A few years ago I wrote down some points how to implement an agile mindset in a company so I can build plans and strategics on top of this. I like to reflect on these points after a few years, on what might be challenging or what I see different now.
Developing an agile mindset is all about cultivating a way of thinking that is open, adaptable, and responsive to change. Here are some ways you can help people develop an agile mindset:
The notes
Emphasize the importance of continuous learning: Encourage individuals to embrace a mindset of continuous learning and improvement. Help them to see that every experience, whether good or bad, is an opportunity to learn and grow.
Foster a culture of experimentation: Encourage individuals to take risks and experiment with new ideas. Celebrate failures as learning opportunities and encourage individuals to embrace a fail-fast mentality.
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These two points describe a very fundamental problem. When there is no culture of "failing equals learning" you can already quit on these points. I saw team leads who tried everything to make a team "performant" in regards of fancy words like velocity and stripped the team completely off taking risks, growing and learning because everyone needs to be focused on delivering in the end of a sprint. That brought up a behaviour of "better save than sorry" which in my opinion contradicts the needed skills of a product team and agile itself.
If you need to build an agile mindset it is in my opinion the worst idea to make a team first efficient and then try to teach them how to experiment and learn. In the time you trimmed the team you set the baseline to how the team thinks and acts! To brake this up again is a lot of effort. What really broadened my horizon was this study from google about efficiency of teams: https://rework.withgoogle.com/print/guides/5721312655835136/
Encourage collaboration and teamwork: Foster a culture of collaboration and teamwork, where individuals work together to solve problems and share ideas. This helps to promote a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
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I could recognize a big flaw in needed skills and knowledge of superiors. Because I am an experienced facilitator and design thinking expert I was faced a lot of time with the fear of working in collaborative methods. When a company is not used to work in agile this fear seems even bigger! My hypothesis is there is a misconception what collaboration means. A lot of leads define collaboration as:
Mutual respect: Each team member should respect each other's skills, expertise, and opinions.
Clear communication: Communicate effectively and clearly with one another, using a common language to prevent misunderstandings.
Shared responsibility: Every member should take equal responsibility for their tasks and contribute to the team's goals.
Open-mindedness: Be willing to listen to others' ideas and opinions and accept feedback constructively.
Flexibility: Being open to changes and willing to adapt to new situations is essential.
Regular meetings: Regular meetings help keep everyone on the same page and update on project status.
Trust: Trust is a fundamental component of collaboration, and it's important to trust your colleagues to fulfill their responsibilities.
Positive attitude: Collaboration is about working as a team and focusing on the goal, and having a positive attitude can help maintain the team's energy and motivation.
Accountability: Every member should be accountable for their actions, tasks, and outcomes of the project.
Conflict resolution: Conflicts can arise during collaboration, and it's essential to resolve them constructively to maintain a healthy working relationship.
There is nothing wrong about these points but they mostly end up as empty phrases because the teams fail in working collaborative on an operative level. Working on an operative level requires the freedom to spend time on this, to do a workshop when needed to align and create together. Here most leads fail by stopping the team doing so because it "costs money" to let a team working like this. What is absolutely overseen is the effect of working like this:
it will create shared responsibility and accountability because everyone was part of the project and knows what is the idea
it will create flexibility because the team has the buy in and they will try to make it happen
it will create trust because everyone can show they knowledge and will create the feeling of doing it as a team
it will create positive attitude because people want to feel involved
Emphasize the importance of customer feedback: Encourage individuals to seek out and listen to customer feedback. This helps to ensure that products and services are aligned with customer needs and preferences.
Promote flexibility and adaptability: Encourage individuals to be flexible and adaptable in the face of change. Help them to see that change is inevitable and that the ability to adapt is critical to success.
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Here we have the same problem with the idea of "efficient teams". When you try to focus everything on velocity some teams tend to be overcautious and protective against changes because it will risk their sprint and goal. If there is no safety and natural behaviour on doing so it will block plenty of other points in becoming an agile company.
Provide opportunities for reflection and self-awareness: Encourage individuals to reflect on their experiences and assess their own performance. This helps them to develop a growth mindset and identify areas for improvement.
Lead by example: As a leader, model the behaviors and attitudes that you want to see in others. Show a willingness to experiment, collaborate, and adapt to change, and encourage others to do the same.
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In this point I experienced the biggest lever. I myself tried different lead styles like the "counseling approach" or the "coaching approach" and I saw in plenty of companies a "coaching approach". This is for sure best practice and a great culture to give employees freedom and space to grow but I also could identify a few flaws. When you start with a setup of people which are well known in agile and have experience in different setups it's quite easy to lead like this. But when you changing a culture of a company which is not known to the method and pair it up with unexperienced people I believe a little bit more counseling is needed.
Why you might ask?
When employees don't have experience they will not have the tools to overcome problems or even to identify problems. They will try to solve something where known methods and tools are existing and you can shortcut this by counseling and providing solutions. Unexperienced teams are always very thankful to adapt to suggestions from more experiences leads and then need the freedom to adapt from this point on their own.
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