Once your company has made the decision to become agile, the next step is the question of how? How do I start my transformation? What do I have to consider and who do I need to do it? Since no two companies are alike, we at WAVESTONE have developed our own approach to building an agile organization in order to be able to respond to the individual challenges of our customers. The Scaled Agile Framework forms the basis. We have expanded this framework with our own best practices and at the same time made it more flexible. With the following six steps we design the ideal agile organization for you and ensure a successful implementation.
Step 1: Involve management for targeted implementation of the agile transformation
The first step is a workshop with the management. The goal here is not only to impart the necessary knowledge on the topic of agility, but also to convince the management to live the agility itself. “Lead the Change” is the most important credo for a successful transformation. This responsibility cannot be delegated, but must be assumed by management itself. We want your organization to learn from itself and not just from us.
Step 2: Identification of the agile (pilot) areas and formation of the transformation team
With the support and commitment of management, we then define the (pilot) areas that will start the agilization. For each area, a so-called transformation team is established to accompany the transformation over the entire period. This team consists of the managers and key players in the future agile setup as well as the transformation coaches from WAVESTONE. The transformation team also works in an agile manner and maintains all necessary steps in a prioritized backlog in order to define the overall framework for the agile teams.
Step 3: Defining the framework and working methods
The transformation team then has the task of breaking down the planned scope into high-level epics and prioritizing them. An epic describes a larger, self-contained functional scope that can be implemented by one or more teams in a timely and complete manner. This is both a practical exercise of agile action and serves as input for subsequent team building.
Step 4: Training the agile roles
For the composition of the cross-functional teams, all employees from the affected areas (specialist staff, IT, operations, etc.) are jointly trained in the agile methodology in a workshop. Subsequently, the employees themselves determine the composition of the cross-functional teams in a moderated process and determine the product owner. As an orientation, the transformation team presents the high-level epics that are to be implemented by the future agile teams.
Step 5: Kick-off for agile teams
Once the agile teams have found each other, a kick-off meeting is held for each team in which individual team questions and general conditions are clarified. The first sprint begins immediately afterwards, accompanied by the SCRUM masters from WAVESTONE.
Step 6: Continuous review and adjustment of the team dynamics
By regularly going through the agile cycle, the teams internalize the agile way of working. The retrospective is used to achieve continuous improvement in each individual team. Work is done according to the principle of Inspect & Adapt: start quickly, learn quickly, improve quickly
The path is the goal – this also applies to agile transformation
Agility is more than the Scrum method, more than the meetings for planning and review, more than the role of the Product Owner and the Scrum Master. Agility is an attitude. It appeals to our own behavior, our way of thinking and our cooperation with others. Such a change does not happen in a meeting or a training, it is a journey that everyone has to take. The best solution for your agile organization can therefore only be found through yourself. On this journey, we are your guide and will be at your side as an experienced partner.
