Pre-alignment with all critical stakeholders is a must. There must be clear buy in with respect to expectations, purpose and overall commitment. Calling out the vision and linking it with outcome based objective can help in getting early buy in.

Here is a very important question: How are you going to prioritize goals properly? When you have many stakeholders, you must understand that each of them, despite the desire to succeed, has their own vision of how to succeed. An example solution might be to give each of your stakeholders 100 points and ask them to rate each goal using those points. For example, we have 10 goals, and the first stakeholder can give 10 points to each of the goals, the other stakeholder can give 50 points to 2 goals, and 8 goals will receive zero points, and so on. After that, calculate the sum of points for each goal and order them according to it. The target with the highest amount will have the highest priority.

Beyond alignment, you need to incentivize participants on your cross functional team with opportunities and experiences they want but can’t get in their current roles. Cross functional and agile work should be creating stretch opportunities that keep team members motivated to provide outside of their remit.

Implementing agile practices requires a shift in corporate culture, organizational structure, and project management processes. Challenges involved in leading and championing Agile include: 1. Resistance to Change - Practices involve a shift in organizational culture, which can be met with pushback. 2. Lack of Clarity - Involves frequent communication and collaboration between cross-functional teams. 3. Technical Challenges - Practices require adopting new tools and technologies. 4. Balancing Agility and Structure - Encourage flexibility and adaptability, which can be challenging for organizations that rely heavily on structure. 5. Scaling Agile - Implementing across multiple teams/ departments requires coordination and alignment.

Just to put a little oil in the discussion - a "Leader" is not responsible for a team - that is far too small - these people are called "... owner" or "... master" - a leader is just visible at the organizational level! And if you start to ask you stakeholder for input and try to align the interests - oh oh oh - that is "managing" but not "leading" if you want to be an agile leader, then you are a top manager, and you have a vision that goes beyond what stakeholders want; you are disciplined and focused on success (customer value), and you show passion. but first of all - you are addicted to delivery and execution excellence. You know your constraint and how self-organization works. leaders are wonderful - but never on a team level.

Self-organizing and servant leadership become de facto standards accepted by the Agile community. You can see they are mentioned in many Agile frameworks and methods. However, when you want your team to be self-organized, it means that you imply more responsibilities to them. So sometimes you can face resistance to take responsibility and the process of building a self-organized team can be painful. But "painful" doesn't mean bad. Sometimes we need to rebuild ourselves to become better and achieve our goals, remember this.

Every team requires ongoing support. Agile leaders should identify team members' personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. This helps in analyzing potential risks individuals might encounter. âž¡ It's recommended to furnish team members with tools for handling potential risks. âž¡ Agile leaders should collaborate with the team to define a work process, comfortable for both the team and stakeholders. âž¡ Consistently maintaining a climate of trust, collaboration, and a positive team environment. Let your team come to you with the problem. âž¡ Conducting retrospectives on a regular basis is essential. Over time, this practice results in a self-organized team, typically in the medium or short term.

Empowering and developing the team is another significant challenge. Agile Leaders must foster an environment where team members feel trusted and empowered to make decisions and take ownership of their work. This involves balancing the need for guidance with the freedom to innovate and solve problems independently. Providing continuous development opportunities, mentoring, and constructive feedback is crucial. However, it can be challenging to find the right balance between supporting the team’s growth and allowing them to learn from their mistakes organically.

Empowering is not giving away power. As an Agile Leader you trust the team to make the decisions that impact them. BUT the team is also accountable for the decisions they make and the consequences. Imagine you're coaching a sports team. You trust your players to make decisions during the game. BUT here's the deal. When the team decides, they also take ownership. They're responsible for the outcomes, whether it's good or not so good. Empowering teams without accountability is setting up for failure.

Empowering and developing a team in an Agile environment requires a delicate balance between autonomy and guidance. 🌟 As a Senior Manager in Business Intelligence Leadership, I've found that adopting a coaching and mentoring style is crucial. Building trust and psychological safety within the team fosters an environment where members feel safe to take risks and learn from failures. 🛠️ Providing regular feedback and recognition not only boosts morale but also helps in skill development. Remember, a high-performing team thrives on continuous improvement and accountability. 🚀

To adapt to change, you need to have at least two important things: - Vision, - Agility. Vision is the ability to absorb data, analyze it, and make data-driven decisions. Your vision should be broad and cover all aspects that may affect your business. Also, don't forget about the analysis, which allows you to get new knowledge from these data and get rid of unnecessary data and outliers. Here I recommend using descriptive statistics and probability theory. Agility allows you to quickly apply data-driven decisions. There are many Agile frameworks you can use, you just have to choose the one that suits your environment. For example: Scrum for small teams, Nexus for large teams, and SAFe for very large teams. Some frameworks can be combined.

Being in Agile is a bigger challenge nowadays due to various factors. If you are there leading the Agile group it is more challenging nowadays. I feel we are back to square one to make people understand and accept how Agile works. Sometimes it is frustrating and tiring.

Agile Ansätze scheitern oft, wenn sie als universelle Lösung betrachtet werden. Eine integrale Führung fragt: Ist Agilität immer der beste Weg? Statt starrer Frameworks sollten Führungskräfte adaptiv entscheiden und Ressourcen langfristig planen. Ein Ansatz: Führen Sie ein „Agility Fit Assessment“ ein, das Teams hilft, zu prüfen, ob agile Prinzipien ihre Herausforderungen wirklich lösen. Ergänzend stärken periodische Workshops zu strategischem Denken die Verbindung zwischen kurzfristigen Zielen und nachhaltigem Erfolg.

There is always room for improvement. As an agile leader, it will happen to you that once you execute a process and your team achieves an expected pace, the stakeholders decide to change course, change the business rules, or change the pace with which results are expected. Like any profession, changes will happen at unexpected times and when one is calmer. The human being was born with the ability to adapt to change, but not with the ability to accept when this change generates frustration. Once you learn to accept what you can't control, you may see those changes as opportunities to improve the way your team works.

Adapting to change and uncertainty is a constant challenge in Agile environments. Agile Leaders must be flexible and responsive to shifting project requirements, market conditions, and stakeholder expectations. This involves not only managing change effectively but also helping the team embrace it as a natural part of the process. Maintaining morale and productivity during periods of uncertainty requires strong leadership, clear communication, and a resilient mindset. It’s also essential to foster a culture that views change as an opportunity rather than a setback.

You can have two teams for your project. One team will consist of business analysts, marketers, and designers. This team will analyze the market, provide and validate the hypothesis. In addition, once the hypothesis is validated, this team will provide all the necessary information to make the new feature meet the Definition of Ready. The other team will consist of developers and testers. This team will take ready features from the product backlog, develop and test them so that the feature meets the Definition of Done, and deliver it to the customer. Both teams will follow the same sprint length and have the same product backlog but separate sprint backlogs: - sprint backlog for discovery, - sprint backlog for delivery.

Balancing delivery and discovery is a fundamental aspect in various fields, including project management, product development, and even personal growth. It's about finding the right mix between delivering on current objectives and exploring new opportunities or innovations. Here are some key points on how to achieve this balance: 1. Set Clear Objectives for Both 2. Allocate Time and Resources Wisely 3. Encourage a Culture of Innovation 4. Implement Agile Methodologies 5. Measure and Adapt 6. Leverage Technology 7. Encourage Cross-Functional Collaboration 8. Prioritize Customer Feedback 9. Practice Strategic Patience Balancing these two elements is not a static action but a dynamic process that requires constant reevaluation and adjustment.

Balancing the need for delivery with the process of discovery is another challenge. Agile projects often involve iterative cycles of development and feedback, which require a delicate balance between delivering value and exploring new ideas. Agile Leaders must ensure that the team meets deadlines and delivers high-quality products while also encouraging experimentation and innovation. This balance is crucial for sustaining progress and driving continuous improvement but can be challenging to achieve, especially under tight timelines and high-pressure situations.

While embracing a dual-track approach, it is important to consider the potential drawbacks and challenges that may arise. These could include heightened complexity, increased costs, and heightened coordination requirements, as well as the risk of losing focus or alignment between the two tracks. To avoid such pitfalls, it is crucial to acknowledge and address some common misconceptions associated with the dual-track. These could include the misconception of having separate teams or individuals solely dedicated to delivery and discovery, as well as overlooking feedback or learning loops between the two tracks.

In my experience, including discovery items as part of a Sprint works better. Discovery and delivery can go hand in hand. Product managers and the Product Owner (PO) can refine epics/master features. One of the dev team members can quickly validate the hypothesis/PoC, while the rest of the team members can work on the regular sprint backlog (delivery). Once the PoC is done and validated, feature solutioning and further requirements can be vetted. The same feature, upon approval, can be developed in later sprints. The developed PoC can be reused to build functionality on top of it

Leading the transformation towards an Agile culture within an organization is a complex and often difficult task. This involves shifting mindsets, breaking down silos, and fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. Resistance to change from different levels within the organization can pose significant obstacles. Agile Leaders must be skilled in change management, able to communicate the benefits of Agile practices effectively, and capable of driving buy-in from all stakeholders. This transformation requires patience, persistence, and the ability to navigate political dynamics within the organization.

As you lead change, you need to make sure that all stakeholders understand the desired future state. The transition from the current state to the future is like a journey. And you have to be a navigator and guide on this journey. The journey can take a long time. It may take several years to achieve the strategic goals. To help your organization stay focused, you need to break that large path down into smaller pieces. There should be a small win at the end of each piece of the journey so that the people in your organization are encouraged to move on and continue on their path to the future state.

The biggest problem with being an agile leader is acting without the active support and visible involvement of the C-suite down so any agile transformation work is given due prominence and emphasis. Agile transformations are cross cutting across the whole organisation from traditional silos such as IT and "the business" but also governance and HR. You are affecting multiple empires here and possibly reducing the size of some departments at a time that they are also delivering non-agile work. Expect resistance. Without the active involvement of upper management to stress the long term important to the company, it will be like taking 6 Great Danes for a walk. You won't be walking them, they'll be walking you!

The best way to lead a transformation is by delivering results and continuously improving. Start by evaluating the current state in terms of people, processes, and tools. Identify what you want to achieve, create milestones, and track and monitor your progress. Reflect on what worked, what didn't, and areas for improvement. Engage in conversations with the team about Agile values and principles, and coach and mentor them when required. Remember, transformation is a continuous journey.

"Leading" or "driving" an agile transformation is not a one-person-show. It helps having someone who is accountable for identifying the gaps and building the blocks/roadmap of the agile transformation. But driving it, is a leadership-team exercise. Every leader of the organization needs to be accountable for driving the change, otherwise it will not happen.

I have experienced that leadership in Agile faces more resistance from the top (upper management) than bottom (team). People desire to achieve results through Agile, yet do not want to get exposed to bitter realities. Identifying these realities and working on solving them lead to better results. Getting the folks on top 'on-board' is more than half the 'war' won.

One pressure I regularly feel among leaders is to prove that they are Agile Leaders! And then they get into various assessments and maturity indexes. Soon the focus shifts from Customers to Compliance. The same that happened with CMMi. In my opinion, delivering products that our customers value, and making necessary changes if they don't, is good enough to prove agile leadership.

There is an antipattern that agile is just for IT. However if you do this, not only will you see limited benefit but there will be a culture and process clash when collaborating with the rest of the business. For agile to reach its full potential it needs to involve the teams around IT as well including finance, PMO, HR, support functions and of course leadership themselves.

The biggest challenge I have faced as an Agile leader is setting the right expectation in front of people who think agile is a way to churn things faster without understanding that Agile has rules without following them it is a recipe for disaster.

Ensuring teams have the freedom to innovate while providing necessary direction. Overcoming reluctance to adopt Agile practices. Meeting the varying demands of stakeholders while maintaining Agile principles. Keeping teams motivated to constantly enhance their processes and deliverables. Coordinating effectively across different locations and time zones.