Agile for Non-Software Teams: A Practical Guide for Your Journey

by Gil Broza

Have you considered adopting an Agile way of working in your team?Business agility does not mean using the same processes and practices as your software and IT teams. In fact, the specific practices don't matter. Agile is a way of thinking and making choices that can benefit marketing, HR, finance, all parts of the business.This practical book will help you to...Decide where and how an Agile approach can help you serve the business betterCustomize and regularly improve an Agile way of working without your having to be a process expertAvoid the many pitfalls that lead to mediocre performance or bounce-backsFeel confident about your choices, even if they are different from what your tech colleagues use"I wish such a resource had been available at the start of our transformation!" -- Heather Francis, Head of Transformation, Roche Canada"This book is written for the audience we always forget in Agile the non-software roles." -- David Dame, VP, Global Agile, Scotiabank"Gil has managed to make Agile accessible to everyone." -- Sandy Mamoli, Author of Creating Great Teams, Nomad8"Despite emerging in the technology domain, there is nothing exclusively tech about Agile." -- Evan Leybourn, Founder & CEO, Business Agility Institute"You will be in the driver's seat throughout, choosing what fits your situation and unique goals." -- Suzanne Daigle, Business Strategist and Partner, NuFocus Strategic Group

Genres: Nonfiction, Business

207 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 28, 2019

About the author

Gil Broza specializes in helping tech leaders deliver far better results by upgrading their organizations’ Agile ways of working. He also supports their non-software colleagues in creating real business agility in their teams. Gil has helped over 100 organizations achieve real, sustainable improvements by working with their unique value delivery contexts and focusing on mindset, culture, and leadership. Companies also invite Gil for specialized support, such as strategic mapping of their improvement journey, facilitation of organizational mindset workshops, and keynotes for internal conferences. He is the author of four highly acclaimed books: Deliver Better Results, The Agile Mind-Set, The Human Side of Agile, and Agile for Non-Software Teams. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

Reviews

[Manfred Gutheins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very practical guidebook for an agile transformation of non software teams. The author shows how you can start and progress on this journey. There are a lot of practical tips and advise how to solve typical problems on the way.

[Kevin Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

All business is a complex, systems of systems, and business agility is the super power of success in a rapidly changing world.

Agile frameworks have developed to address unique challenges and are equally as powerful for any organization or industry, as it is for the software industry, that gave it birth.

After reading this latest title from Gil Broza, you will be inspired to begin, accelerate, or adapt your agile journey to achieve the next summit of your own climb to the top! Your value, and that of the team or organization you serve, will see immediate results, with Gil's writing style and rich content.

I am thankful for his contributions and use his prior works in my professional role for a Fortune 100 company, and as required reading for my university graduate and undergraduate courses, as I develop emerging leaders of the future.
See you at the top!

[Aki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gil Broza's books on Agile are among the best in the field, mostly due to their human focus, and broader applicability outside the software industry. Remember, Agile is fiercely people-first! I've now read all three of his books, Agile for Non-Software Teams being the latest. I can highly recommend his other two books as well: The Agile Mind-Set and The Human Side of Agile.

Gil's books are well researched and at the same time, well-written, making them both easy to understand and apply in practice. This particular book, Agile for Non-Software Teams, focuses mostly on principles, values and beliefs that you and your team have to define yourselves, in order to create the best workflow for you, in your context. The book explains very clearly and practically how Agile can help you with that, to reach the outcomes you and your customers want.

[Ellen Grove · Rating 5 out of 5]

Agile is very definitely not just a ‘software thing'. In my coaching practice, I’ve seen teams doing all kinds of work profit from integrating Agile thinking and practices into how they organize themselves and their work. This book offers clear and practical advice to help your team figure out your Agile way of working in order to reap the benefits of increased focus, faster feedback, and happier people.

[Chris Armstrong · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for anyone wanting to make their team more effective.
Gil Broza’s approach is both analytical and human. The book takes theoretical concepts and presents them in real-world applications that are easy to understand. When properly applied, Agile principals create a win-win situation for clients and team members alike. A very thoughtful and useful book!

[Anthony E · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book resonates with my experiences coaching non-technical Agile teams. I greatly appreciated its themes of engagement, culture, and purpose. The book’s conversational style, examples, and explanations will connect with any non-software developer.

[Jessica Bellas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone says that they want to incorporate agility into their business but these conversations usually stay at the conceptual level. This book is a no nonsense guide on HOW to make your business more agile. It is a refreshing and extremely useful guide !

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Focuses on communicating the principles, values and beliefs of agile

[James Wu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for anyone interested in implementing Agile-based principles in organizations.

[zoagli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing isn’t bad, but it’s not riveting either. It took me more than three months to get through the book the first time, because I kept finding more interesting works to read.

Still, on second reading, I find there are a lot of very valuable insights here. If you’re an agile expert, you will know most of them, but it helps to revisit them in a structured way through a new perspective: non-software teams.

What would make the book even better: don’t focus only on white-collar knowledge-workers; instead, add something about agile builders, doctors, or politicians, to name only a few.