What an Agile Leader Does: The Group Dynamics Perspective
This addresses the problem of unclear definitions for agile leaders in large organizations, though it is incremental by identifying specific group dynamics challenges not covered in existing frameworks.
The study investigated what agile leaders do and perceive as challenges regarding group dynamics in agile transformations, finding that leader mitigation of team maturity, design, and culture is essential for success.
When large industrial organizations change to(or start with) an agile approach to operations, managers and some employees are supposed to be "agile leaders" often without being given a clear definition of what that comprises when building agile teams. An inductive thematic analysis was used to investigate what 15 appointed leaders actually do and perceive as challenges regarding group dynamics working with an agile approach. Team maturity, Team design, and Culture and mindset were all categories of challenges related to group dynamics that the practitioners face and manage in their work-life that are not explicitly mentioned in the more process-focused agile transformation frameworks. The results suggest that leader mitigation of these three aspects of group dynamics is essential to the success of an agile transformation.