What is Agile Management? How Continuous Improvement can Benefit the Workplace
As workplaces continue to develop and find new ways to work more effectively, the term ‘agile management’ is something that is being used a lot more when it comes to working on projects. With agility at its core, this is much more responsive approach to completing projects and allowing for more focused sprints of work as the project requires.
In this article, we’ll look more closely at agile management and what it really means for your business, and how you can adopt this approach.
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What is agile management?
At its core, agile project management refers to a methodology that favours short development cycles, or ‘sprints’, which allows for a more flexible approach over the course of developing a product or service.
Rather than the traditional method of project management that establishes a plan and then rigidly follows it, the agile model begins with an outline, delivers something in a short period of time, and shapes the requirements as the project moves forward.
This process of agile management ensures that at each stage, the work to be done is still defined. The method involves a large amount of collaboration between stakeholders and the team members responsible for delivering the work, fostering stronger relationships as the project continues.
Types of agile management
There are a number of approaches to agile management, giving you the chance to find the one that works best for your business. From scrums to extreme programming, let’s break down some of the most popular types of agile management.
- Scrum: One of the most popular models of agile management, scrum refers to a framework that breaks up the work into short periods of development known as sprints. This works by utilising regularly meetings for planning, checking in and reviewing.
- Lean: This is another popular method as it aims to eliminate potentially wasteful resources or tasks, therefore improving efficiency without compromising on quality of work.
- Kanban: This is an effective way to visualise the workflow, utilising a board to mark progress at each stage of a project. It can be a helpful way to identify obstacles quickly, in a way that’s easy to understand and digest.
- Extreme Programming: This is another way to target short development cycles, prioritising responding to change and a focus on communication. It’s used more commonly in software development projects, allowing a business to deliver high quality software.
- DSDM: Formally known as Dynamic System Development Method, this method differs in that it covers the whole project lifecycle but still allows for flexibility through incremental stages.
The 12 agile principles explained
Despite there being different models of agile management, many of the principles are roughly the same. In essence, agile management puts the focus on empowering people and their interactions with others and works to deliver maximum value against business priorities in the allotted time and budget.
- Customer Satisfaction: This is the highest priority in agile management, with iteration and feedback at its core. With this in mind, early and continuous delivery aims to support customer satisfaction, ensuring the project meets expectations and requirements.
- Changing Requirements: This principle means that changes should be made willingly, with the ability to adapt in order to remain competitive.
- Frequent Delivery: Having a shorter delivery time and releasing stages in a shorter frequency means that you can receive engagement quicker from the wider team, in the hope of delivering a more consistent and high quality service.
- Regular Communication: Having open and regular communication channels is key to ensuring that the process runs smoothly and that immediate feedback can be given and actioned.
- Motivated Individuals: This principle refers to the concept of building the project around your team and giving them room to work, in order to keep motivation and morale high. This includes providing the right tools, checking in and even sectioning out work based on skills or interest.
- Face-to-face Meetings: This is based on the idea that the most effective conversation comes when it’s face to face, and not over a messaging platform.
- Measure Outputs: By measuring outputs instead of what’s already been completed, you have the chance to close the chapter on each deliverable and move on to the next, knowing that the client is happy.
- Sustainable Development Process: This principle refers to avoiding your team burning out and adopting a pace that is unpredictable and too much. It’s important to create a process that can maintain a sustainable pace.
- Technical Excellence: If you’re really looking to enhance agility, it’s important to commit to best practice and not cut corners. It’s vital to pay attention to continuous excellence as it can improve how you handle any complexities.
- Simplicity: In essence, this principle sets out the concept of working smart, not hard. It’s key to identify what is and isn’t needed on the project and use that as the basis to focus your efforts in the simplest way.
- Self-sufficient Teams: A team that can plan, manage and complete work without too much oversight is the key to saving time. It requires some trust and time to build, but together with regular engagement you can still ensure control where necessary.
- Continuous Improvement: Encouraging teams to check and adapt their processes regularly is the heart of agility, ensuring that the team are comfortable and happy with the way things work.
Benefits of continuous improvement in the workplace
Continuous improvement is the practice of refining your processes in order to improve quality and efficiency, typically done through reflection and feedback. Many of the agile principles, like shorter development cycles and regular communication, make continuous improvement a natural part of an agile team.
The idea of continuous improvement can help to create a culture of learning, adaptability and sustainability, by allowing the team to analyse and identify opportunities while making incremental changes where required. Here are just some of the other benefits of continuous improvement.
More engaged employees
Continuous improvement is designed to empower employees in a way that lets them improve the efficiency of their processes. Their ideas are valued and important because they are carefully tested, and implemented across the company if it’s successful. Rather than being passive at work, they become an active participant.
Better customer service
A continuous improvement model creates a framework for identifying customer values and minimising waste in delivering the value. Businesses operating a programme of continuous improvement are better able to align their products and services to the needs and values of the customer. Done correctly, it can lead to products and services that almost anticipate the needs of your customers
A proactive learning environment
A failure to adapt with the times means you run the risk of struggling as a business. Continuous improvement challenges employees and managers to go beyond what they’re used to, and try out new things in an effort to reach a heightened standard of performance. Rather than resting on laurels, those who follow this model always look for new ways to improve upon themselves and the business as a whole.
Tips for transitioning to agile management
If you’re hoping to transition to an agile management style of working, there are some things that could make the change a little easier.
- Be transparent: Maintaining an open dialogue encourages everyone to make suggestions and lets your team know they’re free to share. You can do this in all face-to-face interactions, whether it’s passing someone in the corridor, a one-to-one meetingor a group discussion. Sharing progress and results with everyone lets the team learn from its mistakes and its successes and prepares them for a full move into continuous improvement.
- Consider the work environment: Is it somewhere that your employees feel comfortable, motivated and accountable? Fostering an environment where people have a real sense of responsibility and ownership helps later down the line. It’s well worth relinquishing some control so employees feel empowered and can meet objectives with a real sense of achievement.
- Empower employees: What motivates your employees? Is it a desire for autonomy? Mastering what they do? Or is their prime motivation simply finding a purpose in their work? The latter goes beyond money; they find a reason that goes beyond themselves and are motivated by a bigger cause. When employees are motivated by these reasons, implementing continuous improvement will be an easier gambit in the long run.
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