Scaling agile practices in large organizations presents unique challenges that require innovative solutions. This article explores fifteen proven techniques for successfully implementing agile at scale, drawing on insights from industry experts. From breaking silos to fostering a culture of teamwork, these strategies offer practical approaches to enhance collaboration, streamline processes, and drive organizational agility.
Break Silos with Cross-Team Collaboration
We’ve effectively scaled agile by breaking down departmental silos between digital, sales, and client-facing teams. Projects often used to drag because departments worked in isolation. We rolled out agile by training everyone on short, focused sprints and cross-team collaboration.
A technique that proved successful for us was “feedback blitz” sessions. Every Friday, our teams meet for 30 minutes to review what’s been working, what hasn’t, and discuss how to improve the next sprint. For example, after noticing slow lead follow-ups, we adjusted our CRM alerts to reduce response times.
These sessions serve to keep us nimble and catch issues early. We’ve seen an increase in project completion rates and more satisfied clients since implementing this practice.
My advice for other organizations is to make feedback a habit, not a chore. Keep sessions brief and action-focused, and involve everyone. Choose a day, grab a coffee, and collaborate on solutions together. It’s the most straightforward way to keep agile practices effective as your organization grows.
Alex Ugarte, Digital Operations Manager & Marketing Lead, LondonOfficeSpace.com
Implement Weekly Planning with Clear Ownership
We never set out to “be agile” in the formal sense—there were no scrum masters, sprint retrospectives, or Jira workflows in our early days. However, as our team grew and our projects became more interdependent, we had to find a lightweight way to stay aligned and move quickly without creating overhead.
The single most effective technique we adopted was weekly planning with clear ownership. Every Monday, we conduct a short 45-minute meeting where each team member outlines the one or two most important things they’ll own that week. This isn’t a list of tasks—just the key deliverables where they’re the driver. That ownership mentality accomplishes two things: it gives the rest of the team visibility into what’s moving forward, and it creates natural accountability without needing micromanagement or complex tooling.
We pair that with a shared Notion board where each person’s weekly priorities are listed in one place. It’s not fancy, but it’s consistent and transparent. By keeping our process simple and focusing more on clarity of roles than ceremony, we’ve scaled agile thinking without the weight of formal frameworks.
Brett Ungashick, CEO, OutSail
Align Goals with OKR Framework
I’ve had the opportunity to help numerous startups scale agile practices effectively. One technique we’ve found particularly successful is implementing OKR (Objectives and Key Results) frameworks. I remember when I first introduced OKRs at Spectup; it was a game-changer for our team. We were able to align our goals across different departments and levels of the organization, ensuring everyone was working towards the same objectives.
By setting clear, measurable key results, we could track progress and make data-driven decisions. This approach has been especially helpful for our startup clients, who often struggle with scaling their operations while maintaining agility. We’ve seen firsthand how OKRs can help teams stay focused on what matters most, even as they grow rapidly. We’re always looking for ways to refine our own agile practices, and we’re happy to share our expertise with the startups we work with.
Niclas Schlopsna, Managing Consultant and CEO, spectup
Synchronize Quarterly Planning Across Teams
Essentially, we streamlined the planning process across teams, maintained adaptability, and ensured company-wide consensus. Rather than having each team operate on independent schedules, we established common quarterly planning windows where teams aligned their roadmaps while retaining sprint-level autonomy.
When scaling from three to twelve development teams, this approach allowed product managers to identify dependencies between teams before work began rather than discovering conflicts mid-implementation. Each team maintained their agile processes within sprints, but the synchronized quarterly planning created alignment on priorities and interconnected deliverables. We supplemented these planning sessions with lightweight weekly cross-team meetings focused exclusively on coordination needs and blockers.
We really needed to separate the synchronization jobs from the team’s regular tasks to make this work. We explicitly designed the quarterly alignment to be lightweight enough that teams didn’t feel burdened by excessive coordination overhead. For organizations scaling agile practices, focus on creating minimal viable synchronization points that address critical dependencies without undermining team autonomy. This balanced approach maintains agile responsiveness while enabling the coordination necessary for larger organizations.
Aaron Whittaker, VP of Demand Generation & Marketing, Thrive Digital Marketing Agency
Launch Fast with Sprint-to-Launch Framework
I’ve successfully scaled agile practices in my organization by treating flexibility and iteration as strategic assets, not just operational tactics. Given that I manage multiple brands, I had to create lightweight systems that allowed us to move quickly without getting buried in endless revisions or bureaucracy. One technique that’s been particularly effective is using a “Sprint-to-Launch” framework for new products and services.
Instead of building everything perfectly behind the scenes, we define a two- to three-week sprint focused on creating a minimum viable product—whether it’s a new digital download, a PR service, or a branding resource. We launch it fast, collect immediate feedback through soft channels like Pinterest analytics, landing page conversions, or direct customer DMs, and refine it. This method keeps momentum high, minimizes sunk costs, and ensures we’re building what the market wants, not just what we think it wants. It’s allowed me to scale without overextending resources—and to continually sharpen the business across all tiers.
Kristin Marquet, Founder & Creative Director, Marquet Media
Coordinate Value Streams with Agile Release Trains
Scaling Agile practices in healthcare IT isn’t just about faster sprints—it’s about aligning speed with safety, compliance, and clinical relevance. One technique I’ve found highly effective—especially in large, multi-disciplinary environments—is implementing Agile Release Trains (ARTs), inspired by the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).
In scenarios where teams were working in silos—engineering focused on features, compliance on regulations, and clinical ops on usability—we used ARTs to establish a synchronized cadence across product, QA, regulatory, and stakeholder groups. These teams were organized around value streams like “Patient Data Interoperability” or “Revenue Cycle Automation,” each with a shared backlog and clear deliverables. This shift from fragmented development to coordinated, cross-functional delivery brought much-needed visibility and consistency.
We also held regular system demos at the end of each Program Increment, where integrated features were reviewed with real end-users, including clinicians and billing leads. It kept priorities rooted in patient care and ensured compliance wasn’t bolted on at the end but built in from the start.
One key insight: scaling Agile in healthcare means finding the right balance between autonomy and alignment. ARTs allowed teams to move fast, but not in different directions. As seen in systems like Intermountain Healthcare, this model can reduce delivery cycles without compromising quality.
In environments with high stakes and complex dependencies, this technique helps Agile evolve from a dev-team tool into a full organizational strategy.
Riken Shah, Founder & CEO, OSP Labs
Enhance Visibility Through Power BI Integration
One technique we used to successfully scale agile practices in our organization was integrating Power BI with our project management tools to enhance visibility and decision-making. As projects grew in size and complexity, relying solely on platforms like Jira or ClickUp made it challenging to track key metrics across teams. By connecting these tools to Power BI, we automated the extraction and visualization of critical agile KPIs—such as completed tasks, SCRUM points, time tracking discrepancies, and bottlenecks. This centralized reporting enabled faster, data-driven decisions and helped us align teams more effectively, even at scale.
Eugene Lebedev, Managing Director, Vidi Corp LTD
Foster Responsiveness with Weekly Sprint Huddles
Scaling agile practices didn’t start with software tools—it started with mindset. As a fashion brand rooted in compassionate innovation, we needed agility to respond quickly to both industry shifts and the needs of our community. One technique we implemented successfully was the “weekly sprint huddle” across cross-functional teams—from design to customer service to marketing.
Every Monday, we hold a 30-minute focused meeting where teams share priorities, obstacles, and quick wins. It keeps communication tight, fosters accountability, and helps us pivot efficiently—whether it’s reacting to a supply chain delay or a trending color we want to fast-track. It’s been a game-changer in scaling creativity without sacrificing speed.
My advice: Agile isn’t just for tech—it’s about responsiveness and ownership. Keep it lightweight and people-centered.
Debbie Naren, Founder, Design Director, Limeapple
Streamline Communication via Scrum of Scrums
One technique we’ve successfully used to scale agile practices is implementing a Scrum of Scrums model. As our teams grew, we found that dependencies and cross-functional coordination became bottlenecks. By designating one representative from each Scrum team to join a higher-level sync, we ensured that blockers, overlaps, and shared priorities were surfaced early without bloating individual stand-ups. These meetings are short, focused, and typically held a few times a week to maintain momentum. It’s helped us reduce misalignment across teams and keep delivery timelines predictable. For a growth organization, it’s been a lightweight but powerful way to stay agile at scale.
Jenna Brennan, VP of Growth, Dutch
Unify Teams Through SAFe Implementation
Successfully scaling Agile practices involves fostering a unified Agile mindset across the organization. One effective technique is implementing the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). This method aligns multiple teams towards a common vision by setting up an Agile Release Train (ART) that synchronizes their work. Regular PI (Program Increment) planning sessions are crucial, bringing all teams together to plan, discuss dependencies, and set objectives for the next increment. This transparency and collaboration ensure that everyone is aligned and committed to the same goals. By using a consistent framework, it becomes easier to manage dependencies, prioritize work, and maintain flexibility, which helps scale Agile practices effectively across the organization.
ANSHUMAN GUHA, Staff Engineer Data Scientist, Freshworks
Empower Cross-Functional Teams for Agile Decision-Making
Scaling agile practices within an organization must be accomplished with a clear, purposeful intent, with alignment at all levels. Through years of experience, I’ve realized the significance of developing a culture wherein teams feel empowered to make decisions and dictate their fate. One way in which this has worked for us is by creating cross-functional teams that are empowered to make decisions under the broader company strategy. They consist of a pool of employees with different skills that can be ranked, enhancing decision-making and motivating innovation. It also makes them resilient in a changing environment.
Its success relies on the frequency of feedback and iterations. We utilized shorter cycle lengths of feedback, such as sprint reviews and retrospectives, to ensure the process was being checked and corrected regularly. These processes allow the teams to stay agile in their responses, as per adjusting to market changes or business requirements. The continuous loop of planning, doing, reviewing, and improving provides room for flexibility in staying on track and achieving objectives even with the existence of uncertainty.
Meanwhile, we’ve received a commitment to building leadership that comprehends and embraces the agile mindset. Company leaders have been equipped with the skills needed to manage their teams successfully under this paradigm. This has created a culture where agility is more than a process, but a mindset and work culture that cuts across all ranks. In the process, we’ve made it a point to integrate agility at the core of our organizational DNA, fueling continuous success and innovation.
Tony Nutley, Founder & CEO, UK College of Personal Development
Build Culture of Teamwork and Flexibility
One of the main approaches I’ve used to effectively expand agile methods in my company is building a culture of teamwork and flexibility. By giving cross-functional groups the freedom to take ownership of decisions and focusing on clear communication, we’ve managed to stay aligned with shared business objectives. A practical method I’ve found useful is introducing step-by-step delivery phases—this strategy lets us collect instant feedback, quickly make improvements, and stay focused on providing value to customers. This not only speeds up results but also creates an atmosphere where creativity flourishes.
Eugene Stepnov, Chief Marketing Officer | Marketing & Tech expert, 1browser
Encourage Experimentation and Rapid Feedback Loops
I was able to scale agile practices across our teams by building a culture where experimenting wasn’t just allowed but expected. It didn’t start with some grand rollout or company-wide framework. Instead, it began by allowing small teams to try things their own way, with the only rule being that they had to share what they learned with everyone else—whether it worked or not.
I became very deliberate about creating feedback loops that weren’t tied to performance reviews or big quarterly KPIs. We implemented Friday wrap-ups where teams would showcase what they tried, why they tried it, and what resulted from it. These weren’t formal presentations. People would literally screen share a test ad campaign, a new landing page variation, or even just a different way they wrote internal briefs. This created an environment where people wanted to test because they knew others were listening and learning from it.
I also removed a lot of red tape around trying something new. If a media buyer wanted to run a new audience segment, they didn’t need a whole pitch deck. If an SEO specialist wanted to test a non-standard internal linking structure on a service page, they didn’t need to fill out documentation. They just had to log the experiment in our shared tracking document and be clear about what they were testing and how they’d measure it. This gave people the space to move quickly without waiting for permission or going through a lengthy process.
Dorian Menard, SEO Strategy Director and Founder, Search Scope
Implement Agile Swarming for High-Impact Issues
One technique that has been highly effective in scaling agile within an IT and helpdesk environment is implementing agile swarming for high-impact tickets. Traditional helpdesk models route tickets through tiered support, which often slows resolution and frustrates end-users. Instead, we identify high-priority or high-visibility tickets and immediately assign a cross-functional “swarm” team—pulling in specialists from systems, networking, and security—who collaborate in real time to resolve the issue.
This approach breaks down silos, accelerates troubleshooting, and reinforces a culture of shared ownership and continuous learning. Agile ceremonies like daily standups and retrospectives are used specifically within these swarm teams to track blockers and capture insights for future process improvement. Not only has this improved resolution times, but it has also helped scale agile by showing IT staff the direct value of responsiveness, adaptability, and teamwork in action.
Ryan Drake, President, NetTech Consultants, Inc.
Deploy Sprint-Based Campaign Model
Scaling agile sales and marketing practices requires a shift in mindset towards teamwork and continuous improvement. One technique proven to be effective is implementing a “sprint-based” model of campaign deployment. This model focuses on delivering high-priority tasks within brief, defined time periods—typically one to two weeks—before the review and iteration cycle. Breaking down complex projects into smaller components allows teams to evaluate performance rapidly and change course based on instant feedback.
This approach allows for continuous input from internal stakeholders and customers so that the team can quickly adapt when required. For instance, once teams finish the initial sprint focused on the development and distribution of content, they can review how effectively the materials performed among the targeted audience, and modify messaging or methods of delivery for the next phase. Its flexibility also enables teams to maintain their focus on particular objectives without getting sidetracked by broad, long-term goals that may change as a project progresses.
Additionally, regular check-ins and stand-ups keep everyone aligned. In our sales department, we utilize these short, daily meetings to ensure each team member is clear on their priorities so that we can catch concerns early before they become colossal issues. This helps in guaranteeing transparency, accountability, and better results. With stated goals and an organized review process, we continue to sharpen and expand our agile practices to respond to the continuously changing needs of our marketplace.
Kande Hein, Director of Marketing & Sales, Seota Digital Marketing
Brett Farmiloe is the founder of Featured, a Q&A platform that connects brands with expert insights.
Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash
