What is agile management and how is it mastered?
Agile management is a concept that has gained wide popularity in the field of modern organizational development. Agile management represents a dynamic and flexible approach to management that allows organizations to respond quickly to change and adapt to new challenges.
What is Agile Management?
Agile management is a leadership style that focuses on flexibility, adaptability, and readiness for change. According to the Danish Dictionary, Agile means “fast, easy and agile in its movements”, and with agile management you get a dynamic and adaptive approach to project management and organization that can help your company navigate a world characterized by constant change and changing needs.
Read more: The Different Leadership Styles — Which Leader Are You?
The concept originated from software development's Agile Manifesto, which was introduced in 2001 by 17 software developers in Snowbird, Utah, United States. The Agile Manifesto emerged as a response to the fixed and slow processes of traditional management. The Agile Manifesto presents four core values:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
This does not mean that processes and tools should be discarded altogether, but that face-to-face conversations and interactions should be prioritised before settling on a rigid process. Here the focus on feedback can be usefully implemented, see Feedback & Dialogue.
- Well-functioning software over extensive documentation
It may go without saying, but in the past, for example, software developers spent a huge amount of time on extensive documentation rather than testing new software. It thus inhibits the efficiency and development of a process.
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Instead of locking customers with a defined contract, a collaboration with customers must be implemented to achieve the best result. Teams and customers must work together to arrive at the best practices and results.
- Reaction to changes over established plan
Instead of sticking to fixed and routine plans that do not work, try to adjust and adapt to changes in order to achieve the highest efficiency.
These values have since found their way into wider management practice and have become the bedrock of agile management.
What does it mean to work agile?
Working agile involves focusing on flexibility, collaboration and adaptive approach to change. Agile management differs from traditional management styles by prioritizing agility and continuous improvement instead of fixed structures and hierarchies. Traditional management styles often incorporate a top-down approach, where decisions are made by management and implemented slowly. Instead, agile management uses a bottom-up approach in which teams work autonomously and can quickly adapt to the vicissitudes of the outside world. This is done through regular meetings evaluating progress and adjusting strategies as needed. One also makes use of short, iterative work cycles, often called sprints.
Typical agile working methods include Scrum and Kanban, where tasks are visualized, prioritized and continuously improved. Daily stand-up meetings ensure everyone is up to date and can address challenges quickly. Agile management can thus be ideal in a constantly changing world such as modern society, where rapid and effective responses to change are necessary for success.
How to implement agile management
As you can see, there are many advantages to implementing agile management in your organization. But how to do it, you might think.
Above all, this requires a structured approach, starting with a clear understanding of the agile principles and values. This means that you need to become smarter about agile methods such as Scrum, Kanban, iterations and Retrospectives.
Agile management style includes various tools and methods that you can use to implement agile management. Here are some of the most important:
Scrum
- What it is: Scrum is a popular agile management framework that can help your team manage complex projects in a structured and flexible way.
- How it works: Scrum contains fixed iterations, called sprints, which typically last 1—4 weeks, during which specific goals must be achieved. Each sprint starts with a planning phase, followed by daily stand-up meetings to ensure momentum, and concludes with a sprint review and retrospective to evaluate and improve the workflow.
Kanban:
- What it is: Kanban is a visual tool that helps control workflow and identify any bottlenecks in your team's processes.
- How it works: Kanban uses whiteboards (physical or digital) to visualize work tasks in different stages, such as 'To Do', 'In Progress', and 'Done'. This helps teams see where there are blockages and continuously optimize processes to improve efficiency.
Iterations:
- What it is: Iterations refer to repeated cycles of work in which improvements and adaptations are continually made.
- How it works: Each iteration concludes with an assessment of the results, allowing for tweaking and improving the process in the next iteration. This creates a dynamic and learning-oriented approach to project management, with the team constantly improving methods and results.
Retrospectives:
- What it is: Retrospectives are regular evaluations of work processes and results.
- How it works: Teams meet to reflect on what went well, what can be improved, and how to implement changes in future iterations. This creates a culture of continuous improvement and learning. In addition, daily check-ins, where team members share learnings, challenges and successes, can help ensure transparency and effective problem-solving.
Read more: Coaching & Curiosity
Advantages and disadvantages of agile management
Like so many other management styles, there are both advantages and disadvantages to implementing agile management in your organization. Agile management can result in a dynamic and agile organization if the management style is implemented correctly. Below we have listed the advantages and disadvantages of agile management.
Benefits of Agile Management
- Increased flexibility
Why: Agile management allows rapid adaptation to changes in the market and customer needs, making the organization more responsive and competitive.
How: Short, iterative work cycles (sprints) allow strategies and priorities to be adjusted quickly. - Improved employee engagement
Why: Employees involved in decision-making processes feel more valued and motivated.
How: Agile management fosters a culture where employee input and ideas are actively sought and applied. - Better risk management
Why: Regular evaluations allow risks to be identified and addressed early before they develop into major problems.
How: Continuous feedback loops and frequent customizations help keep projects on track. - Increased competitiveness
Why: Quick adaptability and the ability to meet customer needs effectively can provide an advantage over competitors.
How: Agile methods such as Scrum and Kanban optimize processes and ensure that the team can quickly respond to various market shifts.
Disadvantages of Agile Management
- Cultural transformation:
Why: The transition from a traditional to an agile workflow requires a significant change in company culture, which can be challenging. Changing established work patterns and attitudes requires time and a lot of effort from both management and employees. - Education and training:
Why: In order for agile management to be implemented effectively, both managers and employees must understand and master agile methods and principles. This requires training, courses and ongoing support, which can be resource-intensive and cost-intensive. - Scaling in larger organizations:
Why: Agile management works well in smaller teams, but can be difficult to implement in larger and more complex organizations. Hierarchical structures and silos can hamper agility and require adjustments in the overall organizational structure. - Requirements for psychological reassurance:
Why: In order for employees to contribute freely and effectively in an agile context, a culture of high psychological security is necessary. This requires a conscious effort by management to create an environment where employees feel comfortable sharing ideas and mistakes.
Read more about psychological safety and how it can benefit you and your organization.
When Agile Management Succeeds
Several international companies have achieved success in implementing agile management structure.
For example, music streaming service Spotify is known for its agile management structure, which consists of small autonomous teams called 'squads' that work independently with great agility and flexibility. It presents a case study and several presentations from Spotify, among others reports from Henrik Kniberg. Each squad is autonomous in charge of design, development and delivery within their specific product area. Spotify is an example of a company that finds itself in an industry where adaptation and agile approach to change are the recipe for sustained success - from a management-driven perspective. The implementation of agile management structure has thus given Spotify:
- Increased flexibility and faster adaptation to the market.
- Faster product development and launch of new features in the app.
- Increased innovation through autonomous teams.
- Improved employee satisfaction and engagement.
- Better communication and collaboration through regular retrospectives and stand-up meetings.
See The Hybrid Collaboration to learn more about how the workplace can keep up with the development of modern society.
