Agile Workflow

What is an Agile workflow?

Agile workflows are essentially visual representations of repeated processes for an Agile team. They guide users through the process step-by-step and give them information about who is performing each task. Workflows were created by Fredrick Taylor and Henry Gantt for manufacturing teams with the Gantt chart, but today, workflows are used by teams in virtually every industry.

Here’s why your team should be using Agile workflows and how to create one that works for you.

Why build an Agile workflow?

First, Agile workflows bring consistency to processes and projects in your department. They make processes easier and more efficient, and they help your team produce consistent and predictable results.

Secondly, documented Agile workflows also measure your process to identify problem areas or bottlenecks. Identifying bottlenecks and streamlining workflow is an essential element of Agile methodologies, especially Kanban where you document your workflow on a Kanban board. 

If you are constantly missing deadlines or finishing a process only to find that your final product has errors or missing pieces, looking back at a documented process helps you see exactly where things are going wrong. Even the process of creating a workflow is a useful opportunity to find places where you can improve.

Finally, documented Agile workflows make training new team members and working with other departments easier. For people who are unfamiliar with your processes, a documented workflow created with thought and consideration is a lot more helpful than a verbal rundown of a process that hasn’t gone through any trial and error.

On-Demand: Four Steps to Streamline Marketing Workflow

How to build an Agile workflow

Building an Agile workflow can take some time, but it’s well worth the investment. Building one will be different each time depending on how familiar your team is with the process and how complex it is. However, the following steps will guide you through building an Agile workflow that will help your team with any of the processes you use regularly.

1. Decide what you’re documenting

If there is a process that your team members repeat often, it’s probably worth documenting. This is especially true for processes that are complex or involve multiple people, that have an end product that is visible to clients or stakeholders, or that your team has had trouble with in the past.

However, you’ll want to strike a balance between having no documented processes and documenting everything that every member of your team could possibly do on any given day.

There are no set rules about what processes you should or shouldn’t document, so look at the processes your team is using, talk with them, and use your own knowledge of their performance to determine which processes you want to document as workflows.

2. Determine the scope of the workflow 

One of the benefits of having a documented Agile workflow is that it can work similarly to a project scope and help you avoid unnecessary additions. With informal processes, it’s easy to add new work in along the way because there’s nothing guiding or limiting what you’re doing.

Anyone who is involved with the Agile workflow should give input on its scope. If the process has been undocumented up to this point, it’s likely that everyone uses different strategies and achieves different outcomes. Take the best strategies and outcomes for the task and eliminate tasks that are redundant or otherwise slow progress.

Take some time to talk with your team about what should and shouldn’t be included in this particular workflow that you’re defining and how expansive the end result will be.

3. Determine the Agile workflow steps

To start out, simply list the steps of the Agile workflow as you know them. Assemble everyone involved in this workflow, in-person if possible, to lay out these steps in more detail.

As you discuss each step, ask your assembled team this question: will each step in this workflow help your team achieve its goal? As number four in this list of Agile workflow tips explains, you should begin with your end goal in mind.

You should also think about ways to improve the Agile workflow. That is one reason everyone’s input is so important: some people may have found ways to streamline or automate parts of the workflow that can help the entire team.

Lastly, look for steps in the process that might add extra time or expense, such as outsourcing work or waiting on approval from someone outside your team. Extra time and expense adds complications to your workflow, so eliminate them whenever possible.

4. Estimate a length of time for each step

Once your team agrees on the steps in your Agile workflow, estimate the time it takes to complete each step and document it with Story Points. Don’t think of this as a time limit—instead, think of it as a tool for people who are new to the process. Even a rough estimate can provide context for new team members or people outside your regular team.

If your team has used this process for a long time, this should be simple. If it’s a process that is new to your team, it’s okay to skip this step for now and come back to it when you have a better grasp on it.

5. Translate the process steps into a visual workflow

When you build an Agile workflow, you’ll use shapes and colors to represent steps in the workflow and designate who is performing them. If your organization doesn’t have established guidelines for creating Agile workflows, you have some freedom with how you use them, but there are some standards for shapes you should stick to.

Each shape signifies a different step. An elongated circle represents the beginning or end of the workflow, a diamond represents a decision that must be made, and a rectangle represents a process within the workflow. These shapes are all connected by arrows to define their relationship.

Adding colors will help you describe the process in even more detail while keeping your workflow simple and clean.

For example, you can use a different color to represent each member of your team so that anyone looking at the workflow knows exactly who they need to talk to about each step. You can also use colors to identify optional steps or those that need to be singled out.

Keep in mind that workflows don’t have to be a straight line. Workflows with built-in reviews and approvals will have different routes depending on if a task is approved or sent back for revision. Workflows that represent processes with various outcomes will branch out at the end to show each one.

When it comes to creating an Agile workflow, you can purchase a specialized program made specifically for building workflows. These programs are useful if you spend a lot of time creating workflows or if the ones you’re building are especially complex.

You can also use programs like Word and Excel, using online tutorials and templates to get started. What you use will depend on your unique team and processes.

6. Revise and refine the workflow

Process changes are common and normal, and your Agile workflows can and should evolve along with them. The beauty of defined workflows is that they make the details of a process visible, giving you the opportunity to consider different, and possibly more effective, ways of doing things.

As you implement newly defined Agile workflows, watch for bottlenecks or problem areas. You should also solicit feedback from your team and listen to what they have to say. You can even set aside a regular time to review your workflows with your team and suggest changes. Embrace the process of creating and revising Agile workflows and work toward being a more efficient team.

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Creating your Agile workflow

Creating an Agile workflow is not just about getting a process down on paper—it’s also about looking at the process with a critical eye and finding ways to improve. This allows your team to think about the things they do every day and work toward being more efficient and effective, both individually and as a team.