Five steps for successful Agile Transformation

 

Agile transformation, similar to any change, is not easy. It typically involves accepting that things need to evolve, shifting people’s mindset, and a long learning curve ahead. 

I’ve been through several Agile Transformations and seen many ups and downs throughout the process. The bigger the company was, the more challenging it was getting. Some people became disappointed, scared to lose their authority and even left their jobs because of uncertainty. Other folks were excited about learning opportunities and possibilities to grow. Same with the process: while some agile practices worked in one place, it was a complete failure in another. Anyhow, I went through a challenging but very informative Agile journey.

Today, I would like to share five steps I believe every company needs to take when going through Agile transformation regardless of age, size, or Agile framework.

#1. Define Transformation Vision

Before you start taking any actions and committing to certain results, make sure leadership clearly understands the reality they are in now vs. desired future state they want the company to be in the future. Also, discussing how the transformation will tie back to the company's goals is a must. The common mistake the companies make is that they decide they want to become more Agile simply because that's what everyone else is doing. There is often a big disconnect between what executives aim for and Agile coaches focus. Leadership wants predictability to have good relationships with customers, while Agile people talk about innovation and adaptability to change. 

When discussing the vision and goals, always set clear expectations upfront so that everyone is on the same page. It's important to talk through what kind of sacrifices leadership is ready to make to be Agile. Also, what realistically can be changed and negotiated vs. never happening. For example, is the company prepared to give up annual financial planning and do it quarterly? Is the main focus on creating Agile teams, or is the final goal to achieve business agility across the company? And more importantly, how to deal with LOTS of resistance from people affected by the change. Changes such as organizing around value don't happen quickly, so talking this through in advance is an excellent exercise to align everybody. Otherwise, there may be lots of frustration and disappointment in the whole process down the road.

#2. Find Change Agents

The change will not happen by itself, and someone needs to drive it to move things forward. Because of this, you will always want a group of people to be responsible for successful transformation and follow up on whether things are getting done. The KEY is that those people themselves should not be affected by the change. Otherwise, you might get into an issue that such a group will make decisions that work better for them rather than for the company's interests. For us, as humans, self-protection will always be priority #1. If there is a risk that proposed solutions may harm our authority or job safety, we tend to focus on resisting them by all means, sometimes even on the unconscious level. 

Ideally, this group will represent three aspects: business, processes, and technology. These people should be internal to the company who are in the weeds of how things work in the organization. Also, add a few Agile coaches to facilitate discussions and guide you through the process. You may want to hire external Agile consultants, but make sure they are experts in what they do and keep them accountable for the results. I've worked in a company that spent tons of money and time working with external coaches but ended up going a completely different route as the suggested approach was a big failure.

If you wonder about such a group's size, it's typically 7-9 people for an average-size company. Of course, you may need much more people for big corporate giants.

#3. Create a 90-day plan

As we identified a group of change agents, it's time to plan actions to start bringing transformation vision into life. I would not suggest planning for more than 90 days because there is a big chance that what you think today will be different in 3 months from now. Also, try to focus on fundamentals and high level first without adding too many details. 

Break your work into smaller batches so you can see results and celebrate small wins more frequently. For example, instead of coming up with a plan for overall business agility and lean portfolio management, focus on Agile teams first, how they would fit into a current org structure, and if any changes need to be made. When talking about Agile training plan, create a roadmap based on focus groups and do it step by step. It could be for leaders first, as their support is critical for successful transformation. Then, Product Owners and Scrum Masters. Finally, provide training to teams.

#4. Use PDCA approach

It's essential to follow up on the plan's progress and adjust as you go. The "Plan Do Check Act" approach will work very well in this case. Let's review each step.

Plan - that will be your 90-day plan described above, so I won't go into much detail here. One thing to add: don't fall into the trap of coming up with vague actions. For example, instead of listing "creating a better process", write down specific things to do for improving the process and how you will measure that. 

Do - now, as you have come up with your action plan, it's time to execute it. To help with accountability and visibility, create a Kanban board with all the tasks planned for 90 days. Have regular meetings to update each other on progress and call out any blockers.

Check - have regular retrospectives to check what works well and what doesn't and come up with action items based on the discussion. If you have any metrics, bring those up to review the progress.

Act - adjust your 90-day plan based on the discussions during the "Check" step.

#5. Gather feedback

Besides having regular discussions among change agents and updating leadership on the progress, it's always good to connect with the rest of the company. Of course, some people won't get interested in the shifts the transformation brings unless they are directly affected. Other folks will always be curious and share their perspective on the upcoming changes, and this audience is to whom you need to listen. You may be surprised by how much valuable input you can get simply by talking to employees and listening to their feedback or any concerns they may have. For example, we decided to start with a 3-week iteration instead of two weeks due to such discussions. Developers mentioned that they have many manual steps to execute, and delivering something valuable within two weeks could have been impossible. As a result, we decided to start with three-week sprints and create stories to improve the automation so the teams could switch to shorter time boxes later.

You can create an open forum for anyone interested in hearing about the transformation's progress. That will be the time for people to ask questions, raise their concerns, or even suggest ideas they may have. Also, I would recommend making the Agile Transformation Kanban board accessible to everyone. That way, all employees can see the progress made, see upcoming changes, and even add their suggestions with a possibility to convert into future tasks for change agents to execute. That will help employees feel their opinions matter and contribute to the change that may dramatically impact their work. As a nice bonus, you will see less resistance in executing the Transformation.

 

Hopefully, with these steps, you will successfully tackle your Agile transformation. All the best!