Agile leaders are supposed to get the maximum amount of quality work done with minimum control of the situation. The team constantly needs support and guidance while remaining independent and self-motivated.

How do you get this done within the tight deadlines? Do you have the team’s trust, and do they have yours? How do you know if you are a good leader for your agile team?

In my article for Testrail blog, I discussed the challenges of Agile Leadership and shared some tips for aspiring Agile Leaders to excel in their team management! Here are some areas to focus on:-

Communication

Communication is the backbone of agile. Open, clear and frequent communication breathes life into the agile team.

As an agile leader, you will be required to be big on communication, stressing its need, ensuring it is happening, and keeping it open and constructive at all times. You may even need to get over your own fear or reluctance if you are an introvert! A good agile leader needs to constantly encourage people to work together, discuss issues, and enforce good communication practices.

Vision

As a good agile leader, it is imperative to maintain a clear vision for the project. Since agile requires teams to deliver working software frequently, most of the team’s time is spent concentrating on different tasks and activities to make the release happen.

But since requirements change often, it is easy to lose sight of the overall vision for the project amidst all that chaos. It falls to the leader to keep the team aligned, maintain the overall vision, and help everyone zoom out periodically to look at the bigger picture.

Removing Impediments

An agile leader is required to be a constant problem solver. They need to look for problems before they happen and resolve them as early as possible.………

Continuous Improvement

Agility is all about learning and improving. As an agile leader, you must have the urge to continuously improve yourself, the team, its processes, and productivity in various ways. You must act as a constant encourager and motivator for team members to better themselves, support learning initiatives like online courses and continuing education, and plan improvement initiatives like team activities, in-house training, and knowledge sessions. Continue Reading->

The Personal Touch

To be a successful agile leader, you need to spend some time getting to know your team. Understanding how they think, how they are motivated, and what management styles work for them will help you in the long run. Read More—>