Agility represents a set of values and principles defining a culture for being successful. Here are some practical tips taken from the Agile world that we can apply anytime anywhere, no matter the project/challenge:
Time boxing It is an amazing practice that is based on introducing a bit of pressure to positively stimulate people to become more productive. Mistake: some people time box activities and ring the gong only when the time expires. Correct: if you time box for 12 minutes, update people from 3 to 3 minutes, four times. In this way they have the time to refocus their work and obtain outcomes. Try to observe the people when you announce the time left, they get panicked at first, jump off their chair and bring the discussions back to where it should be. This is a great active listening exercise. 2. Talk to people It may sound like a stupid tip, but you may be wondered how less people are doing it. We live in the world of digitalisation where people communicate better on devices rather than face to face. The cross alignment is a great practice that will work anytime anywhere. Connecting people as early as possible no matter what project you have will bring anytime value. In case your meetings are remote, do not be afraid and share your camera, more people will for sure follow the habit. It will increase the level of energy in the meeting and bring people closer at a personal level. 3. Goal Whatever you are doing, never forget to have a goal. Whether it is in your personal life, or at work, think about why you are doing that and where you want to be. Even better, when you start meetings, let everyone in the meeting share his goal for the respective meeting. It will bring a sense of accountability and responsibility over the purpose of the meeting. 4. Daily Meeting The Daily Stand-up Meeting in Scrum is one meeting we can take anytime anywhere. At work, when you have a team, answering the three questions will bring more transparency and connection between team members. Even at home you can use it for sure, while you enquire your 6 years old kid: What did you do today at school? What do you have to prepare for tomorrow? Do you have any problem? It works, trust me. 5. Visualisation Whether it is a goal or a roadmap, a holiday destination or a beautiful drawing, visualisation of the items will help you connect to it on a daily basis. It will remind you of it and keep it in the loop. We have a saying, "the eyes you don’t see, you forget them”, same happens to our goals, achievements, rules or plans. 6. Why Whenever you start something new or come across something you do not know ask yourself WHY. Starting with the why will bring more focus and make sure you avoid unnecessary actions and steps. 7. Less is MORE People lose themselves into so many things that they miss to do one thing right. This is why I love the Pomodoro technique that helps us to achieve more in less time. Quality can only come when we focus and give full attention. Multitasking is good until one point when productivity starts to decrease. Another powerful agile saying comes from Kanban “stop starting, start finishing”. 8. Positive Bias Whatever happens keep a positive attitude, smile, help people, spread positivity around. A positive bias can bring people closer together and create a good atmosphere at work. The relationship at work can motivate/demotivate individuals and make them stay loyal/change to other company. Try them out at work or at home, with classical projects or agile ones, with teams or family!
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