Agile Transformation Report 2024

Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna once insightfully remarked, 'You cannot overtake 15 cars in sunny weather, but you can when it's raining.' This metaphor aptly reflects our current era of compounded crises - 'bad weather' for which only a few were prepared. The pressing question on everyone's mind is: How can we position ourselves to succeed amidst these daunting challenges? What distinguishes the organizations that not only survive but also grow stronger from such crises?

We firmly believe that Agile can be a vital component of the solution for many organizations. Compared to traditional approaches, the key benefits – enhanced customer focus, greater flexibility, and consequently reduced risk, along with quicker adaptability – are more crucial today than ever before.

Our report applies various angles to address key questions with regards to Agile transformations:

Where do organizations stand today? We compared ~60 large German corporates against a benchmark comprising companies with very high Agile maturity.

What is driving and hindering the success of Agile transformations? To uncover this, we surveyed >100 practitioners on their experiences and assessments.

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Let’s look at some of the key findings:

1) Few German companies achieved high agility so far

Only 4% of the practitioners surveyed stated that their company has a high level of Agile maturity. This is validated by our Agile Performer Index, where only about 12% of Germany's largest companies meet the benchmark for high agility.

2) About 50% of organizations appear in the process of an Agile transformation

Of the ~60 companies analyzed, about one-third have such a low number of Agile experts that one can assume they have not yet engaged in any form of Agile transformation. However, around 50% are on the journey, with a few having added more than 500 Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches over a period of 12 months.

3) SCRUM, SAFe and custom adaptations account for 90% of frameworks used

German companies mainly rely on SCRUM (46%) and SAFe (24%), although larger organizations frequently develop custom frameworks. Overall adherence is relatively low, with low to moderate adherence in roughly three-quarters of the implementations.

4) One specific aspect of low adherence is the ratio of Agile Coaches to Scrum Masters Typically, benchmark companies maintain a ratio of one Agile Coach for every four Scrum Masters. In contrast, German companies often have fewer agile coaches, and ratios that appear disproportionate.

5) Lack of experienced Agile practitioners perceived as a major problem The survey reveals that about 80% of Agile projects are understaffed with Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches. Additionally, 22% of respondents stated that one Scrum Master has to manage more than two teams at their organization.

6) High agility only attainable when a top-priority in the organization

Commitment of leadership, empowered teams, and agile culture are the most critical success factors. However, there is a consistent disparity between the perceived importance of these success factors and their actual level of development within organizations.

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I want to extend my gratitude to all the experts who generously contributed their time and insights to our recent survey. Your expertise has been invaluable to our research.

Additionally, I want to express my sincere appreciation to my co-authors, Dr. Stephan Hentrich and Christoph Ploch , for their unwavering dedication and collaboration throughout this project. A special thank you also goes to Philip Scherbaum , Leon Schulz and Philipp Sokol for their significant contributions and support.

You can explore the short version of the report here: https://bit.ly/3Vjt5Z7. If you are interested in delving deeper into the complete report or discussing how the findings can be tailored to benefit your organization, please don't hesitate to reach out.