Why Agile is Critical to Banking Transformation

I first came across the word “agile” almost twenty years ago. At that point, agile methodology was limited to software development and focused on delivering iterative and incremental solutions. It still is iterative and incremental. But in the last five or six years, it has become more than just a developmental methodology. It has become an all-encompassing model for transforming organizations. It has become a blueprint for organizational transformation and an efficient way to reduce risk and deal with change. What is fantastic about this model is that it involves every facet -- from strategy to people to processes and even the way you are organized. At the same time, what can be challenging is that it is not a one-size-fits-all. It must be continuously adapted, changed, and renewed in line with goals and the environment.

In banks, given legacy systems, composite of multiple platforms, and the highly regulated governance, embracing agile methods is a lot more complex. But the pandemic changed this. As banks move to digital platforms, we are using the opportunity to embrace an agile method of working and shift to a culture that is open, collaborative, and meets the demands of today’s digital-savvy customers.

In 德意志银行 , we’ve been using agile effectively across the organization (and not just in tech teams).

Leadership. Our focus is on ensuring that individuals and leaders are empowered. This means decentralizing decision-making and ensuring that those closest to the challenges are empowered to make crucial decisions, which leads to engaged, fulfilled employees. Individuals are encouraged to model agile values and in turn get their teams to imbibe its principles. We’ve established an Agile Leadership Manifesto to define what characteristics the bank’s leaders should embody to become their own best version of an agile leader: Empowerment, Adaptability, Humility, and Engagement count among them.

Innovation. We know that to thrive in a competitive environment, we must quickly adapt at scale to changing market trends and customer needs. We approach innovation, including hackathons, idea pods, using agile tenets of deeply integrating the user, empowering teams, and bringing Business, Operations, and Technology into one aligned team. This not only accelerates our understanding of domestic and global clients but also encourages teams to embed agile end-to-end and provide innovative solutions to serve our clients better.?

Learning. Learning has also been designed in line with agile principles. The way we learn ensures ideation, collaboration, experimentation, and a diverse set of views. At the end of the day, we want employees not only to learn faster but also more holistically and be able to hit the ground running (applying the learning). We also make sure that our physical and virtual learning spaces allow for maximum flexibility and that material is broken down into smaller “sprints.” Our newly launched Learning Hub uses these principles and has been a resounding success. Within three months of the launch, we achieved an over 60% activation rate for all employees, globally!

A bank can call itself agile when it changes to create multiple, small, high-functioning, empowered teams that deliver to dynamic priorities. That is our aim -- to ensure that agile is not only a technology function but an operations, risk, finance, and tech function. It’s heartening to see that agile is no longer just about squads or sprints or standups. It is ultimately about empowered teams creating products, solutions, and services quickly, with less risk and higher customer satisfaction. Who can say no to that!