Selling or adopting agile is anything but straightforward, and here's why.

Agile is either introduced as a directive from the top or as an organic push from the ‘bottom’, the shop floor, or the engine room. Between them sits Malcolm.

I have tremendous respect for Malcolm (and plenty of sympathy). He is a middle manager who spends his days translating instructions from above into actions below (or, as he describes it, tap dancing in a minefield).

Malcolm is suspicious of Agile. He is usually stressed, stretched thin, and has little to no time for fuzzy concepts, Scrum charts, and sticky notes.

When you need friends in the business to help you implement your ideas, making Malcolm feel threatened and vulnerable leaves you only with an enemy resistant to change. It’s like poking a bear with a stick. You’ll get it moving, but not necessarily in the direction you want it to!

Adopting Agile can sometimes feel like a battle. Getting Malcolm onside is half the battle won. Start by demonstrating how what you’re doing (implementing Agile) ultimately makes it easier for Malcolm to do his job.

Initially, there will always be a disparity between adoption and value. Agile, at its infancy, is a concept that will change almost everything about how the organisation and its people think, work, and conduct business, but the value of that change will take time to show a return.

By teaching Malcolm how he can turn the ‘concept’ of Agile into an actionable reality, he can start to appreciate how it makes it easier for him to do his job. Show him how it makes his work more predictable, which, if you think of it, is exactly what he needs when it’s his responsibility to keep the engine running and the client happy.

If Malcolm is going to support you, he needs to know what’s in it for him.

It’s not enough to tell him that changing the focus from individual performance to team delivery will make the business more efficient or that swapping lengthy planning sessions for constant evaluation and reinvention throughout the delivery process will save both time and money and result in better outcomes.

You need to understand what it is that Malcolm is entrusted to deliver, what information he needs, and how switching to Agile will help him get that information faster and more efficiently than he can get it today.

Give him the tools to establish trust with his teams, step back and give them more responsibility, become a facilitator and remove obstacles, and watch the organisation begin to transform.

How Agile Adoption Can Benefit Your Team

• Increased Efficiency and Productivity: Agile breaks down projects into manageable chunks, allowing your team to focus on delivering high-quality work in shorter sprints. This reduces wasted time and effort.
• Improved Communication and Collaboration: Agile practices promote regular communication and collaboration between team members. Daily stand-up meetings and sprint reviews foster transparency and keep everyone on the same page.
• Enhanced Morale and Ownership: By empowering team members to take ownership of their tasks and participate in decision-making, Agile fosters a sense of responsibility and accomplishment.
• Greater Adaptability and Flexibility: The ever-changing business landscape requires adaptability. Agile allows your team to respond quickly to changes in requirements or market demands. They can adapt their priorities and iterate on the project as needed.
• Focus on Customer Value: Agile prioritizes delivering value to the customer early and often. This ensures your team is constantly working on features and functionalities that truly matter to your customers.

If you agree that Agile is important, that it’s essential to your company’s survival, then it’s in everyone’s interest to embrace it.

Start with Malcolm. To learn how adopting Agile can help you achieve your goals and gain a competitive advantage, contact us today.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on 2 December 2014, and was updated on 14 May 2024.