Agile methodology has become increasingly popular in the business world as it offers a flexible and collaborative approach to project management. The agile mindset is a set of values and principles that encourage teams to be adaptable, customer-focused, and iterative in their approach to work. Adopting an agile mindset can help organisations to stay competitive, increase productivity, and improve customer satisfaction.
What are the critical elements of an agile mindset?
An agile practitioner must possess the following thinking.
- Embrace change: Change is inevitable and should be welcomed rather than avoided. Approaches must be flexible and adaptive instead of a fixed procedure.
- Customer-centricity: The service level focuses on delivering value to customers’ needs quickly and frequently.
- Continuous improvement: There is always room for improvement, and the practitioner strives to learn from his mistakes. Never take things for granted! Success doesn’t come easy, and failure is the best teacher.
- Collaboration: A great team collaborates to achieve the best results for the team, the business and the stakeholders.
- Iterative and incremental approach: The approach emphasises delivering gradual changes to products and processes over time. This allows for faster feedback, better quality control, and quicker adaptation to changing requirements.
how can you benefit from being agile?
No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team
My previous article discussed why modern working teams must embrace Agile in their management. Today, this article will discuss how an individual can benefit from being Agile.
Working as a product manager, I manage six to seven projects at the same time. Also, I have to deal with all kinds of customer requests, even at odd hours. Before learning about Agile, I felt exhausted after a full day at work. But today, I feel excited about my job. I no longer experience Monday Blue.
Whenever I receive a project assignment, I will study the project thoroughly. Then, divide the project into multiple smaller tasks. Next, prioritise each job based on urgency and impact: Must, Should Be, Could Be and Won’t Be. I will put the list aside for a few hours until my mind is clear. After that, I will re-examine the list and ask why a task is in the Must category. When you ask the WHY, you will realise many items are unnecessary in the MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
You can then quickly complete the tasks in the Must category within two weeks. Release the MVP and seek constructive feedback from clients. You can also respond to changes more rapidly and be flexible with demands. Because clients are involved during the development process, they take pride in the product. Clients are happier with the outcome.
Each team member can work solo, but we understand the importance of teamwork and collaboration. We take each other accountable. We admit failure and fix the issue instead of blaming others. Knowing no one is perfect, we take risks to experiment and learn from our mistakes.
Final Thoughts
Traditional approaches are more hierarchical and task-oriented, limiting collaboration and creativity. To succeed, we must change our mindset. The shift does not happen overnight. It takes time and effort to develop the mindset. Since I practise Agile, I handle more projects and complete more tasks than before. I have become more flexible in my work. I can respond to changing customer requests more promptly. Today I enjoy higher job satisfaction and improved personal performance.
Overall, the job title is no longer relevant to me. My work focuses on customer needs and always delivers customer value. I can adapt to market trends faster than others. The customer satisfaction level is 40% higher than pre-pandemic. Having more family time with better work quality is nothing I can ask for more.