Summer
Story
Season
2026
In three refreshing and practical sessions this summer, we’ll hear real stories from organisations that aren’t waiting for the perfect conditions to adopt agile ways of working. Instead, they’re using periods of change as a springboard to try new things, build the adaptability and resilience of their teams and make agile work for their organisation’s needs.
We’ll see how agile ways of working are helping these teams not just survive, but thrive, during times of significant uncertainty. Specifically, we’ll explore how they are evolving the ways their teams meet, collaborate and prioritise their work, so they are able to respond to challenges and make the most of opportunities.
Each session offers honest insights, practical tools and fresh thinking to help you work and lead differently – no matter your role or starting point. If you’re feeling stuck in outdated ways of working, or simply want to explore a more agile approach, sign up for the sessions below.
You’ll leave inspired, empowered, and ready to try something new for yourself.
Why a period of change is a GREAT time to embed agile approaches
Meg Smart, Prostate Cancer Research
June 3, 12:00 BST
So many fundraising teams are working flat out; vacancies and unexpected leave can add to the strain. The team at Prostate Cancer Research experienced a prolonged period of fluctuating staff capacity, with unexpected absences and uncertainty around capacity. Working through this overwhelming situation, they took the opportunity to embed new ways of working and emerged stronger than ever.
Join Harry and Meg from the Events and Community team on 3rd June at 12pm. Learn how they shifted their culture to embrace fluidity and focus on shared outcomes, rather than specific portfolios of projects.
This inspiring case-study shows that when a team are deliberate about how they collaborate, they can not just survive challenging times, but thrive and even exceed their goals.
You’ll hear:
- How sprint planning and daily standups have created a sense of shared ownership of workload and enabled intentional prioritisation and reprioritisation.
- The ways that honest conversations about capacity meant the team could still make the most of increased public interest in their cause.
- How a mindset of continuous adaptation allows the team to re-negotiate how best to make agile work for them over time, and keep evolving their ways of working.
- The way that job descriptions have evolved to be more outcomes-oriented and recruitment is focussed more on attitudes and mindset.
- How creating opportunities for everyone to feed in – and not being afraid to stop things that weren’t working – changed the way that decisions were made.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see first-hand the transformational impact of agile ways of working and coaching approaches.
Using agile to put people at the heart of restructure
Tito Bez-Idakula, Tearfund
July 15, 12:00 BST
They say “the only constant is change”, and many charities are having to restructure in response to an unpredictable mix of factors. So, how do you acknowledge the cost of that to your team, whilst rebuilding in ways that increase impact for your cause?
In this fascinating case study from Tearfund, you’ll learn how the move to agile working allowed them to really listen to colleagues’ needs and release people to do the work which made best use of their strengths.
Join us at 12pm on July 15, to hear from Tito Bez-Idakula, Tearfund’s Delivery Team Lead. She’ll talk us through the ways she provided colleagues with emotional, as well as technical, support and helped rebuild teams’ confidence as a result.
In this heartfelt and insightful session, we’ll explore:
- Building trust through facilitated discussion and active listening
- Boosting morale in challenging circumstances
- Fostering honest conversation and creating effective feedback loops
- How hands-on upskilling creates shared language and understanding
- Changing course when a new process isn’t working as planned
You’ll leave with clear examples of how to bring people with you through change and to help your colleagues rediscover the joy of their work.
Leading with curiosity: scaling agile ways of working
Gemma Rawlins, Marie Curie
August 12, 12:00 BST
Embedding agile ways of working in one or two enthusiastic teams is one thing, but how do you bring a whole department with you? Curiosity might feel like a luxury, but what if approaching agile ways of working with a spirit of “let’s just try it and see” is exactly what gets people on board?
In this honest and practical case study from Marie Curie, you’ll hear how one fundraising team has been steadily scaling agile ways of working across their department: through careful iteration, real shared problems, and a focus on making agile feel useful in people’s day-to-day, not just another buzzword.
Join us as we speak to Gemma, Marie Curie’s Head of Fundraising Innovation. She’ll take us from the early steps of exploration with a few willing teams, to now building the foundations for department-wide agile ways of working. We’ll hear how genuine experimentation, tangible wins, and a commitment to bringing people with her at every stage is helping her and her team make real progress.
In this energising and practical session, we’ll explore:
- Overcoming early scepticism and reframing agile as a tool that makes people’s lives easier
- Tailoring your approach to different teams and adapting as you go
- Making agile ways of working tangible by anchoring it to real, shared problems
- Building peer-to-peer momentum so that enthusiasm spreads organically
- Preparing managers to embed and sustain agile thinking across a wider team
You’ll leave with clear, actionable ideas for scaling agile ways of working in your organisation — and a sense of what a realistic, people-centred approach to agile can look like.
