Tag: team building

Conducting an Agile Workshop Series at work

Nishi Grover GargLeave a comment

Over the last three weeks, I had the opportunity to run a series of Agile workshops for my team — an experience filled with learning, collaboration, reflection, and plenty of fun moments.

I spent my first few weeks exploring how we work today, what’s possible tomorrow, and how we can evolve our ways of working using agile thinking. And when it was time to get ideas to practice, we needed more hands on deck! That is when we created our ‘Agile Guild’ – a core team who would not only help plan and conduct the workshops but also help align all team members to the core principles as and when needed.

🐝 Together with our newly formed Agile Guild, we explored where we are today and where we want to go as an agile organization.

🦄 We brought in new concepts tailored to our context, introduced working in Agile Pods and even reimagined how we use JIRA — moving beyond traditional sprint management — to a setup that truly fits the way our teams operate!

💡 Workshop 1: Deep-dive into our existing processes, pain points, and failures — followed by Agile fundamentals to build a strong base.
🚀 Workshop 2: Our recommended implementation plan using Agile Pods, and strategic discussions on how we can transform the way we deliver.
📊 Workshop 3: Hands-on introduction to JIRA Plans, and how we’ll use it to create clarity, alignment, and predictability across our pods.

🐬 From insightful discussions to hands-on team activities, the sessions sparked great energy and alignment.

🦋 What I loved most was the energy — team activities, honest conversations, shared learning moments, and a clear roadmap for what comes next.

🪴 Feeling grateful for the engagement, the curiosity, and the collective commitment to continuous improvement. Excited for what’s next! ✨

P.S. – The iconic view in this room was the icing on the cake! 🙂

(What you see – The landmark Erasmus Bridge of Rotterdam over the serene waters)

#Agile #AgileTransformation #AgileLeadership #ScrumMaster #TeamLearning #ContinuousImprovement #WaysOfWorking #JIRA #WorkshopFacilitation #LeadershipInTech #AgileCoaching

How to Build and Nurture an Effective Team to Help Your Business Grow

Nishi Grover GargLeave a comment

It doesn’t matter the industry – all business owners want to see their organization succeed over time. For many, this may mean exploring new markets or creating new essential products or services for customers. However, the real path to success relies on having a strong team to help drive a company forward.

Still, creating a highly motivated team isn’t always an easy accomplishment. It takes dedication and hard work not only to acquire the right team members but also to ensure they continuously recognize and respect their role in helping the business develop.

Thankfully, there are various proven strategies for establishing the right culture for your business and maximizing its chances of success.

Inspiring Your Team with a Compelling Company Vision

Success is defined differently by each business. While some may think success is seeing profits grow double-digit year over year, others prioritize something deeper for their organization and the individuals working in it.

For most businesses to be successful, their employees need to share the same level of passion as company leadership. Communication is an important element in helping this happen. Every team member, regardless of their role in the company, should understand how their individual efforts impact the organization’s overall goals.

When employees are able to connect the dots between their performance and the performance of the company, it helps to give them a renewed sense of purpose each day. Below are a few ways business leaders can work to make this happen:

  • Speak a Universal language – The vision you express should be clear and easily understandable to a wide range of employees. Regardless of the level of experience of each employee, everyone should be able to recognize the message being expressed and how to contribute to larger company objectives.
  • Help Bridge the Gap Between Vision and Action – While articulating your vision clearly is important, this effort alone isn’t enough. You also need to show employees exactly how their individual roles and daily tasks make a difference when achieving the goals set out for the business.
  • Lead With Integrity – One of the most influential ways for leaders to help their teams live up to a company’s vision is by doing so themselves. All business leaders should fully embody the values and principles they set out for their teams. Leading with integrity in all areas of the business helps to create a culture of authenticity and helps everyone stay accountable day-to-day.

Creating a Shared Sense of Purpose

Helping your team to have a shared sense of purpose is an important component of helping your company vision come to life. When everyone works together to achieve the same goals, more is able to be accomplished and milestones are more easy to attain.

One of the best ways to create a shared sense of purpose is by encouraging employees to get involved as much as possible. This means making sure they feel valued enough to regularly share their ideas, ask questions, and contribute more toward shaping the business.

Another important element of getting employees involved more is creating knowledge-sharing opportunities. To do this, you could create specific communication channels across your organization where employees can more freely exchange new ideas or simply celebrate each other’s successes.

Unifying everyone in the company is an important part of sharing a broader purpose. This is why looking for more opportunities to bring everyone together and discuss new challenges, opportunities, successes, and even failures is a great way to help everyone feel like they’re part of something significant.

Equipping Your Team for Success

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Using Examples of Successful Brands to Overcome Team-Building Issues

Nishi Grover Garg1 Comment

Building a business from the ground up can be challenging but rewarding. Although it can take patience to develop unique products and services while surrounding yourself with talented individuals, most businesses that put in the work can see positive increases in their revenue streams and profitability.

However, one of the most important things to get right when running a business is having a dedicated team of employees willing to go the extra mile. Still, this isn’t easy for businesses to master. As organizations begin to scale, most feel certain constraints that can negatively impact productivity and potentially stall growth efforts.

To overcome these issues successfully, businesses should adopt a resilient attitude in adapting to changes in their operations while looking for better ways to collaborate and improve their teams’ capabilities. In fact, there are some great examples businesses can learn from some of today’s top brands that have already done the same.

Common Team-Building Roadblocks Businesses Face

As businesses begin to grow, they often experience certain challenges that can test their ability to remain resilient. Many of these challenges can materialize internally, with employees beginning to struggle to keep up with changes or maintain the same level of enthusiasm they once had.

This often creates inevitable roadblocks, making it hard for a business to move forward. Some of the common team-building challenges that can surface include:

Poor Communication Practices

A good majority of businesses put a lot of effort into ensuring they maintain healthy levels of communication with their employees. Still, many organizations experience highs and lows when it comes to how well departments collaborate with one another.

One of the common working formats for many businesses today is having a decentralized workforce. While allowing this level of flexibility in employee scheduling and working location can be highly convenient, it can often result in information silos, with only certain teams having the information necessary to manage projects effectively.

Fragmented communication in a business can severely harm its progress. Just as electricians and plumbers must work closely with contractors to ensure bathroom remodels, or living room expansions go smoothly in home renovation projects, businesses must prioritize transparency between their departments to succeed.

Loss of Trust From Employees

Employees need to respect their employer to feel confident enough to give 100%. However, to develop respect, employees need to trust their leadership teams and feel valued more than just another number in the organization.

Although trust can be difficult to earn, especially in the early stages of an employee’s tenure, it can easily be lost. Unfortunately, when a company puts the majority of its focus on developing new revenue streams and maximizing profitability, it can start to lose focus on developing strong relationships with employees.
When employees begin to lose trust in their employers, it can often lead to negative attitudes that can quickly start to degrade the company culture. This makes it much harder to keep employees and attract new talent.

Unclear Company Purpose

Simply increasing revenue doesn’t mean a business can or will be successful. As a business grows, it becomes increasingly more difficult to maintain alignment with initial business objectives, leading to a disorienting state that can negatively affect operational efficiency.

As company departments begin losing their cohesion, this can damage a business’s long-term sustainability. Many times, these issues might be subtle at first, with employees forgetting about their primary responsibilities or missing a few deadlines. However, over time, these seemingly minor issues can become a much larger issue.

Resistance to Change

For many people, change isn’t something that is easy to accept. While it’s easy for businesses to say that they’re “OK with change” or “willing to improve their processes,” the reality is usually much different.

Change can make many individuals uneasy, especially when it means leaving a certain comfort zone. This can apply to both business leaders and employees who are tasked with updating their workflows or shifting their daily priorities.

However, having too much resistance to change can be a major roadblock for organizations that want to grow. Leadership teams clinging to outdated sales strategies or having too many employees who don’t feel the need to learn and develop their skills can make a business stagnant and eventually start moving in the wrong direction.

Successful Companies That Have Managed to Overcome Leadership Issues

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