Agile Transformation : What Went Wrong ?

(Originally published on Scrum Alliance, Co-Author : Greg Mandanis)

Organizations are embracing Agile because it promises to deliver business value in a shorter period of time, provide a better work environment, make people happier, increase team collaboration, improve our adaptability to change, increase visibility, improve software quality, and so on.

Most organizations claim they are Agile when all the ceremonies are in place and team members try to attend them, there is a tool for tracking sprints, and their main focus is on delivery. The program manager presents the status report; never mind if the retrospectives' outcome list is increasing in every sprint.

Is that enough to claim that we're Agile? Is that all we should expect out of this journey? How about self-organization and empowerment, quality and best practices? How has this change impacted the organization for the long term?

The Agile transformation failure rate is higher than its success rate. Change is not easy, and Agile is not a silver bullet. Agile is not just about some ceremonies and a fancy tool; it is powerful and useful if applied in the right manner. This reminds me of a quote: "There is a way of doing things, and there is a right way of doing things."

The list of factors that should be considered before and during transformation looks like this:

Evaluate. It is critical to evaluate the feasibility of implementing Agile at a particular organization. Some Agile enthusiasts try to fit anything and everything into the Scrum framework. Should you use a hammer where you only need a screwdriver? Instead of assuming Scrum is the answer, you should evaluate which Agile/Lean method is applicable (Scrum, Kanban, or Scrumban). In fact, Waterfall and Kanban may be the most appropriate solutions for your industry.

Implement Agile in an Agile way. When leading organizations through the transformation from traditional software development to Agile, it is a great idea to start small. Identify only a few pilot teams that are ready to volunteer and are enthusiastic. This will not only help to focus on early, small successes in adapting Agile to the organization but it will also increase trust and help identify the barriers (organizational and personal) to fostering greater change. Starting small will help to quickly surface the delivery of business value, reduce risk, and prepare people to move the organization to greater levels of agility.

Include everyone and set the right expectations. Though the final say comes from top management, it is very important to include people (or representatives) from every group in the organization, in order to set up realistic expectations and educate them about Agile values and principles. However, we have to take great care in not making unrealistic promises, such as, "Productivity will increase by 300 percent in three months." We need to keep reminding ourselves that an Agile transformation is an incremental and iterative process -- Rome was not built in a day.

Clarify changing roles and responsibilities. It is also important to coach that the roles and responsibilities of people will change over time, as an inherent byproduct of the Agile transformation from a traditional model. It's natural for people to fear losing control of their silo empires. However, Agile's emphasis is to create cross-functional, self-managed, collaborative, and empowered teams. Help everyone understand that changes in their roles and responsibilities may result from the culture shift inherent in transforming an organization.

Choose the methods and tools. Agile/Lean methods and tools are key factors for facilitating an organization's Agile transformation. It's important to first select, adapt, and socialize the applicable Agile/Lean method before deploying any automation tools. It's often tempting for an organization to quickly deploy a cool new tool, then try to conform the method around it -- which is a transformation headed for disaster. When trying out a new method, first identify only a few pilot teams that are ready to volunteer as enthusiastic Agile proponents, rather than trying to transform the entire organization all at once. Some key ingredients for successful deployment of Agile/Lean methods include: Providing dedicated team rooms with physical Scrum boards and cards Conducting hands-on workshops that use the physical Scrum boards and cards for every ceremony Once the appropriate method has been selected, adapted, and socialized, with the necessary "tweaks" (if any), then tools should be considered.

Teach that any tool and every ceremony play an important role in Agile. Convey the importance of the tool and every ceremony. Let the team members come up with some ground rules to adhere to in order to ensure that the methods and tools are implemented properly, to both adhere to the Agile principles and to meet the needs of the organization and teams.

Set a goal of self-managed, empowered, collaborative, and hyper-productive teams. I look at the Agile transformation as a three-step approach involving teaching, coaching, and mentoring at all levels of the organization. The ultimate goal is to have self-managed, empowered, collaborative, and hyper-productive teams. As coaches and ScrumMasters, we need to ensure that Agile values are deeply instilled in both management and team members: Every decision is a team decision, every success is a team success, and every failure is a team failure. As teams grow through the maturity phases, motivate team members to take turns initiating team ceremonies, understanding the challenges, and encouraging the whole team to come up with the solutions.

Hyper-productive teams not only work hard, they also play hard. However, as the saying goes, "Fun at work is acceptable, but not at the cost of the work." We need to look for opportunities to organize team events, such as team lunches and off-site celebrations of team successes.

Hold a retrospective of the transformation. It is important to hold a retrospective of the Agile implementation. Include representatives from the various levels of the organization. Facilitate the discussion to help the team identify a list of challenges with follow-up action items and make sure they are resolved. If your retrospective list is growing, or is the same during every retrospective, it means the process is not improving. At the organization and the team levels, we all need to think about kaizen -- continuous improvement.

Be consistent and facilitate ongoing workshops. Teams mature, team members leave, new people join. Once the teams start to be self-organizing, the role of the coach is not over. Coaches should conduct hands-on workshops on an ongoing basis, as it takes time for people to embrace, understand, and practice the principles. Such workshops could include scenarios, games, and interactive ideas to engage the audience. Conduct hands-on workshops on an ongoing basis, first with the initial pilot teams and then expanding throughout the organization.

"Implement Agile in an Agile way."