Agile leadership

Organizations strive to keep abreast of rapidly changing needs. It is clear that the need to react quickly and adapt to the environment and the market is vital to a successful business.

Agile leaders are needed to help organizations succeed in a changing, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. Now more than ever, it is a time where resilience, perseverance and innovation are needed. Organizations and their teams need to capitalize on what they learn as a result of major change. Adopt what works and throw away what doesn't. Volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity actually offer opportunities. Some organizations that have stood on the brink of an abyss have experienced their best moment to emerge stronger than ever before.

Dealing with uncertainty

What typically happens in a schedule-driven project is that a project manager tries to reduce the level of uncertainty to an acceptable level before starting the project by:

1. Trying to resolve any ambiguities in the requirements as much as possible before the project starts, and

2. Trying to eliminate as many technology risks as possible

This often results in the use of proven and known technologies and does not go too far when it comes to entering areas of new and undefined user requirements.

The downside, of course, is that the technology approach can become outdated within a relatively short time after release and can also result in a very poor user experience compared to competing solutions.

In today's world, informed decisions often have to be made based on uncertain information, because waiting for the information to become more certain, can significantly delay the project or continue is no longer useful at all. This means that it takes courage to make complicated choices to be successful in an uncertain world. This is precisely where Agile leadership can play a supporting role.

Effective leadership

Having Agile leadership offers great benefits for organizations. Not only does it improve the productivity of the development team, but it can also help achieve goals and make choices.

• Builds team trust. Agile leaders are consistent and supportive. This can lead to a basis of trust within the team. With effective leadership, team members are more likely to share and solve challenges they face. This can help avoid unnecessary obstacles and create a mutual sense of respect in an ambiguous world.

• Encourages team members. Agile leaders guide and support teams. This can motivate teams to perform at their best. When this happens, productivity increases, helping to achieve goals for both the team and the organization in a complex world.

• Improves communication. Agile Leaders help to establish healthy and open communication within the team. It is the basis for dialogue between team members and between the team and the rest of the organization. This can lead to more understanding for each other and productivity within that organization in a volatile world.

• Builds morale, Agile leaders are motivated and have a positive attitude. This helps the team to be more optimistic about their own activities. A positive work environment can lead to increased self-confidence. Self-confidence leads to better productivity in an uncertain world.

Want to know more?

AgileInFocus.nl helps you with practical tools and tips to master Agile leadership. For example, we train practical skills that help Scrum Masters to be a good agile coach. We recommend following the Professional Scrum Master training or requesting agile advice tailored to your organization.