Agile management: understand what it is, what is its importance and how to do it

Agile management is becoming increasingly common in the corporate environment. In a survey conducted by McKinsey, with more than 2,500 professionals from companies of different sizes, segments, and regions, 37% of respondents said that their organizations are carrying out agile transformations and another 4% said that their companies have fully implemented such transformations.

The change is driven by proof that small, multidisciplinary teams from agile organizations can respond quickly and promptly to rapid changes in market opportunities and customer demands.

However, what exactly is agile management and why is it so evident today? It’s those two answers that we brought to this article. Check it out!

What is agile management?#

Agile management is a way to manage projects efficiently and effectively. It can be used for any type of project, but it was primarily founded on software development. It divides larger projects into small, manageable chunks called iterations. At the end of each iteration, something of value is produced. The product from each iteration must be usable to obtain feedback from users or interested parties.

When traditional management focuses on initial planning, in which certain factors, such as cost, scope, and time, gain importance, agile management highlights teamwork, client collaboration, and flexibility. It’s an iterative approach that focuses more on incorporating customer feedback and continuous releases with each iteration of the software development project.

The basic concept behind agile development is that it investigates evolving changes and the collaborative effort to obtain results, rather than a predefined process. Adaptive planning is perhaps the greatest asset of agile management and makes it a crowd favorite among project managers.

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How does it work?#

This answer becomes clear when you understand that the typical agile company employs a dynamic matrix structure with two types of reporting lines: a capacity line and a value creation line. Almost all employees have a functional reporting line, which is their long-term residence in the company, and a value creation reporting line, which defines the business objectives and needs that they assume in the squads.

Agile management allows cross-functional teams to work on project blocks, solving problems and moving forward in shorter phases. This allows you to iterate faster and provide more frequent updates.

In other words, it provides a higher level of quality improvements on an incremental basis, rather than waiting to distribute completed projects. For example, PWC reports that agile projects are 28% more successful than traditional project methodologies.

What are the main agile methodologies?#

The main advantage of using agile methodologies is not only the quick delivery of projects, but also the constant delivery of value to the customer, since the deliveries are incremental.

There are numerous methodologies that follow this agile mindset. Below, we highlight the five main ones.

scrum#

Scrum is the most popular and widely followed Agile methodology around the world. The Scrum framework was designed to address two critical points of a product’s development; streamlining and changing customer requirements. In this approach, the project is executed in phases — each known as a Sprint. In addition, small teams of 5 to 6 members are created, which work collectively for the desired results.

The Scrum methodology allows active customer participation at each stage, so that all necessary changes are addressed immediately and acted upon. This ensures that the project is delivered on time and meets the customer’s demands effectively.

Kanban#

One of the critical areas of emphasis in agile management is the ability to ensure continuous delivery. The Kanban methodology is designed on three basic principles that ensure continuous delivery without burdening software development teams.

The Kanban framework ensures that teams don’t commit to more than what they can deliver in a day, that work in progress is viewed and reviewed each day, and that when a task is completed ahead of time, the next task in line is executed immediately. This allows teams to plan activities on a daily basis and deliver defined results every day.

Lean process#

The Lean concept first emerged in the 1950s in Japan’s manufacturing sector, where production activities were strategically established to reduce waste and costs.

Later, the concept was introduced in software development as an important agile methodology. Lean software development attempts to identify the business value to be delivered, creates a planned workflow, and seeks perfection at every stage.

The methodology focuses on reducing redundant tasks and waste in developing a product. Since Lean is all about achieving perfection, it’s an ideal methodology to follow in product development and other business projects. It helps companies reduce the cost, time, and efforts involved in software development, leading to increased functional efficiency.

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Agile management has many benefits for the team and for the end user. Although the basic principles have been established, the strategy is always evolving, taking advantage of different types of automation.

For example, IT teams are taking advantage of process automation to manage repetitive tasks that used to require significant human resources. This allows teams to work more efficiently and focus on the big picture, instead of monitoring, managing, and maintaining software, hardware, infrastructure, and cloud services.

The more tasks that can be efficiently handled by process automation rules, the faster you can iterate, test, and improve.

Do you believe that agile methodologies can contribute to processes within your company? Share this content about agile management with your colleagues and business partners on your social media and make space to talk about it in your corporate environment!