Five steps for implementing agile management in your company

How to use agile management to solve complex challenges in a simple way, generate value, and engage your team

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Challenges have become increasingly complex. Regardless of the sector and the size of your corporation, you’ve undoubtedly run into problems that Agile Management can solve quickly and simply.

Whether remote or face-to-face model, you’ve probably run into small obstacles that have generated major inconveniences. Whether it’s a communication failure, complex and bureaucratic processes, or even a misaligned team, Agile Management can help you today.

If you want to start implementing Agile Management in your sector, check out our list of tips

You don’t do Agile Management

Let’s start with the first step, which is perhaps the most complex and most important. You don’t run in Agile, and you don’t use Agile either. 

You don’t do Agile. You think Agile.

It may seem like a cliche, but it’s true. Once you’re on the Agility mindset,  it’s hard to go back.

The basic premise of Agile Management is closely connected with transformations in the corporate market. Mainly with the change to remote and/or hybrid models. Being Agile made all the difference for corporations that were already on board.

Is agile management for me?

We need to talk about something that always comes up with Agile. Because it was a methodology that originated in IT, many people think that Agile is only meant for IT. This couldn’t be more wrong.

Agile Management is for everyone.

That’s right: marketing, HR, retail, innovation, legal, administrative… Agile works in any sector, including your home (but we’ll talk about that some other day). 

This is one of the main benefits of Agile: its adaptability.

Signs that you need Agile in your sector:

• a series of challenges happen simultaneously
• the team gets lost, doesn’t know where to focus, and can’t start or finish anything without interruptions
• your team needs to respond to requests from several other areas of the company
• prioritizing demands is  always difficult
• your team works too much but delivers too little
• effort is directed towards tasks that do not bring immediate returns, which generates frustration for the team and stakeholders

If you answered “yes” to one or more of these items, believe me: it is high time you started adopting the Agile Mindset. Let’s understand how this works in practice.

Five tips for implementing agile management 

1. Map your real challenges 

This is the first step to understand where your pains are. Generally, the challenges are many. So start by separating them into macro, micro, and industry challenges.

Agile Tip: An Agile Coach Can Help in this process!

2. Split and prioritize

This step is pretty self-explanatory. Take each of your pains (challenges) and split them into groups (some problems might have the same root cause). Then prioritize them from most to least urgent.

Agile Tip: If you need assistance, there are several tools that can help, like Planning Poker or Scrum Poker, which allow teams to reach a consensus on prioritizing tasks.

3. Visibility for the manager, team, and stakeholders

Everyone involved needs to quickly and clearly understand what is happening, how tasks are being performed, by whom, and for how long. 

Agile Tip: Kanban is a framework that can help a lot in this process. Whether online or face-to-face, a scrum master can make sure everyone stays on the same page. 

4. Use Agile Frameworks and Adopt Ceremonies

One of the most commonly used frameworks is Scrum. Agile Management is customizable according to your team’s needs. Take some time to look up different frameworks, and find one that best fits your team.

Agile Tip: Here at MJV, we use Scrum. We have ceremonies such as Daily, Planning, and Retrospectives. Each one has its function, and all are fundamental in facilitating Agile mindset implementation.

5. Constant improvement

As the sprints pass, the team needs feedback to analyze the necessary and possible improvements within processes. As the Agile mindset takes root, this ends up being natural. 

This habit of making the next sprint better than the last can help with process improvement, correct prioritization of demands, and higher quality deliveries.

Important!

Once you get to this point, it’s time to gather up your team and start back at square one.

Agile Tip: The golden triangle of agility is composed of Scrum Master + Product Owner + Time. The whole team works together, with the same goal. Over time, the team becomes exceptionally agile, able to respond to changes and adapt quickly.

Agile, in addition to transforming people, can transform businesses.

DT + Agile: the diamond duo for complex problems

In today’s world, agility is no longer a trend – it’s a necessity. Remote offices, outsourcing, freelancing, flexible hours… The world seemed to change overnight, and our work routine with it.

Today, we no longer have that exchange of ideas during coffee breaks or meetings between teams. Without our usual routines, some fundamental things end up getting in the way. 

The organization and prioritization of demands are one of them; team integration is another. We could point out many things that ended up being run over by rapid transformation. But let’s highlight the most crucial thing.

The feeling of belonging. Wearing the shirt, being part of a team… Engaging your employees has never been so difficult – and so necessary. That is something that Agile Management excels in. 

Sometimes the list of unresolved problems is long, and you don’t even know where to start. So, here’s another pro tip: Design Thinking. 

In the constant search for innovation strategies, Design Thinking and Agile merge. This combination can help you:

• Identify pains
• Solve complex problems in a simple way
• Increase productivity
• Optimize processes 
• Deliver differentiated solutions with high market value

Start at the root of the problem: your mindset. DT + Agile can help you start your journey. If you have any lingering questions, please feel free to reach out.

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