What is the meaning of agile?
The meaning of agile is literally agile, nimble and flexible. In more and more organizations, agile is a way of thinking, working and organizing. Agile working ensures that organizations and teams are able to respond quickly to changes in the outside world. The agile way of working comes from the software development industry. Nowadays it has long been used not only by software developers, but agile working can be deployed in (almost) all teams and organizations. Agile means that projects are divided into small blocks with a short duration (between one and three weeks). Per block you look at how far you are and whether you need to change anything. This makes you much more agile and allows you to change faster. In agile working, the customer's question is central. How can you add value for the customer right now?
Why work this way?
The world is moving faster and faster. Because society used to not change so fast, you could easily set a goal for a year from now during the appraisal interview . Another example: Software developers wrote the entire specification of the software and then they went to work. A year later it was ready. Today, that's different. With the advent of technology, everything moves much faster. Something that is up to date today may not be tomorrow. So you have to change gears faster, and that requires a different approach from organizations and teams. Agile working ensures that they can easily deal with continuous change and continue to grow. Because agile organizations are much more agile and focus on customer demand, they can be one step ahead of the competition every time.
What are the characteristics of agile?
1. Working in self-directed teams In agile working, it is important that the work is done by self-directed, multidisciplinary teams that work in periods of a short time (from one to three weeks) on certain tasks to fulfill a project. These teams can act quickly and independently. The employees in these teams continuously solicit feedback from each other, the customer or the end user. This allows them to improve themselves and make adjustments easily. 2. Customer demand is central In agile teams, the end goal is always to add value for the customer. That sounds very logical, but in practice it turns out to be not so easy. Agile organizations develop their product(s)/service(s) based on customer demand. It is therefore important to be in continuous contact with the customer about this. This can be done, for example, by asking for 360 degree feedback
How do you begin?
The best way to start agile working is small, such as with one team. Start working with that team in sprints where every two weeks you look at what you are going to do in the next two weeks. The things you don't want to do in those two weeks, put them on the backlog so you can do them at a later time. Do you have any fun/good ideas during those two weeks? Then put these on the backlog as well and discuss them during the sprint meeting.
How can software help you work agile?
In agile organizations, employees, managers and teams are in constant dialogue with each other. Within the conversation cycle , managers and employees conduct the continuous dialogue. For the younger generation, it is important that this conversation cycle as well as their process of growth and development is supported by technology. In a tool like Treams you can record the entire interview cycle. For example, you can specify the interview cycle per target group so that it becomes personalized for everyone. Goal setting is indispensable in agile teams. In Treams, you record these goals and can update them at any time. In addition, you can easily request feedback from colleagues and external parties. So you can ask for feedback at any time of the day and know whether you are on track with your goals. Are you not on track? Then you can make timely adjustments. Finally, smart dashboards in Treams give you real-time insight into the data you need to be successful. For example, you gain insight into the development, performance and involvement of your employees and Treams and you can easily build strong teams.