6 tips for leading agile transformation

Agile transformation is the process of transitioning an organization to a nimble, reactive approach based on agile principles. The goal is to breathe new life into a business by creating an environment that embraces creativity and innovation, empowers employees and reduces unnecessary layers of management.

“Technology has never moved faster than it has today,” says Paddy Lemons, principal consultant at Burendo. “From smart phones, to ChatGPT, to driverless cars, to drone delivery – our everyday experiences and daily interactions with products and services are unrecognizable versus just 20 years ago. To enable organizations to thrive in this environment, they must prioritize agility as a strategic imperative.”

Like all major business undertakings, agile transformation is complex and requires significant investment. Leading an agile transformation process can therefore present a number of challenges.

“Agile is not just another project plan, but a tuned outcome delivery method,” Dave Walker, senior architect at Ascent Solutions, tells PEX Network. “Breaking down the work efforts into smaller, more manageable outcomes that are constantly monitored and measured ensures intended benefits are realized sooner for the business.” It allows teams to keep focused on very tacit tasks and surfaces up issues or resource constraints almost immediately versus traditional projects, he says.

READ: Lean or Agile? A Comparison of Approach

Here are six tips for successfully leading agile transformation.

Truly commit to agility

Your personal commitment to agility is one of the most critical success factors in creating the change you desire, says Lemons. “Your team will mirror your behaviors, so the importance of genuinely adopting an experimental mindset cannot be overstated.” Learning will be fueled by frequent failures, so you must become comfortable with, and even celebrate, failure, Lemons adds. “Resist any urge to default to traditional fixed planning in the face of uncertainty, and champion a culture where ideas flow from all levels.”

READ: PEX Guide to change management

Nominate agile champions

Nominate some agile champions who understand agile and the benefits it brings but also understand the goals of the organization’s transformation, says Melissa Kirby, senior consultant at Burendo. “These champions, who work alongside the rest of the teams, can help spread the knowledge of agile, answer any questions and shut down any doubts.”

People should be at the heart of any agile transformation, so engage all stakeholders and be transparent with your work, she adds. “Agile teams are thought to be self-organizing, but it’s a good idea to have a delivery lead involved to make sure deadlines and budgets are adhered to.”

Be accountable and listen

It’s always useful to appoint a lead for the project to ensure it meets the required outcomes and sticks to timescales, but it’s equally as important to work with those who are impacted and might end up using the system, says Chris, marketing coordinator at manufacturing and processing machinery firm MattressTek.

“Communication is key to everything and listening will help you understand their roles, the pros and cons and what is required for them to help the system and for the system to help them. They’ll need to be trained too.”

It may also be necessary to communicate with customers and suppliers (particularly those who rely on documentation from your old system) about the migration to a new system, in case it doesn’t work the first time and you need to revert to a simpler way. “With this in mind, always back up the information you’re extracting to be added to the new system before you get rid of the old system,” he advises.

READ: PEX Global state of process excellence report

Embed security into agile

If your company is going through an agile transformation, it’s more important than ever that your security team is embedded inside your software engineering team, says Chris Bender, VP of security at ClickUp. “Security and software engineering must become one-in-the-same, and security can no longer just point out risks but needs to be involved in helping to find solutions.”

In short, the entire staffing and skill set of the security team changes when a company turns agile, and they need to be coached and trained through this transformation, he adds.

Leadership support for agile

Leadership must sell the vision and goals of agile transformation, ensuring they transform the culture of their organization alongside their ways of working. “Your leadership must empower individuals to reach their potential, making agility not just a methodology but a fundamental ethos that guides the organization toward resilience and innovation,” says Lemons.

Give people time and training

If a team is expected to adopt agile ways of working, then the people will need to be given the time and training to perform the roles well, or else they won’t be motivated, team morale will drop and the squad will have limited success, says Kirby. “If you don’t take steps to win over your people, then you’re always going to face resistance to change,” Kirby adds.

An agile framework can include biweekly planning sessions and frequent, often daily scrum sessions that are timeboxed into two-week segments, concluding with a retrospective, says Stephanie Leapaldt, director for delivery, Ascent Solutions. “Think progress, not perfection. An agile approach allows teams to pivot quickly and revise their goals to better fit their objectives.”