By now, the benefits of building an agile business are well-established as thousands of companies have used Scrum to completely transform how they approach product development. This has resulted in crucial improvements in change responsiveness, efficiency, time-to-market, and overall delivery of value.
Nonetheless, these enhancements rarely come without their own set of challenges. In essence, by becoming an agile business, you’re asking people to significantly change the way they approach their work. Obviously, this can present some obstacles.
Committed leaders understand, however, that these difficulties are a necessary part of fulfilling their vision of a reinvented organization. Ultimately, creating an Agile transformation roadmap will serve as a template for a long-term strategy, enabling your team to fully adopt an improved way of working.
Utilize Leaders Over Managers
One of the most important components in transitioning your team is relying on leaders who fully appreciate and understand what it means to be an Agile company— those who have fully bought into the Agile philosophy.
Here, it’s important to make the distinction between leaders and managers. Most companies are full of the latter, with many layers of middle managers, team leads, and project executives. While Agile leaders can certainly occupy one of these roles, being a manager doesn’t necessarily make you a leader.
Whereas the authority of a manager is typically derived by their position within a corporate hierarchy, leaders gain their influence through social means, inspiring and motivating those around them.
For a leader to lead, there must be followers willing to support the leader’s proposed ideas. A leader blazes the trail, while a manager ensures the existing trail is cleaned, can be found, has updated maps and fire warning signs, etc..
Want to see what it looks like to emulate this kind of leadership? Here’s a great (hilarious) example of what it looks like to lead a movement.
One of the easiest ways to achieve this sort of organizational impact is to adopt the persona of a ‘servant-leader.’ Rather than focusing primarily on driving productivity, servant-leaders prioritize the needs’ of their team members, focusing on the well-being of their community. By helping others to continuously adapt and grow, servant-leaders can mobilize their organization to institute transformational changes, including the adoption of Agile practices. Self-organization works best with boundaries and expectations else it looks more like anarchy. A strong servant-leader facilitates self-organization by ensuring the boundaries are preserved while those inside the boundaries have everything they need to get the job done.
Align Your Team
Motivating your team takes more than just a lunch-and-learn session. To ensure a successful and holistic Agile transition, your team will need a reason to be inspired.
In a previous post, we compared this dynamic to a scene in the Matrix— an interrogation of resistance leader Morpheus by his nemesis, Agent Smith. This interaction demonstrates that you can’t simply state demands and expect people to feel motivated to help you. In order to ensure a plan resonates, Agile leaders must give people an inspiring call to action, encouraging your team to play an active and eager role. Why is agile delivery so important? What will happen if you don’t change? Ensure everyone knows this in their hearts and minds.
Ongoing Togetherness
A motivated team that is ready to accept change is vital to Agile transformation, but it’s equally important to remain aligned throughout the transition process. In reality, you’ll not likely entice people into surrendering their habits overnight, and forcing change on people never ends well. In order to truly inspire adaptation, you must give others a reason to believe in what they’re doing, especially when they begin to struggle. Transforming an organization is no simple task. It’s a process that requires buy-in and commitment from the people involved and affected.
Most importantly, Agile adoption requires transparency. While it’s important for leaders to clearly communicate the benefits of change, they must also be candid about the negatives. Rather than feeling blindsided by difficulties, team members will feel prepared for challenges, viewing them as opportunities for growth and development.
Paving the Road Ahead
All of your efforts will culminate in one moment— your launch point. This phase is where the agile roadmap comes into play, and where your business will begin to translate its vision into a strategy. This will take some planning, and an agile transformation roadmap is crucial in navigating the shifts ahead with the key word being “agile”…this plan must be adaptable to manage the uncertainty inherent in changing an organization
When cultivating your plan remember that it is meant to forecast where you’re heading in the future- whether that’s weeks, months, and even years. The key, however, is to diligently update the roadmap as your company moves through the transformation. Essentially, don’t be afraid to pivot and take advantage of change.
Consider testing a pilot group to gauge their reactions to these new changes. Listen to their feedback, and discuss ways to accommodate for difficulties during this transitionary period.
Recognize that your Agile transformation may progress differently than expected. Too many organizations copy what others have done, failing to consider that it’s impossible to replicate another company’s efforts and tactics. Every team, every company is different, and Agile adoption will require some fine-tuning through the process. Provide your roadmap (and your team) with plenty of flexibility.
3. 2. 1. GO!
Once you’ve laid the foundations of an Agile culture and have a strategy for implementing your vision, it’s time to take action. From the very beginning, you’ll need to be a galvanizing force within your team, as not everyone will be happy to adopt the new practices. Leaders should expect plenty of pushback, and it’s easy to become frustrated.
In order to effectively transform your organization, however, it’s essential to be open with your team members and thoughtfully consider all feedback. Your team is the ultimate resource for assessing the success of your Agile strategy and provides you with direct insight into whether it’s time to pivot.
By listening to your team members, leaders can feel empowered to adapt their strategy, changing the plan when needed— and ensuring the long-term success of their organization’s transformation.
Learn How to Successfully Navigate an Agile Transformation
Challenges are common during Agile transformations. Still, companies don’t have to feel like they are fumbling their way through the dark— they can save themselves time and money by learning from the experiences of industry experts.
Partners like Responsive Advisors can put organizations on an accelerated path towards Agile adoption, providing workshops, advising, and coaching that instill teams with vital principles and practices.
With a rich catalog of training programs, a team of skilled Agile professionals, and a collection of proven systems for effective Agile adoption, Responsive Advisors is the perfect partner for leading your organization into its own transformative new era.
