At Exygy, iterative delivery is at the core of our every day operations. Through working with many different kinds of organizations – large and small, bureaucratic and nimble, non-profit, public, and private – we’ve personalized our approach to Agile. We’ve built a set of processes that work for your organization – empowering your team, and accelerating your pace of delivery.

We’ve often been asked to share our management processes. These asks have included coaching our partners in everything from how product, design, and engineering teams collaborate in an Agile process, to one-on-one team management for organizational leaders. Through this work, we have helped organizations improve their delivery velocity, quality, and transparency –  increasing their capacity to build healthy and resilient communities.

A Shift in Approach

The first step is to reframe our mentality and approach towards work – investing in our core team and their skills. Our Agile methodology emphasizes effective communication, decisive leadership, and a clearly defined group structure. We believe investing in these principles builds resilient and high performing teams that can deliver on any given organizational priorities.

We then reframe success, shifting our focus away from a distant “final” milestone, and towards the next success as the first in many small valuable increments that lead up to a project’s ultimate completion. This management model recognizes that behind every project, there needs to be flexibility to adapt to changes and make adjustments to the direction of a product on a timely basis.

Our Coaching Program

We begin by covering the foundation of Agile management – its concepts, team roles, and benefits – in the form of a classroom course setting. These courses provide a baseline understanding of the methodologies and best practices we have developed in our work within mission-driven organizations. We have embedded hands-on team activities to provide an opportunity for teams to practice the Agile structure.

We then provide multiple routes for organizations to incorporate Agile into their workflow. For some teams, we lead by example – playing the roles of Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Scrum team in the first sprint of a project. This approach allows each participant to observe and understand their responsibilities, while having a guiding mentor. During the following sprints, team members slowly claim their roles, becoming more comfortable and assured, while Exygy mentors step back from the sprint.

The Craftsmanship of Coaching

When we crafted our management structure, we drew from the parts of our work that help us be effective and sustainable. We emphasized the processes that bring out personal growth in our team and lead to pride in our work. Our mechanisms are carefully set up to support teamwork, adapt to a project’s ever-changing priorities, and foster equal footing for all team members to innovate and contribute creatively.

Coaching is another way for us to share our craft. By sharing our Agile management structure, we’re extending our skills to others who work on projects that build healthy and resilient communities. As more organizations incorporate Agile management, they are better serving their team members, and extending their organization’s capacity to deliver the greatest impact with their work.

Want to learn more about Agile management? Please email us at hello@exygy.com!

 

Co-authored by Zach Berke & Anna Gibbons