How Do I Become More Agile?
- Michelle M
- Jul 2
- 5 min read
Becoming more Agile requires a Mindset Shift. Whether you're a team lead, project manager, or executive, learning how to become more agile is the key to thriving in an environment marked by uncertainty, innovation, and constant evolution.
But “How do I become more agile?”, we’re not just referring to implementing Agile frameworks like Scrum or SAFe. It’s deeper than that. Becoming agile is about embracing change, fostering collaboration, driving continuous improvement, and delivering value frequently and iteratively.
In this blog we will walk you through what it really means to be agile, how you can build agility into your mindset, actions, and workplace, and provide you with actionable steps to kick-start your Agile journey.
Understanding Agility: Beyond the Buzzword
Before diving into the how, it’s important to define what agility actually means. Many confuse being agile with doing Agile following frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, or Lean. But true agility transcends practices and focuses on mindset and principles.
Agility Defined:
The ability to adapt quickly and effectively to change while continuously delivering value to customers and learning from feedback.
Agility is about:
Flexibility without chaos
Speed without sacrificing quality
Focus on outcomes, not just outputs
Collaborative leadership and empowered teams
When you become agile, you shift from rigid planning to adaptive strategy, from silos to transparency, from control to trust.
The Agile Mindset: Foundation for Transformation
At the core of agility is the Agile mindset. It was first articulated in the Agile Manifesto (2001), which emphasized:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
To become more agile, internalizing these values is essential. It’s not about discarding structure, but about valuing people and flexibility more than bureaucratic rigor.
Step-by-Step: How Can I Become More Agile
Let’s break down the transformation into achievable steps:
1. Start With Self-Awareness
To be agile, you must first understand how you currently work. Reflect on:
Are you resistant to change?
Do you get overwhelmed by shifting priorities?
Do you cling to detailed plans even when conditions shift?
Agile people are self-aware and adaptable. Take personality assessments, seek feedback, and pinpoint what holds you back from flexibility and responsiveness.
2. Learn the Principles and Frameworks
Although agility is a mindset, frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, LeSS, XP give structure to your approach.
Start by:
Reading the Agile Manifesto and its 12 principles
Taking an Agile Foundations or Scrum Master course
Joining Agile communities or meetups
This theoretical grounding will give you the vocabulary and structure to begin practicing agility.
3. Embrace Iterative Work
One of the pillars of Agile is iteration breaking large tasks into smaller, manageable increments.
Instead of waiting for the “perfect moment” or complete plan:
Start small
Test ideas early
Adjust based on feedback
This reduces waste, speeds up delivery, and builds resilience.
4. Visualize Your Work
Agile methods use visual tools like Kanban boards or Scrum boards to create transparency.
Even if you work solo:
Create a Trello or Jira board
List “To Do, Doing, Done” columns
Prioritize tasks and track progress
Visual work management helps with focus, transparency, and flow critical attributes of agility.
5. Prioritize Ruthlessly
In Agile, not everything is urgent or important. The Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule) applies 20% of efforts usually drive 80% of results.
Use tools like:
MoSCoW prioritization (Must, Should, Could, Won’t)
WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First)
Daily standups to realign focus
Being agile means continuously reassessing what's most valuable to your customers or stakeholders.
6. Develop a Feedback Culture
Agile thrives on frequent feedback loops. Whether you’re developing software, writing content, or managing teams:
Seek feedback early and often
Accept criticism constructively
Make it safe for others to share honestly
Feedback reduces risk and fuels continuous improvement.
7. Practice Retrospectives
Agile teams regularly ask, “What went well? What didn’t? What can we improve?”
You can adopt this too:
Weekly personal retrospectives
Team reflection meetings after projects
1:1s that include lessons learned
Retrospectives instill a growth mindset central to agility.
8. Collaborate Cross-Functionally
Agility breaks down silos. If you’re working in isolation, you’re missing out on insights, faster delivery, and innovation.
Partner with people from different departments
Run co-creation sessions or brainstorming workshops
Share knowledge regularly
Agile teams communicate often, align on goals, and solve problems together.
9. Adopt Servant Leadership
If you’re a leader or aspiring one, agility calls for a new leadership style: servant leadership.
That means:
Enabling your team rather than micromanaging
Removing blockers
Coaching, not commanding
Agile leaders inspire autonomy, accountability, and purpose.
10. Integrate Agile Tools and Technology
You don’t need fancy software, but using Agile tools can improve speed, collaboration, and transparency.
Popular tools include:
Jira (Scrum, Kanban)
Trello (Simple task management)
Asana (Project tracking)
Confluence (Documentation)
Slack / MS Teams (Communication)
Choose tools that suit your work style and help you iterate faster.
11. Build Psychological Safety
Google’s research on high-performing teams found that psychological safety was the top predictor of success.
Agile environments are psychologically safe, where:
People can speak up without fear
Mistakes are treated as learning moments
Diversity of thought is valued
Whether you're leading a team or working alone, foster a climate where ideas and failures are welcomed.
12. Get Comfortable With Uncertainty
Agility requires embracing ambiguity. If you need every detail sorted before you start, agility will be uncomfortable.
Reframe uncertainty as opportunity:
Try experiments
Run pilots
Accept that failure is part of progress
The most agile professionals learn through doing, not waiting.
13. Value Simplicity
Agile principles advocate for “maximizing the amount of work not done.”
That means:
Simplifying processes
Cutting unnecessary features
Reducing bureaucracy
Simplicity improves delivery speed, reduces cost, and clarifies purpose.
14. Stay Curious and Keep Learning
Agility is a continuous journey. Stay updated through:
Podcasts (Agile for Humans, The Agile Revolution)
Blogs (Mountain Goat Software, LeadingAgile)
Courses (Agile certifications, leadership development)
Books (e.g., Scrum by Jeff Sutherland, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries)
Becoming more agile means always being open to learning, unlearning, and evolving.
15. Measure What Matters
Track your agility not with vanity metrics like hours worked but with real indicators:
Cycle time (How fast do you deliver?)
Customer satisfaction (How happy are your users?)
Team health (Are people engaged and motivated?)
Flow efficiency (How much of your time is productive?)
Data helps you improve with clarity.
Personal Agility: Applying Agile to Your Life
Agile isn’t limited to organizations. Many people apply Agile to their personal productivity, relationships, and goals. Here’s how:
Use sprints to make progress on side projects
Run a weekly retrospective for personal growth
Visualize your personal to-dos on a Kanban board
Collaborate with your partner or family using standups
Personal Agility helps you manage your time, energy, and goals with more intention and adaptability.
Becoming More Agile in a Non-Agile Organization
What if your organization is traditional or waterfall-driven?
You can still:
Apply Agile principles to your own work
Share successes from Agile experiments
Run Agile pilot projects
Create Agile communities of practice
Be the catalyst. Show, don’t tell. Influence by results.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Focusing on tools over people: Agile is human-centric. Don’t get lost in Jira setups.
Copy-pasting frameworks: Adapt them to your context.
Skipping retrospectives: They’re the heart of continuous improvement.
Assuming Agile = fast: It’s not about rushing it’s about delivering the right value, quickly.
Conclusion
The path to becoming more agile is a personal and professional evolution. It requires shifting your thinking, building new habits, and embracing change as a constant.
You don’t need a new job title, a transformation budget, or an entire team of coaches to start. You just need a willingness to learn, the courage to change, and the humility to improve.
So the next time you ask yourself, “How do I become more agile?”, remember:
Agility begins with you.
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