Agile Leadership

What is Agile Leadership? This blog is about an experience of Agile leadership from the lens of teams implementing Scrum framework in software development roles. When leaders start focusing on scrum values and provide servant leadership support to their teams, you then see the real benefit of Agile leadership in teams.

Lets look at how Agile Leaders follow Scrum values:

1. Focus: Leaders need to focus on work, which means they need to take care of their product, process and people. Leaders should know what they are doing in and out, they need not be experts in their domain but they should be able to coach expert team helping the overall cause with zeal to achieve the common goal and larger focus to work.

Few areas of leadership focus are to ensure there is enough clarity and transparency of common team goals towards best in class customer service. When leaders spend time with their team, bring culture of togetherness inside and outside work environment it leads to high level of trust and relationship resilience in team. It is very important that teams perform together complementing each other’s strengths and work towards common goal. And above all it is important that leaders infuse focus on continuous improvement through inspection and adaptation to help bring best product/process outcome in line with customer expectations.

2. Commitment: How do leaders commit themselves at work to achieve the team goal? Leading by an example is the best way for a servant leader to take charge and inculcate the culture they want to see established in their team. If you make sure your team feels the confidence about their capabilities and focussed towards the end goal then you can see your teams morale to be very high and they can achieve anything they like with high level of commitments.

Smart leaders engender commitment by giving flexibility to employees, create environment of respect, appreciating people, providing support, be a sponsor for people, create opportunities, showcase personal care and invest in their team.

3. Respect: When members of team respect each other to be capable and independent then that is the sign of a productive Agile leader. It is very important to have a respect for individual in a positive and effective work environment.

4. Courage: Leadership should ensure that people do the right thing and can solve tough problems. It is important to embrace uncertainty, how people can continue doing the right thing during difficult situation is paramount of a courageous team. Agile leaders create an environment of problem solving culture by building environment where problems can be discussed openly, identifying problem before they become crisis and trust people with their capabilities so they can solve tough problems.

5. Openness: Agile Leaders should be able to discuss challenges at work and give it a fair bit of their time and leadership attention. Example is that effective Scrum masters do not shy away from delivering honest feedback during daily Scrum meetings which is vital to making necessary adjustments and it encourages honesty and openness in return from team members. Openness facilitates empiricism and collaborative team work. Openness allows teams to ask for help, feel heard by their peers and able to support of challenge team decisions. When things don’t go to the plan, openness allows teams to accept their mistakes and change direction. Agile leaders should promote openness and an honest work environment.