Building an agile organisation is a process that requires commitment from all levels of the business – not just IT. To be successful, organisations must align leadership and management practices with the needs of their people.
When you start to think about the transition to an agile structure, it is natural to first focus on what needs to be done. We begin with all kinds of tactical initiatives: introduce stand-ups, implement an automated continuous integration server, adopt pair programming… and so on but before long, we realize that agile requires some serious changes in our organization as well – and this is where things start to get interesting. To understand what is required, it’s not enough to just think about the mechanics of agile processes.
It’s far more important to know where our organization starts ‘from’, and with that knowledge in hand we can consider our options for changing the organization step by step. This article will therefore talk about the impact of culture on our business, and about five key cultural aspects that will make the difference between success and failure when implementing agile practices in a team or organization.
The first thing to realize is that introducing agile processes does actually require some changes – not big, earth-shattering changes, but small tweaks which are required before the real benefits can be capitalized on.
Now, of course, there are some serious changes to our business processes in an agile transition. We need to prepare user stories and implement continuous integration, for example. But what’s more important is that we need to get our organization right.
Agile Principles & Practices
All agile principles and practices are based on the idea that we work together in self-organized, autonomous teams. In short, we manage ourselves. Self-management usually requires a significant change of mindset from the team members – it’s hard to work together without being told what to do! Before going any further with our transition to more agile practices and protocols, it’s important to be sure that we can get our organization in place. This is not a trivial task: the change of mindset required in teams goes hand-in-hand with serious changes at the management level.
After all, managers are used to managing people; they’re not directly familiar with the concept of letting them manage themselves. For the individual team members, this change in culture can be a serious step.
5 Key Indicators
Here are five key indicators that show you that you have successfully built an agile organisation:
You follow your processes because you made them; they didn’t make you.
You pay lip service to agile principles; these are not forced on you by management.
Your team members are committed to self-management because they feel ownership for their processes.
You can manage change within your organization with ease.
Your developers know what is going on in the organization as a whole.
These five characteristics together will make the difference between success and failure when it comes to building an agile organisation. It’s essential for these characteristics to come together smoothly if we’re going to successfully adopt self-managed processes and avoid culture shock within our teams.
Let’s discuss each characteristic in more detail:
1. You follow your processes because you made them; they didn’t make you
Before implementing agile techniques, the organization’s developers probably had no say in their development process at all. They did what they were told to do, and that was it. When the transition to an agile methodology comes about, these same individuals are suddenly given a voice – teams are encouraged to make their own decisions, and individuals are encouraged to think for themselves.
This is not an easy step; it requires a change of mindset within the teams if they are to be successful in their new role.
It’s possible that there might be some resistance, but this is easily overcome by making sure that everyone understands how beneficial the change will be. The team members need to know why they are doing what is required of them, and how it is going to bring business value.
2. You pay lip service to agile principles; these are not forced on you by management
It’s essential that the teams don’t feel obliged to use certain agile techniques just because someone with authority told them to. This would be a disaster: teams rebel and give up on the whole idea. Instead, they should encourage self-organization with the understanding that the best techniques will naturally rise to the top.
As with any change in culture, it can be helpful to start this process off by selecting one or two key agile principles or techniques and making them ‘buzz’ words. A new hire will quickly learn that these principles are considered important by the whole organization, while a veteran team member will know to use them while working with the rest of the organization. If they see senior members using certain key agile practices, it’s more likely that they also use them themselves
3. Your team members are committed to self-management because they feel ownership of their processes
When teams are empowered to make the decisions on how they conduct themselves, you should find that they are largely interested in doing so successfully. You might even find that teams start discussing agile techniques at lunch or after work with people outside of their immediate group.
This isn’t a bad thing at all, but it’s an indicator that the team members feel invested in their processes. In order to make sure they continue to do so, it is essential that management doesn’t take control of the process away from them – even if they think they know better. If teams can see that there are tangible results from their work, they will become increasingly confident in their ability to act autonomously.
4. You can manage change within your organization with ease
One of the key advantages of an agile methodology is that it allows us to handle change more efficiently. With the increased levels of motivation in our teams, we should find that in most cases they will want to embrace change and move with it. This will be especially true as teams realize that they can handle such changes more easily than before.
However, some members of the team might be resistant to change; this is often because they lack confidence in their ability to deal with new problems. If we spot these types of behaviors early on, we should be able to deal with them by providing additional training or self-help materials.
5. Your developers know what is going on in the organization as a whole
Agile methodologies are very open and encourage communication across all levels of the business. They also promote feedback from everyone, not just those who work directly with software development.
As a result of this, our teams should know what is going on in the rest of the organization. They will be able to indicate any areas where there might be problems and suggest possible solutions. This information could even feed back up to management, potentially allowing them to make improvements before they become serious issues.
The Importance Of Leadership
The goal of an agile transformation is to improve the company’s ability to respond to changes. However, this will only occur if there are enough capable leaders in place that can lead teams through these changes. By establishing a culture where self-organization is important, we not only empower our people to act without having to seek permission from management – we also encourage those people to climb through the ranks and become effective leaders themselves.
Agile leadership is very different from traditional leadership styles, and the shift towards a leadership model based on agile principles can be difficult for some people to grasp. As a result of this, it’s important that those who have been identified as having leadership potential undergo additional training courses with their team. This will allow them to understand how they need to change as a result of their leadership position, and how to work effectively with the team. It is especially important for those in leadership roles to understand that they will not need to take as much control as they used to; instead, they should focus on working alongside the team and providing support when needed.
Once management has become accustomed to this new philosophy, we will find that the company has become more adaptable to change, and is even less likely to be overwhelmed when faced with new challenges.
Now that you have a good understanding of how to build an agile organization, are you ready? The process of building a new culture is not easy. It’s time for you to think about where you can start making changes so that you’re better prepared when challenges arise. Let us know what you need help with today by getting in touch with us.