A few weeks ago, I wrote about a hybrid of Crystal Clear, DSDM, XP, and Scrum; the most common Agile methodologies, but seeking to improve things for non-software teams.

I sat on the train earlier, commuting to the office, looking out of the window into the dark (yes again), and began to ponder. Curiosity got the better of me.

The blended approach intended to accommodate different team dynamics, project types, and business environments while maintaining agility, structure, and collaboration. I’d played with a persona

But what about the leaders who support the teams. What do they crave?

Here’s how such a hybrid could look:

Proposed Adaptive, People-Centric Hybrid Approach

1. Prioritize Communication and Collaboration

Core Idea:

Emphasize transparent, continuous communication within the team and with stakeholders.

How It Works:

Foster an open and supportive work environment where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas and feedback, similar to Crystal Clear’s emphasis on a “safety zone.”

Use Information Radiators (e.g., visual boards, digital dashboards) to keep everyone aligned on project status, priorities, and progress.

Adopt continuous stakeholder engagement practices from DSDM to ensure that feedback loops are consistent and inputs are integrated throughout the project lifecycle.

2. Structured Framework with Flexibility

Core Idea:

Use a structured framework to organize work, but retain the flexibility to adapt.

How It Works:

Implement timeboxed work periods (like Scrum’s sprints), but keep them flexible. For example, plan for a two-week cycle but allow for early delivery when tasks are completed ahead of schedule, similar to Crystal Clear’s incremental delivery.

Create a lightweight process: Establish daily standups, weekly planning sessions, and retrospectives, but adapt the format to suit the team’s needs. Don’t be afraid to adjust or drop practices that aren’t adding value.

Encourage the team to self-organize and determine how to achieve the goals for each cycle, blending Scrum’s roles with the adaptable principles of Crystal Clear.

3. Self-Organizing Teams with Clearly Defined Roles

Core Idea:

Provide autonomy but clarify roles to ensure accountability and alignment.

How It Works:

Define roles and responsibilities clearly (like Scrum’s Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Team Members), but give teams the flexibility to adjust these as needed, drawing from DSDM’s role definitions that integrate business and delivery functions.

Encourage self-organization, empowering teams to decide how they’ll achieve their objectives. Blend DSDM’s focus on collaboration between business representatives and delivery teams, ensuring business goals drive team efforts.

Adapt DSDM’s concept of a project-level view, where roles are more about collaboration than hierarchy, helping teams self-manage effectively while remaining aligned on strategic goals.

4. Agile Planning and Frequent Delivery

Core Idea:

Plan and deliver work incrementally, focusing on regular feedback and iteration.

How It Works:

Use short planning cycles where teams break down projects into smaller, manageable parts. Leverage Scrum’s sprint planning but adapt XP’s focus on frequent delivery to avoid waiting for the end of the cycle.

Release when there is value, rather than sticking strictly to timeframes.

Embrace an incremental delivery approach: Deliver small, valuable parts of the project continuously. This could mean internal demos, progress updates, or even launching small parts of the product or initiative.

Promote experimentation: Teams can test ideas, adjust plans, and iterate quickly, creating a culture of continuous improvement. Encourage regular reviews and adjust priorities based on feedback.

5. Built-in Governance and Flexibility

Core Idea:

Combine governance with flexibility, ensuring projects remain under control without stifling creativity.

How It Works:

Adopt DSDM’s governance framework to handle project-level decisions, risk management, and stakeholder alignment. This is particularly useful for non-software teams that need to maintain compliance, budget controls, or strategic alignment.

Integrate adaptive principles from Crystal Clear: Allow teams to adapt their processes, suggesting that governance should facilitate rather than dictate. This could mean lighter documentation and flexible, outcome-focused KPIs.

Encourage flexible roles and dynamic workflows. For example, if new priorities emerge, teams can swiftly adjust without needing to navigate complex approval processes. DSDM’s approach can help balance governance with Crystal Clear’s adaptability.

6. Emphasis on Quality and Learning

Core Idea:

Prioritize quality, continuous improvement, and a culture of learning.

How It Works:

Encourage teams to adopt quality assurance practices, similar to XP’s focus on maintaining high standards.

For non-software teams, this could translate to regular quality checks, peer reviews, or pilots to test concepts before full-scale implementation.

Build a learning culture: Like XP’s regular feedback and Crystal Clear’s safety to innovate, foster an environment where teams are encouraged to experiment, learn from mistakes, and improve continuously.

Implement retrospectives at the end of each work cycle to identify what worked, what didn’t, and how processes can be improved. Use the outcomes to adapt working practices, ensuring that learning is integrated into future cycles.

7. Lightweight, Outcome-Driven Planning

Core Idea:

Combine outcome-focused planning with lightweight processes to drive value.

How It Works:

Use DSDM’s MoSCoW prioritization to focus on delivering the most critical elements first. This helps teams quickly identify must-haves, should-haves, and could-haves, ensuring resources are directed where they matter most.

Blend Scrum’s backlog refinement process, but keep it lightweight, focusing on clear outcomes and flexibility. Use Crystal Clear’s focus on essentials to ensure teams don’t over-plan or over-complicate, enabling them to stay agile and responsive to changes.

Regularly revisit goals and objectives to ensure the team remains aligned on the desired outcomes, and adapt as necessary. Keep planning visible and involve stakeholders throughout the process to ensure clarity and alignment.

Conclusion: An Adaptive, People-Centric Hybrid Approach

This hybrid methodology brings together the structure of Scrum, the technical discipline of XP, the governance and prioritization of DSDM, and the adaptability and people-focus of Crystal Clear.

For non-software teams, it can serve as a practical, flexible, and powerful framework that fosters collaboration, delivers value, and adapts easily to change. By combining these diverse elements, teams can balance the need for structure with the freedom to innovate, ensuring projects stay on track while allowing space for creativity and responsiveness.

In essence, this hybrid approach encourages non-software teams to communicate effectively, self-organize, deliver frequently, learn continuously, and prioritize with flexibility. It promotes agility while providing enough structure to manage risks and align with broader business goals.

Afterthought: People-Centric Hybrid Approach Isn’t New

In hindsight, after writing this post, this approach is very similar to the hybrid approach I adopted last year (I led a program in social care with non-software teams that had endured 6 years of transformational change). The revolutionary approach enabled the 50+ people to communicate effectively, self-organize, deliver frequently, learn continuously, prioritize with flexibility, and deliver valuable outcomes in a fraction of the time it typically took the organization.

What are your thoughts?