Agile, Step by Step for 2027

Understand what agile really means and put it to work in any team, in software or beyond, with clear methods for backlogs, planning, roles and wider adoption.

Who it's for

Managers, team leaders and professionals who want to work in an agile way without drowning in jargon. You do not need a software background. Read the first two chapters, then go to the one you need; the last two are for leaders taking agile beyond one team.

What you'll learn

• Put the four values and twelve principles of the Agile Manifesto into plain words, and judge where agile fits with a matrix inspired by Ralph Stacey’s work
• Build the habits behind agile working (evidence over opinion, short loops, small batches) and the psychological safety described by Amy Edmondson
• Compare Scrum, Kanban, XP, Lean and the scaling frameworks SAFe, LeSS and Nexus, and choose a starting point that fits your work
• Build an ordered backlog with user stories, Bill Wake’s INVEST checklist, MoSCoW (created by Dai Clegg) and Jeff Patton’s story map
• Plan iterations around a goal, size work with planning poker and forecast dates from velocity or throughput, with a shared Definition of Done
• Set up cross-functional teams in marketing, HR, finance or operations with a written working agreement
• Adopt agile across the organisation through a pilot, and avoid anti-patterns such as agile theatre and water-scrum-fall

What's inside

• 45 pages, 7 chapters
• Each chapter gives you key concepts, a step-by-step method, an illustrative example from a fictional UK organisation, a ready-to-use tool, common mistakes, a recap of the key steps and a short exercise to try this week
• Worked examples from fictional UK organisations, from a housing association to a food manufacturer
• A tool in every chapter: agile fit check, experiment template, framework comparison, user story template, iteration plan, working agreement template and 90-day adoption roadmap
• A 30-60-90 day action plan with checklists, plus a glossary
• PDF in A4 format — read on screen or print
• Instant download after purchase

Contents

1. What Agile Really Means
2. The Agile Mindset at Work
3. Choosing a Framework
4. Building a Backlog That Delivers Value
5. Planning and Forecasting in Short Cycles
6. Agile Teams Beyond Software
7. Adopting Agile Across the Organisation

Part of The Business Library

This title is one of the 55 ebooks in The Business Library, available together for £109 (worth £1,437 if bought separately: the total of the individual prices of the included titles in our store). It is also included in The Ultimate Business Bundle, which adds 8 checklists and toolkits and 10 workbooks — all 73 products for £147.