Systems and Workflow: Staying Agile

Sometimes technology, when embedded in a workflow, fails to successfully win over end-users. This can happen when inputs to the workflow change, or when the system is just not as useful in practice as it seemed on paper. As a result, people develop workarounds--spreadsheets, paper files, post-it notes--to help them get their jobs done while avoiding a system they don't understand or they feel does not meet their needs.

Over time, a five-step, documented workflow with a central database can become a ten-step time sink with manual processes known only to those who adapted the system. Documentation becomes outdated and data is scattered among spreadsheets and Word documents, rendering the original database of little use.

These situations usually become apparent after someone leaves or a crisis or mistake warrants a closer look at the process--a.k.a. the worst time to realize a system you thought was in place had completely fallen apart.

Taking agile methodology out of the IT department and adapting it as a leadership technique can help create an environment in which functional issues with tech and workflows can be spotted before users abandon a system or develop a workaround.

Here are a few items from the Agile Manifesto that can be used by the agile leader outside of the IT department:

"At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly."

Agile leaders should use regular meetings to check in with staff on workflow, process, and systems. What's working; what's not? Formalizing these questions, with repetition, sends a message that reflection on process is good and change is welcome. When this is part of your culture it is less likely that people will develop their own systems and workarounds behind the scenes. 

"Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential."

The purpose of a workflow is to systematize and make efficient. What is feeling cumbersome; what are your biggest time sinks? Asking these questions empowers people and reminds them that they should always strive for efficiency, which often requires process adjustment as circumstances change.

"The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation."

This holds true for agile leaders. Face-to-face with direct reports is fairly easy, but those in a support role with people outside of your own group should also reach out to the user base and talk face-to-face regularly. Lunch-and-learns are great tools for this communication. Ask people to bring with them anything they are working on that seems inefficient or unwieldy and share it with the group. When people see others struggling and getting help, they are more willing to talk about their struggles as well.

These principles, when used consistently by the agile leader, convey openness to change and willingness to help with things happening at users' desks. It is a contagious mindset that creates a culture in which people ask for help before creating workarounds that damage efficiency and render good systems obsolete before their time.