How to Implement Agile

If you’ve decided that the Agile methodology is the right approach for your project, customer, and company, here are five steps on how to implement Agile successfully.

Step 1: Get stakeholder buy-in

Agile emphasizes collaboration among the project team, customer, and other key stakeholders like your project sponsor and vendors. To successfully adopt Agile, everyone must be on board before you begin. Talk to the key players, explain the benefits of Agile, answer any questions they have, and address their concerns.

Step 2: Start with one project

The whole concept of Agile is to focus on iterative and incremental progress. The best way to implement Agile across your whole organization is to start with one small project and assess the feedback. Then you can begin applying it to other projects.

Step 3: Focus on empowering and motivating your team

Agile projects rely on team members to communicate, collaborate, and problem solve. If your project team isn’t engaged and motivated, an Agile approach won’t be successful. After all, one of the key principles of Agile is to build projects around motivated individuals, give them the support needed, and then trust them to get the job done.

Step 4: Choose a framework and stick with it

Agile can introduce significant changes to the way your team is used to doing things. It’s essential to select an Agile framework and stick to it. For example, if you choose to implement Scrum, make sure you have daily Scrum meetings — no matter how busy everyone says they are.

Step 5: Revise and adjust

It’s critical to follow a proven Agile project management process when you’re first implementing the methodology. You shouldn’t start experimenting with hybrid frameworks or changing the rules mid-sprint while your team is still learning the ropes.

A key part of Agile is holding a retrospective to understand what’s working and what isn’t, then making improvements. After every sprint and project, it’s essential to bring the team together to discuss the path ahead. If something isn’t working, it may be time to try a different Agile framework or make other changes.

Remember, Agile is meant to be iterative, and you should implement it in the same way. Start small, focus on actions you can do quickly, assess what’s working, be open to changes, collaborate, and communicate frequently.

For more information on integrating Agile into your project management, check out our video below:

How to Implement Agile