Upwards of 70% of companies in the USA are now making use of Agile methodologies. Unsurprisingly, many of them are investing in Agile leadership training to make sure any transition is smooth. You would not want to fall behind in the Agile revolution that is still happening in the business world.

Below, we lay out some of the basics of what Agile is and why you might want to invest in an Agile leadership course for your company. By the end, you should understand what it means to have Agile leaders and what they can do for your company.

So, what are you waiting for? Keep reading to learn more. 

The Agile Manifesto

In the 90s, several methods of working were being investigated. The intent was to find a single solution to many issues that had appeared over previous decades in software development. Out of the issues people faced, and the learning that had been done in this field, several people adopted the following values as true:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

After this, several tenets or principles were developed to help people understand how to put these values into practice. These became the Agile Software Development Principles and the Agile Manifesto.

Why Implement Agile?

Agile methods exist to try to give flexibility, transparency, and agency to any organization. By embracing the ideas that exist in the Agile manifesto, you could end up seeing the following benefits:

Better Business Turnaround Time

Agile has a strong focus on the USP and MVP of a product. It can produce a powerful, working prototype that you can use to test assumptions fast. This can then pivot towards a version that users can make use of and build interest with investors.

Consistent Product Timeline

Agile demands that you define requirements as clear as possible from an early time. This means that you can aim for them, create based on them, and test them fast and effectively.

This kind of collaboration also allows for a high level of transparency. Such transparency means that the software can progress in small iterations and deliveries can happen often.

Improved Collaboration

Because of regular catchup meetings during each “sprint”, there is a large amount of information that you can share between teams. This collaboration is twofold:

First, it means that everyone understands where each stream in a project is in their task, so people are not surprised by upcoming work. Second, it means that you can highlight bottlenecks and resolve them as fast as possible.

Increased Customer Satisfaction

Agile includes regular iterations and deliverables. Because of this, customers or clients have a better view of the results of an ongoing project. These customers can then provide feedback and ensure things are moving forward as they want them to be.

Less Riskier Projects

Due to the short sprints of working with Agile, you can ensure a much shorter space of time between employees completing features. This ensures you rarely need to shelve features to work on something else in a hurry. Instead, you can resolve sudden pivots in future sprints much easier.

Benefits Of Agile Leadership Training

Many people think they can start using Agile tenets without preparation and they will be ok. They aim to have the best intentions in mind, reading up on the best techniques and how to put them in place.

In reality, it rarely works out. As these new Agile adherents come to the concept fresh and without experience, they often set things up incorrectly.

If you want to invest in an Agile future for your organization, you will want to know exactly how to do so in a real working system. The following are things that Agile leadership training can teach you about how to do that:

Deprogramming

There are a lot of assumptions about what Agile exactly is, as well as how to put it in place in a company. You need to remove these assumptions from the collective consciousness of an organization, or at least from its leaders. Agile leaders can then evangelize to the rest of the company about what the truth of Agile is instead.

Prevent Misuse

Some people try to pick and choose specific Agile concepts and apply them to their current working mindset. While this may work on paper, Agile is not something that can happen piecemeal. The change needs to be top-down and bottom-up, with full buy-in from as much of the team as possible.

Measurable Agile

With enough training in Agile leadership, you will be able to measure your progress more effectively. This will then be useful for all areas of the company to show improvement and process changes.

How Do I Get Trained in Agile?

Companies exist that can train your organization’s leaders. They do this by putting them on a generative agile leadership journey. This means they will be able to get into the Agile mindset as well as share its values and principles.

These leaders will then be able to empower their organization’s teams. They will set out to make an environment centered on mutual respect and innovation.

Agile leaders in a company can work with a training service to improve their understanding of Agile. Once they have completed a course, they will know how to shift a company’s culture from one based on fear of progress to a generative mindset. So, what are you waiting for?

What Can I Learn Next?

Now you have read the above, you should understand what it means to have Agile leadership training in your organization. If you still want to know more, though, you have many options available to you.

Our Agile courses are here to help you and your business learn what it means to be Agile in 2022. So, get in contact and find out what we can do to help you. You only need to register for a one-on-one session to get advice on how to move forward today, so sign up now.