In today's fast-paced, ever-changing business world, more and more organizations are putting their trust in agility, because its "mindset", its "values" and its "values" are the key to success. values & principles as well as its varied working environments, enable organizations to get closer to theorganizational agility, cThis means being able to adapt quickly to changing market circumstances, deliver value to customers more quickly, ensure quality products, increase innovation, and so on.
However, adopting agile frameworks and/or embracing agility at department, service or whole-organization level requires a significant cultural change, which can prove difficult.
An essential part of your agile transformation will be to initiate the transformation using appropriate change management combined with agility coaching, both at executive and agile team level.
In my previous article " MANAGERS, DISCOVER THE CAUSES THAT WILL UNDERMINE YOUR TRANSITION TO AGILITY... "I shared with you some interesting statistics on the challenges of Agile transformations.
Visit corporate culture was considered to be the main cause of Agility implementation failure "and the lack of management support "was the main cause of unsuccessful deliveries in Agile mode ".
Aim for and implement an agile work environment and hire one or two agile coaches for an entire organization (of a certain size) and lead the transformation, is a mistake that unfortunately occurs all too often when agile transformations... ☹
Your agile transformationis probably the result of a continuous improvement initiative that has been prioritized within your organization. Change on this scale requires people to change the way they work, their behaviors and sometimes their roles.
People are essential to the success of a change to the desired new state. It is to the credit of change (and its leaders) to identify, consult and involve the right stakeholders.
Several other ingredients are necessary for the success of a agile transformationBut basically, change has to be managed properly. Otherwise: persistent resistance, sustained frustration, chaos, status quo (failure). of change) ...
To bounce back on the fact that during a transition to agility, the corporate culture and lack of support from management are the main premises that will most likely undermine your transition to agility.
A article based on a study of best practices conducted by Proscithe world's leading provider of change management solutions, reveals the biggest mistakes made by high-level sponsors during major changes. Here's what the study reveals:
- Failed to remain active and visible
- Underestimation or misunderstanding of the human aspect
- Communication failure
- The role of "Sponsor" is delegated to
In the BDC toolbox on change managementBad leadership" is at the forefront of what makes change management fail.
Managers, please, before you get started, I'd like to share with you (5) key elements that will contribute to the chances of success of your agile transformation:
1. Start with "Why?
Before implementing an Agile transformation at departmental or organization-wide level, it's important to understand why. Make sure everyone understands the benefits of Agile, its practices and how it will help the organization achieve its goals. Provide success stories to illustrate the potential impact of agile practices on the business.
What are your motives, "The Goal?". As a strategic leader, what is your vision for your Agile transition? Is your vision positive, inspiring, detailed (what, why, when, how) and clearly-frequently communicated? Is your vision supported, shared by all? Is your vision worth the effort?
2. Create a sense of urgency
Agile transformation requires commitment and effort. Creating a sense of urgency can help overcome resistance and encourage people to get involved. Highlight the business challenges that require an agile approach, and emphasize the potential consequences of not changing.
As Leaders, communicate your vision[1] :
- "The boots must follow the chops".
- "Keep it simple
- Eliminate jargon and bland slogans
- Use visuals (metaphors, analogies) - a picture is worth a thousand words
- Use multiple forums
- Rehearse your vision daily
- Explain and address inconsistencies
- Listen to your employees and they'll listen to you back
[1] John P. Kotter, Leading change
3. Leading by example
As you saw in my previous blog " MANAGERS, DISCOVER THE CAUSES THAT WILL UNDERMINE YOUR TRANSITION TO AGILITY... "Leadership combined with active support throughout the change process, are essential prerequisites for increasing your chances of success. Leaders play a crucial role in setting the tone for Agile adoption. Implementing Agile without executive support is unlikely to succeed.
- What actions have you taken to ensure Initiate your transformation to Agile?
- What is the chosen strategy?
- What actions have you taken to ensure Plan your transformation to Agile?
- Who is responsible for the change? Do you have a dedicated team to lead the change?
- Who are your stakeholders? How will you communicate with your audience? How often? What content to communicate?
- How will you put Execution the plan for change?
- How will you ensure that your change (Agile transformation) persists in your organization - " Make the change stick "?
4. Provide training, coaching and support
A transition to Agile is a major change that requires a new mindset and new ways of working. Training, coaching and support at team and leadership level can help your organization understand Agile concepts and practices.
Professional agility coaching includes guiding teams and the organization through this journey, including understanding and applying agile values, principles and practices to their work, helping them identify areas for improvement, and providing ongoing support to ensure they continue to develop their agile skills.
A professional coach guarantees performance.
To find out more about professional agility coaching, read the article:
UNLEASH YOUR TRUE POTENTIAL WITH PROFESSIONAL COACHING
5. Promote collaboration and communication
Communicate, communicate and communicate some more... by all means!
Depending on the scale (scope) and complexity of your Agile transformation, your strategy and change plan will contribute significantly to your transformation's chances of success. All the more so as different agile frameworks often value collaboration, communication and visualization of work...!
Create opportunities for teams to collaborate regularly, encourage open communication and recognize the importance of diverse viewpoints. Celebrate team successes, learn from failures and encourage continuous learning.
Change management is essential in Agile transformations. Having "active corporate champions" for Agile, senior managers who understand and buy into the process, and who remain active during an Agile transition, are essential prerequisites for increasing the chances of your change succeeding.
If not, you could experience what I've already seen in Agile transitions...
- At management level: Horizontal promotions...
- On the ground: departures of long-serving employees, confusion, conflict, sustained resistance to change, frustration,
- A few employees, sometimes overworked and on the verge of burn-out, who don't feel at all comfortable in their new (ambiguous) "Agile" roles,
- Employees who don't agree at all with their new tasks and their new (ambiguous) "Agile" roles,
- Employees who don't understand and/or wonder". what is my role in the team? What's the difference between what I have to do now and what I did before?",
- Delivery team members, each with their own definition of Agility and its roles and responsibilities,
- Experienced leaders with high potential squezzés It's a case of "decisions from on high and negative impacts from on the ground", and so on.
In short, chaos...
Being "Agile" doesn't mean "Don't plan", ditto for such (organizational) change...!
"Strategy is a commodity; execution is an art." - Peter Drucker
Éric Auger
is a professional IT consultant specializing in Lean-Agile management. His qualifications include Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Kanban Management Professional, Project Management Professional, SAFe Agilist and Professional Agile Coach. He is a change agent.
It helps teams and organizations that really want to compete and thrive in the digital age - organizations that are open to change and ready to adapt to respond quickly to market changes and emerging opportunities.
