Rarely a term in the world of work has generated so many emotions in recent years as the word "agile". Some swear by it, others detest it. I think both were wrong ;-).
In order to be able to answer the initial question "do I have to work agile now?", we should first understand what "agile working" actually means in order to decide whether this would make sense in my case at all.
I'll spoil: It depends! :)
So, what is this "agile"? For me, working agile - among many other things - mainly means the willingness to learn. All the time. From things that went badly as well as from things that went well. Each for himself, together in the team and across the entire organization.
After all, what happens when people constantly learning at every level? And that will the bosses love: you will inevitably and incidentally get better and better.
Basically, that's it. At least you might think. Unfortunately, the devil is in the details and the way to a learning team and consequently to a learning organization is a long one. As always with ups and downs.
Teams that are constantly learning are constantly evolving. They constantly adjust their actions in small steps. But this also means that this creates a dynamic of constant change. And people react to this totally individually.
As Agile Coaches, we accompany teams in finding the right dosage of dynamics for themselves. For example, together with the teams, we establish rituals that enable effective learning (e.g. retrospectives) and make sure that the centrifugal forces of the dynamics do not become too high.
So if you are in an environment that is constantly changing - be it the market, the customers, the cooperation with others, etc. - agile working offers you many tools and a mindset that can support the challenges very well.
But does it fit anytime and anywhere? No. How and in what manner agile working is the right one depends individually on tasks, teams, environment and other influences. But used correctly, with the right mix of tools and posture, it can provide a huge boost.
