Know why you're doing it
It may seem obvious, but many organisations never ask the question “why?”
Any change programme has associated costs, so the business case needs to be clear. For the leadership team it’s important that the characteristics of an agile organisation are agreed, as it is easy to be misaligned. We help to achieve this through workshop activities.
Understand the constraints
We operate in the real world.
Organisations have particular constraints to do with geography, capacity, legacy and governance. People also have perceived constraints, for example because things have always been done in a certain way.
Some constraints can be challenged head-on and included within the transformation programme, while others are more complex.
Prioritise
Unless there is an understanding of “why” and “what is valuable”, there will be little chance of prioritising the approach.
The reason for prioritising on the change programme is to ensure that we do the most valuable things first, building confidence and providing return on investment.
Change incrementally
Many organisations take on too much in one go, when it’s better to build momentum based on prioritised change.
This might mean beginning with one small team with fewer constraints, getting them working and showcasing the progress and results. Starting small and scaling quickly, based on success, builds confidence that change will achieve the outcomes needed.
Measure progress
It’s possible to identify key metrics that demonstrate the impact of change.
These could include specific delivery-oriented metrics, or measures of confidence within teams. By making them visible, people can see that there is a point to the process. It’s important to realise that change can have a short-term detrimental impact on metrics, but also that this can provide valuable insight.
Improve continuously
An agile organisation is one that constantly seeks to inspect the way things are done and adapt to changing conditions.
This requires a culture of continuous improvement, where individuals have the confidence to question processes and make changes for the better. With this philosophy, organisations can build a sustainable approach and remove dependencies upon external coaching.
Have impact
Our Agile Transformation Coaching Model is designed to have impact. Find out more.
Having impact at the beginning of an agile transformation means confidence is built so that people will put new ways of working into action.
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