Make Work and Systems Visible: Ways of Working Principle #2

Transparency is the cornerstone of effective systems. It allows for a clear understanding, enabling better decision-making. On the flipside, when we can’t see what is going on in a system, we cannot understand it and effective decision-making is diminished.

Transparency enables understanding. Without it, effective decision-making is diminished

While many organisations and teams acknowledge the importance of transparency, they are often only scratching the surface, missing out on a host of valuable data and insights that could supercharge their delivery capabilities.

Creating Transparency: The First Step

One of the first steps I take in any engagement is to create transparency around the current reality. There are various ways to achieve this, some things simpler and quicker than others. For instance, visualising the workflow using a Kanban board is a simple but effective method. Whereas, creating a system model requires more time and understanding. Regardless of the approach, the priority is always to increase opportunities for learning.

The priority is always to increase opportunities for learning

Techniques to Make Work and Systems Visible: Examples

1. Kanban board: Visualise the workflow in enough detail to understand how value flows (or doesn’t) in a system.
2. Develop increments of working product: The primary measure of progress is working product, not subjective status reports. Focus on work items that add value, not just activities.
3. Explicit policies: Ensure a shared understanding for how to work in a system, improving quality and minimising waste.
4. Team working agreement: The team collaborates to align on values and guidelines, setting clear expectations for working together.

Key Points to Remember

1. Visualise the system in enough detail: Provide good quality feedback by visualising the workflow in enough detail. A very high-level workflow covering steps like; “Backlog”, “In Progress” and “Done” offers limited insight. Drill down further to gain greater insight into system performance, identifying bottlenecks and queues to help prioritise, enable flow and track progress effectively.
2. Data-Driven Decision Making: Basing decisions on data rather than subjective opinions leads to more effective outcomes. During the early stages of engagements, I often encounter assumptions like “It feels like,” “I think,” or “My best guess would be.” These assumptions are noted but often lack supporting data. By introducing data-driven decision making, we avoid wasting time on the wrong issues. For example, a financial services organisation I worked with experienced long cycle times for feature delivery, the initial assumption was that testing was causing delays. The solution proposed was to add more testers to the team. However, further analysis revealed a 20% failure demand due to poor requirements. Using data helped align on the root problem, rather than just the symptom. Addressing the root problem in the upstream process for aligning on requirements led to reduced failure demand and shorter cycle times.

Data-driven decision making is more effective than subjective opinions

Rule of Thumb

When determining the level of detail to visualise, it’s better to go too deep and dial it back if necessary, rather than starting too high and missing useful data or information.

It’s better to go too deep and dial it back than to start too high and miss useful data.

Call to action

If you don’t already visualise your work and system, then prioritise doing this immediately. I once helped the HR department of a large enterprise drastically improve their strategy execution by simply getting them to write all their work items on Post-It notes and stick them on a wall, within minutes they had reduced the work by 25% because it was low priority or not strategically aligned.

If you already practice some form of work and system visualisation, ask yourself and your colleagues if you truly understand your work and systems, or if you can improve this aspect of how you work. Start by identifying what you want to know and then come up with approaches to meet that need. With extensive experience across various teams and organisations, I am available to help you enhance your transparency and effectiveness - just drop me a message.

Thanks for reading this second installment of a series of articles on personal Ways of Working (WoW) Principles. I welcome any comments, builds and/or questions. Hit follow if you are enjoying what a I share.

Catch-up on the first part in this series Principle #1: Start With Why. Stay tuned for part 3, where we'll explore Principle #3: Deliver Value Early and Often

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