Agile as concept is a loose framework of general ideas, making it easy for lots of ideas and strategies to develop. Much of the literature and training I’ve seen forgets that like all projects, it comes down to people. Because of this, I’ve assembled lessons I’ve learned working with teams that help improve productivity while maintaining team wellbeing.

1. Break down all tasks into single focused steps which can be completed in one sitting.

The smallest task unit should be completable in 15 min or less. This not only helps keep workload consistent. It’s also much easier to convince yourself to knock out a 10 min task than start work on something you know will take the entire day. It’s not always easy to do this on your first try, which leads me to number two. 

2. Refactor the project as you go.

You often start with the big picture and break it down from there. Every time I make a first pass at this, I end up finding during implementation that I did not break down the tasks into their smallest actionable chunks. And need to break it down further to find my way again. Depending on the tool you use, projects can only be broken down into 4 or so levels. Epics Stories tasks and sometimes subtasks. You may find upon first breaking down the project, the sub tasks do not fit the 15 min or less principle. When you think about writing code, writing one line of code takes most people a few seconds. If a function requires so much work that it breaks the 15 min rule, that also means lots of work hours spent implementing before one even knows it will work. Therefore, that function should be broken down into testable phases of each piece. This may require restructuring the task or story, splitting one story into two or having a function broken down into multiple tasks. Remember, this system is for keeping you on track and on schedule. Forcing the hierarchy at the expense of short, actionable tasks will cause the system to break down. 

3. Listen if a teammate feels overwhelmed and trust teammates to know best how much they can get done

People tend to underestimate how long a task will take to complete. It takes practice to become good at it, but it’s an essential skill for individual team members to accurately estimate how long it will take to complete something. Allowing teammates to admit when they’ve bitten off more than they can chew and adjust accordingly provides the freedom for them to learn how much time they need for certain tasks. This makes everyone better at number one on this list, making sure each task is doable in one sitting. 

4. Allow cushion in your estimates for people to get a bit ahead.

People love feeling ahead of the game. All projects need cushion for unexpected delays, illness, unforeseen challenges. Empowering teammates to use that time to get ahead is great for morale and productivity. This may require planning a bit further ahead than typical in agile, but in most projects, there are plenty of tasks that are safe bet even before the preceding sprint is complete.

5. Build in the time needed to keep the planning tools organized, up-to-date, and accurate throughout the project’s lifetime

It’s easy to let this slide when deadlines loom. If your slipping in this area, it means your sprint was too ambitious and you need to recalibrate. Everyone should feel empowered to update it as necessary, but the PM needs to ensure this happens no matter what. It is easy to see planning tools as a waste of time. They are a lot of work, but by that same reasoning, air traffic controllers are a waste. After all, the pilots already know how and where to land the plane. What could go wrong? 

Feeling rushed and letting things slip is not a failing of workers but of sprint planning. Make sure you understand what problem you are trying to solve with the process and how it affects those on your team. Balancing team member wellbeing with available time constraints increases the long-term efficiency. The most important thing is to try new things and track how well they work compared to old ways. It’s easy to get attached to processes and workflows, but that sort of rigidity is exactly what agile is trying to avoid. Give these tips a try, track performance and compare it to your old style. Ask your team how they like it, and, toss what doesn’t work. Agile is all about adaptation.