spending time with customers, and mentoring and coaching their team. This significant restructuring can be challenging to embrace but ultimately facilitates more valuable and longer-lasting returns.
The value of Agile is focused through:
- Motivated, autonomous teams. We build projects around motivated individuals and give our teams higher autonomy. Teams can self-organize with broad parameters of control and responsibility for their own decisions and collaboration.
- Frequent iteration. The key to Agile is a narrow feedback loop with stakeholders to facilitate cheaper, more frequent, and faster failure.
- People-focused processes. We understand that success is more a product of the people than the process. Our team utilizes Agile to remove friction, giving teams the support they need to do their best work and trusting them to do the job.
- Team collaboration. Ongoing, transparent, collaborative conversations are more valuable than top-down directives. We conduct Agile ceremonies to improve communication with one another.
- Group ownership and feedback. We know group ownership of the process is critical to a productive Agile team dynamic. Our approach creates a space for teams to reflect and provide feedback where we can evaluate processes and methodologies and then adjust.
Agile has better attuned us to customers’ needs, helped our team deliver concrete results on defined timelines, and facilitated higher-quality products. Learn more about what products Chainbridge Solutions has to offer and contact us at [email protected] today!