Startups do it. Software companies do it. And the rest is talking about it: Becoming agile in leadership and in development as a company. Why is it so hyped? Because it comes with astonishing benefits if implemented fully. The good news is that you can do it, the bad news is that you can’t do it just a little bit.

We will take you through how you can transform your strategy development to be more adaptable and flexible. Maybe even the whole company. You probably already know that it isn’t easy. But do not worry. In this article, we will help you to start your agile transformation and give you some strategies to implement agile successfully.

It is not going to be an easy path to transform your department or company into agile. There are different obstacles even before you have even started. Get these out of the way and it eases the start. After minimizing the risks and problems that could appear, let’s focus on ways how to execute agile transformation successfully.

1. Fresh mindset

The key to a successful agile journey is an agile mindset. Agile transformation is not going to be just a project or initiative for you, it is a never-ending journey to change your and the company’s thinking fundamentally. Keep this in mind and you will learn to embrace agile methods and tools and implement them more naturally in your development.

2. Timing

With this fresh mindset figure out How and When you should start your transformation to agile. Get an overview of all the risks and benefits of launching Agile Transformation at your current time. This helps you to minimize problems that will develop during the process and you can analyze it to find the best moment and way to launch your change.

3. Get allies

To implement agile successfully it helps to look at other departments in your company and see if there are already agile processes running. Talk to your co-workers, gain feedback, and learn how to implement it in other departments. Additionally, you gain employees with experience and allies to convince stakeholders and managers of the benefits of transforming.

4. Internal training eases the transitioning

Your allies can, in addition, help you to strengthen your teams and empower them within an agile culture. Allies can become experts and trainers and can explain the upcoming changes and new processes within the current working culture and environment in a better way. Furthermore, the collaboration between departments is an essential part of agile development. Having managers as allies will make it easier for you and co-workers to run them effectively within agile transitioning.

5. Employees need time

You should never force agile just straight into the company. The change process has to fit your company and the different teams. If your employees get the feeling that they have no time to adjust to new processes in their own way they will reject them. Make a clear plan before you start the process to make the communication easier for your employees.

6. Roadmap for stability

While agile development means short cycles and small iterations that can be easily changed to adapt to trends and the market, do not forget the roadmap to guide your agile processes. Creating an overall vision will give you stability within your development.

7. Customer value instead of stakeholder value

One of the best strategies for you to become agile is to keep focusing on your customers and creating values for them. Agile processes allow you to adapt faster to customer needs and feedback. They are the centre of product development and, therefore, become also the key elements in your strategic planning. Especially nowadays, a close customer relationship is helpful and you will benefit from it in the long run.

So what are you waiting for now? With these 7 strategies in your pocket, your agile transformation is going to be much easier.

Read more: Why you might want to change your method to agile strategy