Agile Mindset for Manufacturing: Agile in a Virtual Environment

The Action Engineering team embraces an Agile mindset & Scrum practices in our work.
In our Agile articles, we share tips & coaching opportunities that work well for us. 

While face-to-face conversations are the most rich communication channels, we have to pivot in this remote working world where we can’t physically be in the same space. Things to think about: what are the advantages and disadvantages of being co-located? How can we take the super awesome parts of co-location and achieve the same result in remote working?

Building an agile team in a remote environment is a combination of two big challenges – being agile and building a team. Here are a few ways we tackle these challenges and enhance our virtual working environment.

AGILE IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

• Create a virtual whiteboard. Whether you use a team OneNote, Confluence page, Teams, Slack, or another tool, create that common space where team members can go to find relevant, engaging information and collaborate with others.
• Give proactive feedback. Many of us typically send something out and just passively wait for feedback. Instead of waiting for the feedback to come back to you, be proactive. Bring everyone into a quick meeting so the team can review a document together and generate as many comments as possible. Time limits are actually good; they make people think more creatively about their feedback. So holding very short feedback meetings may get you better results than sending things out and waiting for individual responses. Equip yourself with tools to support quick collaborative sessions, like Stormboard.
• Add some humor. Lighten up the daily stand-up by adding an element of fun. Themed GIFs, YouTube links to songs you’ve been jammin’ out to, crazy coffee mugs – taking a few minutes to casually connect can build stronger team bonds and lighten the mood. Think of these things as the conversations you would have getting coffee or waiting for the microwave in your physical office. They feel silly, but they are a kind of connection that you’re missing right now.

One of the defining features of Agile is that it empowers teams to be able to adapt to rapidly changing markets and environments. This statement feels very true as our adaptability is challenged in a remote work environment. Agile can give you and your team the needed flexibility to tackle this challenge head-on and emerge stronger.

Want to chat with us about how your team is practicing Agile in your MBE journey? Send us a message!