Agile product management is becoming an increasingly important approach to developing products that have transformative potential and meet market needs. However, while many business leaders recognize the value of Agile, there are often flaws in Agile implementation that keep product management processes from truly being agile.
Fundamental Agile Pillars
Many companies that implement Agile lack two fundamental pillars necessary to truly be considered Agile.
One of these pillars is culture. A company must understand what the objectives of Agile are and what agility means in their organization before implementing it.
The second pillar is the issue of letting go of ingrained processes. When an organization struggles to adapt to new practices, it can result in mixing Agile with other forms of development, such as waterfall. This ultimately causes delays and impacts quick decision-making.
Agile At Scale—How To Achieve Maximum Value
Agile is something that requires buy-in from the whole organization. There are often knowledge gaps within organizations where members of the team, from the CEO to the finance team, don’t fully know how their Agile practices work and assume that it is solely in the hands of engineers.
Having the right communication tools in place at every level for each member of an Agile team to effectively exchange ideas is essential to achieving the best results and developing the best product.
Counteracting “Fake Agile”
Organizations must carefully assess their Agile implementation to ensure that they are successfully adopting the methodology. A few best practices to counteract “fake Agile” include the following.
Understanding How Agile Methodology Will Help Your Organization
Prior to implementing Agile, business leaders should be trained in how Agile methodology will help their organization and learn how to implement it accordingly.
Don’t Just Fund It—See It Through
To get the most return on Agile implementation, business leaders should be involved in seeing through the implementation investment.
Enforce Effective Cross-Functional Teams
Connectivity must be supported and fostered within an organization that is adopting Agile. This involves having the right communication tools in place that effectively inform every member of an organization.
The Future Of Product Management Is Agile
Adopting Agile product development is essential to achieving product goals, especially with modern product development involving many moving pieces to oversee. Agile product management, when practiced correctly, can help organizations streamline communications, decrease lead time and master the manufacturing process to create the best possible product.
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