Agility, an Opportunity for change management?

What is the Agile method?

The 1990s saw the emergence of a number of so-called “Agile” methods applied to the implementation of IT projects. These methods, iterative and incremental, advocate above all a frequent adaptation of the need and therefore of the target, according to the iterations delivered. We can mention the RAD method, the Extreme programming method or, the most cited, the Scrum method.

It was only in 2001 that the term was clearly explained with the Agile Manifesto(1) which notably sets out 4 general principles:

– individuals and their interactions more than processes and tools;

– operational software more than exhaustive documentation;

– collaboration with customers more than contractual negotiation;

– adapting to change more than following a plan.

Agility, limited o the IT domain?

We see that Agile methods have developed around IT projects and are often associated with this area. However, the contributions and lessons of these methods can be applied more widely within the company.

We can cite the example of Spotify(2) where the organization was designed to take advantage of the principles of Agility:

The teams are made up of “Squads” around Process Owners. Each Squad integrates sufficiently diverse profiles to operate like a small business, responsible for a defined application scope and able to quickly deliver responses to specified needs.

At the same time, cross-functional links are created between the “Squads” to ensure the development of synergies. For example, there are “Chapters” or “Guilds” which regularly bring together people from different “Squads” but with similar profiles or sharing common interests. The objective here is to facilitate exchanges on issues that could be shared by different “Squads”.

In his book “Le manager agile” (DUNOD – 2012), Jér?me Barrand questions how to apply the principles of agility in management. In particular, it sets out 4 principles for agile management:

Prioritize meaning and coherence;

Anticipate to reduce uncertainty;

Cooperate to live in a network;

Innovate differently.

Here we find the issues raised by the Agile Manifesto with an emphasis on exchanges in order to give everyone good visibility on the progress of the project. This is how the whole team can then participate in the development of future milestones.

The agile manager will therefore encourage the involvement of the various actors in order to be able to materialize an objective defined in a collaborative manner. Indeed, it will take into account the remarks that may emerge from the different profiles present within the team.

The application to culture, finally, can be seen as the culmination of the development of agility within an organization. It is not through specific and targeted actions that it will be possible to change the culture of an organization: the evolution of a corporate culture is the result of a sum of operational changes.

Michael Sahota(3) identifies 4 types of cultures: the culture of control, the most widespread within companies, the culture of skills, the collaborative culture and the culture of personal development. It is these last two types of culture that Michael Sahota identifies as “agile”.

It is important to emphasize that the culture of an organization will not become Agile by replacing every process with new Agile processes. We can, first of all, organize a small entity in Agile mode so that it can then involve the rest of the organization in this change of culture. It is this idea that Michael Sahota presents in the form of a bubble, created at the level of an entity and which gradually grows within the organization.

Agility can therefore be applied at various levels of the company: to IT projects, the first field of application of Agile methods, but also to organization, management or even culture. But it is clear that if the concept of Agility is concrete in its application on IT projects, this concept becomes conceptual when one seeks to apply it to the organization, management or culture of business. The stakes, which applied to IT projects are very operational, become strategic when the scope is extended to these levels.

Agility and Change Management?

Change management practitioners, what can we learn from the contributions of Agile methods? How can an Agile project mode amplify the effectiveness of change management approaches and how can we adapt our methods to drive change with Agility?

> The contributions of a project carried out in Agile mode on change management:

First, let's ask ourselves about the contributions of project management in Agile mode on the change management process associated with it. Can the Agility of the project constitute a favorable ground for the implementation of a change management?

We can quickly understand that, by nature, Agility favors the implementation of a certain number of change management actions:

By taking up the 8 steps of John K?tter (4), we see for example that:

– operating in close cycles makes it possible to quickly develop a vision and communicate on this vision. Each sprint closure can then be valued as a “quick win”;

– the notions of "guilding coalition" and empowerment of the actors are found in the frequent back and forth, recommended in Agile mode, between the project team and its users: the customers/users are solicited throughout the project and can adapt and clarify their definition of the need.

According to the organization Prosci (5), with a project carried out in Agile mode, the ability of an organization to lead change can be based on some of the benefits resulting from an Agile change: we will identify in particular anticipation and change planning, the development and rapid availability of changes, the shortening of decision cycles, the reduction of silos or even human management.

Prosci therefore presents the various contributions of Agility as a strong foundation for the change management approach associated with it.

> How to drive change in Agile mode?

Carrying out a project in Agile mode can therefore facilitate the preparation and implementation of a change management process, but why not try to go further by taking direct inspiration from the lessons of Agile methods for the definition of our change management?

According to the organization Prosci, Agility is a state of mind, so we can wonder how to manifest this “Agile” state of mind in our change management approaches.

Our reflection allowed us to identify 6 factors to help implement an “Agile” change management:

We can also wonder about how to adapt a classic approach to change management in order to take into account the lessons of agility.

The classic approach is structured around the major upstream phases (diagnosis, impact and risk study, definition of the strategy), then a phase dedicated to the implementation of communication, training and support actions. .

This approach may lack responsiveness, adaptability or even create a strong tunnel effect on the project.

By applying the principles of agility to this approach, we then seek to shorten the phases with the creation of short cycles. The diagnosis and the impact study are carried out iteratively as the exchanges take place. The communication, training and support phases are replaced by more ad hoc and cyclical exchange and coaching actions.

Change is no longer “driven”, with a very vertical circulation of information, but “deduced” from the collective experience developed during cycles.

To conclude…

Far from being limited to the sole scope of IT projects, Agility must be able to be applied more broadly in order to fully benefit from it. We must therefore go further than the implementation of Agile processes, and rather seek to move towards an Agile state of mind.

Change management based on human issues can benefit from the application of Agile approaches that value the individual, collaboration, visibility or even adaptation.

For the people in charge of leading the changes, the challenge will be to know how to evolve and adapt in order to put in place change management approaches and tools applicable to Agile change management. It is the design of these practices and tools that will anchor Agile behavioral reflexes within the teams.