How to achieve effective leadership in an agile setup
There is a significant difference between project management in a traditional setup and in an agile one – and today, project managers must often be able to navigate both. We call this hybrid project management. Are you facing that challenge? Then read on for our 7 best tips for effective project leadership in an agile context.
7 tips for effective project leadership in an agile context
1. Align expectations
The Scrum Master, development team and Product Owner must share the same understanding. As in a traditional setup, you need to establish a structure that works (and adjust it continuously if needed) and ensure clarity around roles and responsibilities. It is also important to tailor the agile process so it fits the specific context of the project.
2. Prioritise communication
Unlike the traditional approach, where focus is on plans and deadlines, agile work focuses on scope – which is more loosely defined and changeable. Because scope can shift during the process, thorough and ongoing communication and expectation management with stakeholders is essential.
3. Secure full-time resources
If possible, ensure that the project has full-time team members. If this is not an option, you need to be very clear about the team’s actual capacity so that each sprint’s workload matches the available effort. Team performance, velocity and capacity (how much can be delivered per sprint) must be assessed continuously to support expectation alignment with line managers.
4. Strengthen team collaboration
Focus on what it takes to build and support a stable, efficient, well-functioning team with strong cohesion. Challenges may arise when teams are geographically distributed or culturally diverse. Work proactively to prevent and resolve internal conflicts. You can find inspiration for working with relations and leadership here.
5. Remember: It is okay to fail
The expression “fail fast” makes good sense in an agile world. It is about being willing to test increments early and accept when something fails. This approach ensures you do not spend unnecessary time developing in a direction that later proves unproductive. Retrospectives after each sprint ensure that learnings from mistakes are used to improve upcoming work. Remember to communicate the purpose of this mindset clearly to stakeholders.
See our 5 tips for better project leadership through failure here.
6. Clarify ownership of the backlog
The Product Owner is responsible for the backlog and for its prioritisation – but team members may also take part in the work. And remember: there can only be one priority 1. Ensure that the right people are involved in describing tasks in sufficient detail before they enter sprint planning.
7. Adapt your planning
Carefully consider how much planning is meaningful for each sprint. In one example, the team initially spent an entire day with eight developers preparing a 10‑day sprint. After several sprints, they now manage the same work in about two hours. Practice makes perfect.
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