Not harder, but smarter.
Admit it—it’s the foremost priority in the future of work. And Agile is the masterful architect behind it. If you’ve heard rumors that it has already died, we’ll easily debunk them with the following facts.
- Fact #1 — The agile transformation services market is projected to grow roughly five-fold by 2032.
- Fact #2 — 61% of organizations have been using agile strategies for over five years.
- Fact #3 — As of today, one-third of executives (32%) are actively leading agile transformations in their companies.
Remarkably, they don’t limit it to technical teams only. Non-software teams are going agile, too, and thriving on productivity. Yet, in 2025, it will be more advanced and upgraded with emerging cutting-edge tech.
In this article, you’ll learn how to become more agile in an innovative way and improve work management.
Agile Principles for Managing Work More Effectively in Any Business
From recruiting to selling, Agile is a one-rule-to-rule-them-all approach for every business process, all thanks to its fundamental principles.
Here they are.
Flexibility and Adaptability
These are the two basic ingredients of agility and the number one reason for adopting Agile in small teams, mid-sized businesses, and large corporations alike.
Instead of being stuck in inert systems with outdated methods, a business can swiftly react to changes and remain resilient even in the most turbulent times. It’s quite similar to surfing—you don’t control the waves, yet you can flex and adjust your posture to surf safely on the board.
For example:
McKinsey’s research shows that companies with Agile methodologies surfed through the COVID-19 times more successfully than their non-agile peers. They were considerably faster in adapting and responding to challenges. Just compare the reaction times among telecom operators depending on their agility levels amid the pandemic.
Source: McKinsey.com
Beyond project management, agility extends to administrative processes like contract lifecycle management. Businesses using contract management software can quickly adapt terms, automate approvals, and stay compliant in a fast-changing environment.
Cross-Functionality
Modern businesses are more prone to adopting the agile methodology cross-functionally.
1. Agility in PM (Project Management)
As a project manager, you can divide projects into bite-sized sprints based on the agile approach in PM.
You can opt for Scrum or more scaled agile frameworks, such as SAFe 6.0 or Scrum@Scale. In any case, agile PM is a go-to solution for project leaders who want to boost work efficiency. In fact, 39% of those who tried it report the highest project performance rates.
2. Agility in Product Development
Just draw this in your mind’s eye. You’ve developed and released a new product. But somehow, no one actually likes/uses it.
This would have never happened in agile product development. First, you start with minimum viable products (MVPs), gather user feedback, and make necessary adjustments.
For example:
Suppose you want to create a new T-shirt collection. You shouldn’t release the whole bulk of 100+ or even 1,000+ T-shirts. Instead, begin with an MVP or even publish several mockups on social media to analyze people’s reactions before manufacturing a single T-shirt.
3. Agility in HR
Rather than wasting hours while hunting for ideal candidates, agile HR professionals hire and onboard new employees faster, following recruitment trends and embracing innovations.
If you also aim for agility in hiring, consider HR workflow management templates or innovative tools for a more streamlined recruitment process:
- JazzHR
- Zoho Recruit
- BambooHR
- MegaHR
- GoHire.io
For example:
See how The Jernigan Agency, an insurance broker, hires on LinkedIn with JazzHR.
Source: LinkedIn
Besides, agile HR managers don’t wait for annual employee survey results or performance reviews to handle workplace problems. They fix them on the spot and modify their HR strategies accordingly.
4. Agility in Sales and Marketing
Previously, marketing and sales teams used to have long-term strategies for months or even years in advance. The result? They naturally failed because market trends change in the blink of an eye (RIP, Ice Bucket Challenge).
Today’s more agile and smarter work management frameworks allow them to pivot marketing campaigns with real-time makeovers and experiments.
For example:
Let’s say your goal is increasing Black Friday sales. You can A/B test your promos and adapt those on the fly for higher conversions before, during, and after Black Friday. You can also run it in three sprints: pre-, mid-, and post-campaign.
Feedback Centricity
What is the smartest way to manage work with Agile?
Undoubtedly, continuous feedback from employees and customers helps you determine what you’ve done right and wrong and where you need to improve.
1. Employee Feedback
- Stand-up meetings
- Sprint reviews
- Retrospectives
- Feedback boxes (virtual or physical)
- 1-on-1s
- Employee surveys
For example:
As an agile-first company, Teradata holds daily stand-ups and retrospective meetings, among other things, to collect employee feedback continuously.
You can likewise do it with NimbleRetro for Agile teams. Conduct retrospectives online in a time-bound, efficient manner.
2. Customer Feedback
- Focus groups
- Customer surveys (CSAT, NPS)
- A/B testing
- Website heatmaps
- Social media listening
- Customer advisory panels
For example:
Ryanair has launched a Customer Advisory Panel for customers to voice their opinions and recommendations on improving the airline service.
Source: Ryanair
5 Agile and Smart Work Management Tips for 2025 and Beyond
Embrace AI-Driven Agility → Use AI Tools
Why not go AI-agile at the starting line of your work-smart journey?
It’s one of the best time management strategies for working smarter, not harder. Here’s why. When you combine Agile with artificial intelligence (AI), it puts your sprint and task planning on autopilot, tracks your employee performance, and creates data-driven reports. And when it’s generative AI, it auto-generates anything you need for your agile project and saves hours on repetitive tasks.
The Nielsen Norman Group found that AI makes employees 66% more productive on average. Now, look at these productivity boosts with AI in three case studies: customer support, writing business documents, and programming.
Source: NNGroup
Here’s a list of the top AI work management tools for your consideration:
- Nimble AI
- Asana AI
- Jira AI
- Microsoft Copilot
- Adobe Workfront
For example:
In addition to substantial Agile features, Nimble also teams you up with an AI assistant. Meet your Nimble Buddy to assist and coach you—type what you need (or give a voice command!).
It can coach you on smoother workflow management, summarize your team’s comments, generate your To-Dos, and more!
Strive for “SParketing” Collaboration
What’s that, and how do you achieve it?
Take this strategy from Michael Nemeroff, Co-founder & CEO at RushOrderTees, who believes it’s key to smarter work management in any company. He explains, “When your sales, product, and marketing squads collaborate as one ‘SParketing’ trio, your corporate goals become more aligned, and your business—more flexible and better adaptive to changes.”
The formula for such cross-departmental collaboration goes like this:
Sales Team + Product Team + Marketing Team = SParketing
Michael Nemeroff also remarks, “Typically, sales, product, and marketing teams have different KPIs or OKRs. But I’d recommend setting shared targets and metrics. Everyone should pursue the same result and collaborate on common tasks.”
You should also consider creating an agile cross-functional team with members from these three departments. Or even better—let your C-suite managers “SParket”!
For example:
At Mentimeter, they formed the “Revenue Trio” of three team leaders: the Chief Sales Officer (CSO), the Chief Product Officer (CPO), and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). They own the goals, collaborate, and grow revenues together as a team.
Image Source: LinkedIn
Unify Your Team Communication
No more questions like, “Where’s that file again?” or “Haven’t you seen my email?”
Unified communications (UC) can help you manage your team smarter and stay more agile in the workplace of the future. UC adoption has already proved its potential: a 52% increase in employee productivity, 45%—in business efficiency, and up to 25%—in profitability.
So, isn’t it time to unify communications in your agile team?
Here’s how:
- Build a culture of trust and openness to communicate more transparently.
- Create a single source of truth for your documents: Google Drive or Dropbox.
- Pick one hub for messaging: Microsoft Teams or Slack.
- Turn to video and voice recordings for faster information exchange (sometimes, a Loom/Zoom video with a screen recording is much more convenient than a kilometer-long email with screenshots).
- Develop a rulebook for asynchronous communication (for remote and distributed teams): for instance, what are your response time expectations: 8, 12, or 24 hours?
- Set up quick auto-replies and notifications to be always informed.
But hey, if you use Nimble for agile work management, you’re safe from “app-hopping” between different communication and collaboration tools. In Nimble, you can manage your organizational documents and interact with each other in the Comments & Attachments section.
And if you’re keen on informal socialization and communication, you can indulge in social interactions at Nimble Café!
Gamify Your Projects
Has anyone told you that companies using gamified elements in the workplace are seven times more profitable?
That’s right—seven! Of course, it’s an after-effect of employee engagement and productivity: employees are 48% more engaged, and 90% say they are more productive in gamified work environments.
As you can understand, workplace gamification can act as a powerful productivity booster for agile teams and a profit driver for businesses in general through:
- Leaderboards with points
- Challenges and missions
- Mini-competitions between teams
- Awards or prizes
- Collectible items like badges
For example:
In Nimble’s smart project management software, your team members can collect Gold, Silver, and Bronze Badges for successfully accomplished tasks.
And Finally—Stop Multitasking!
Do you know the actual cost of multitasking and task-to-task switching?
Well, it can be quite “expensive.”
According to Dr. David Meyer, Professor of Psychology, jumping between tasks can drain as much as 40% of your productive time. Numerous psychological studies also prove that this nasty habit ruins cognitive abilities and lowers IQ, leading to project mistakes and constant reworking. Obviously, it won’t make you any smarter in work management.
The solution?
Replace multitasking with single-tasking. It’s one of the most effective task management tips to improve your team’s productivity.
When it comes to agility, try the Kanban method to manage tasks more effectively. It will help your agile team shift from chaotic multiple tasks to one task at a time (with prioritization).
Create a Kanban board with Nimble to break tasks into columns: “To-Do,” “In-progress,” and “Done.”
For example:
Once Ding started managing tasks via Nimble’s Kanban boards, their flow efficiency increased from 18% to 40%+.
Go More Agile and Manage Work Efficiently in Nimble
The future of work isn’t about doing more and pushing harder; it’s about working smarter. This article has shown you the path to successful work management. The ultimate takeaway? Add agility and innovation to every aspect, from people to task management, with Nimble.
Go Nimble to work smart, not hard!
