23 Things Normally Overlooked During Agile Transformation

A lot of companies aspire to be agile, so they sometimes try to copy the best practices of startups and tech companies. However, it’s possible to overlook important aspects of what’s being done in other companies when they try to copy it. Reading or hearing something alone doesn’t provide the full context of what others are doing. To truly understand what is happening or being done, it is important to gain experience or ask more questions.

Below you will find things that are normally missed out during the agile transformation process.

The Right Person for the Job

Get the right person for the job. Building a website or a microsite is different from building a mobile app. Your web developer may not be the best fit for the role of Head of Engineering unless they possess additional skills aligned with the job. If your Head of Engineering doesn’t know what a tech stack is and doesn’t understand enterprise architecture (just a sample of things to note when choosing or hiring a Head of Engineering), then it’s time to get a new one.

Your Head of Product is a key hire. You can outsource some parts of engineering, but your head of product needs to be an internal hire. Choosing the right person will improve your odds of success.

Figure out your key hires and do everything you can to get the best.

Focus on People

To achieve success, it is essential to start by focusing on the people. It is not enough to simply purchase a new tool. Instead, it is important to invest time and effort into training, coaching, and engaging with the individuals who will be using the tool. By providing them with the necessary support and guidance, you can maximize their potential and increase the likelihood of achieving your business objectives.

Open Office Layout

The concept of an open office layout aims to minimize walls, partitions, and cubicles to create a large, shared space for everyone to work in. Its purpose is to foster collaboration, communication, and creativity. However, it's important to note that this type of layout may not work for everyone. Some people prefer more space and some prefer a quieter environment. To enhance collaboration and communication, you should add small meeting rooms where teams and squads can gather and work.

Speed of Execution

Once an idea or plan is formed, we prioritize quick execution. Startups and tech companies are typically faster in terms of execution compared to big corporations. However, we don't rush things and before any actual work is done, we engage in discussions, planning, and debates either face-to-face or online. Sometimes these discussions may continue on until the early morning hours, but the point is to thoroughly think things through before taking action. Think before you act.

Documentation

While startups may sometimes lag behind in terms of documenting policies and procedures, we understand the importance of documentation (we catch up at some point). We use tools such as Wikis (Notion), Google Docs, or Slack to document our work and meetings. We prefer using short bullet points, but the main goal is to ensure that we don't forget what was discussed. Assigning someone to take notes and share with everyone after the meeting goes a long way.

New Projects

New projects play a crucial role in business growth, whether it's process optimization, cost optimization, exploring new revenue sources, or developing new go-to-market strategies. It's important to remember that we don't give up immediately after one attempt. We chose these projects because they haven't been done before. If they were easy, others would have already accomplished them. Therefore, for each new project, we test different approaches to determine what works and what doesn't (Test and Learn).

Innovation and Transformation is not a one-off project. It’s a daily exercise that needs to be part of the organization’s culture.

MVP

The “M” in MVP means minimum. As a reminder, don’t expect something perfect when building something new for your customers or employees. Expecting something perfect will result in long timelines, wasted resources, and demotivated colleagues.

Mobile App

Carefully consider the need for a mobile app before doing the work. A mobile app will not solve all your problems. Sometimes a simple website will suffice. Do you really need one? Will it really add value to your customers and partners?

User Acquisition

New users are important for growth, but once you have acquired them, don’t forget to make them happy.

Start by simplifying things for them (users), but over time don’t forget to add depth (advance features) into your product. Don’t just build simple things. Build hard things as well over time especially if it positively impacts the business. Most of your competitors can build simple features, but building hard things will give you a competitive advantage.

Customer Experience

Customer Experience is the secret sauce. Review how you interact with customers. What’s their experience with your company?

Jeff Bezos, former CEO of Amazon, used to require his executives to work in a call center two days annually. If you do customer experience right, then you can expect better customer satisfaction and increase in revenue. Learn it and master it.

Overengineering

Do not complicate your products. Build what is necessary. Know the difference between hard features and overly complicated features.

People

Startups often require employees to take on multiple roles (not by choice but by necessity) due to limited budgets. However, if you are a mid-size or large corporation, it's advisable to invest in hiring the right people for each role. While some individuals thrive in wearing multiple hats, from my experience, not everyone can handle it effectively.

Review your job requirements. Do you really need someone with a college degree for a software developer? A business development manager with a master’s degree? Experience of successful companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft tells us that you don’t need one to be successful. It’s time to evaluate your hiring strategy if you want to hire the best and the brightest. For a lot of job roles now, experience is given more weight rather than a degree or certificate.

New Technology

Don't be afraid to embrace new technologies. There's a reason why startups and tech companies commonly use platforms like Slack and Notion, which facilitates better communication and collaboration within the organization.

Be open to testing new technologies. For example, Qubes OS, a highly secure open-source operating system utilizes Security by Compartmentalization. It isolates different programs and files in separate virtual machines called "qubes". This ensures that even if one program is infected or compromised, the rest of the system remains secure and unaffected.

In an agile company, we will typically discuss and start using new technologies within a month or less (at least a few pioneer users), especially if we see that it can potentially give us a competitive advantage. Whereas in larger corporations, extensive meetings and assessments are often conducted before any actual testing takes place. If your industry heavily depends on technology, speed in leveraging a new technology is crucial for gaining a competitive advantage (think FinTech).

However, as a counterpoint, if you don’t have the budget and/or expertise to use a new technology, then it’s okay to use what you currently have until such time you have built up your capabilities. Don’t join the bandwagon and waste a ton of money just for the sake of playing with the new cool tool. Be strategic. Do you really need it? Will it give you a competitive advantage? Will it be beneficial for the organization?

The Agile Way

Agile is a framework. Strict implementation is not necessary for success. It is important to adapt based on the current state of your organization. While introducing Agile to everyone, I have found that teaching the basics of project management in parallel can contribute to the success of the organization.

Squads or agile teams may not be suitable for everyone. Some individuals excel when left to work independently and can contribute their expertise as needed. Don’t force people into joining squads. You might lose your best talent if you force them into doing something that they don’t really like.

Lastly, the agile way is not a substitute to a good old let’s sit down and talk. The old ways still work.

Chat and Short Meetings Preferred

Look at your calendar. Fully booked for the day? If yes, then that’s not right. You need time to think and reflect. Sometimes in order to become faster, you need to intentionally slow down (to think and reflect). Chat and Short Calls or Short Face-to-Face meetings preferred. Note though that it doesn’t apply to everything. Business reviews are important and these weekly or monthly meetings typically last longer (an hour or more).

Psychological Safety

Changing processes or adopting new applications can sometimes cause stress and confusion. It's important for the organization to anticipate this and be understanding. Some people may resist the changes or make mistakes during the transition. Therefore, it is crucial for the organization to be more tolerant and maintain constant communication and engagement. This will help ensure that everyone understands the benefits of the changes for the company and its stakeholders. It's important to acknowledge that it won't be easy, so it's necessary to prepare for the challenges ahead. Having a workforce that is aligned and highly engaged increases the probability of success for the organization.

Growth Mindset

Having a growth mindset is a crucial component in agile transformation. With a growth mindset, individuals are more likely to embrace challenges and persist in the face of setbacks. By cultivating a growth mindset, we open ourselves up to new possibilities and opportunities for growth and improvement.

Managing Stakeholders

A successful agile transformation requires strong support from all stakeholders involved. It is crucial to regularly update your stakeholders, at least once a month, to keep them informed about the progress of the transformation. During these updates, make sure to share not only your achievements and successes, but also any obstacles or blockers that you may be facing. By keeping your stakeholders well-informed and involved, you can ensure that they are aligned with the goals and objectives of the transformation. This open communication and transparency will help build trust and collaboration among all stakeholders, paving the way for a successful transformation journey.

Process

Optimize the process, so that people can work more efficiently. Even if you have the best technology money can buy, it will be worthless if you don’t have the proper process in place.

For example, if you don’t have a data quality check process in place, then all you will get from your expensive new tool is garbage. Garbage In, Garbage Out.

Data is Gold

This topic has been discussed extensively, but the use of data should drive the organization to optimize its processes, reduce costs, and improve its revenue. If it fails to do so, then something is wrong. Once the data is presented, a deep dive into the story behind the numbers should follow and action items that positively impacts the business are discussed and agreed on after. Are the plans of sales, marketing, and operations aligned with what the data is telling us? If not, then why even bother to analyze the data?

It is important to note that a shiny new dashboard is not the ultimate objective of utilizing data.

Silos

The advantage of most startups is that they are too small to have silos. Break down silos and work together in achieving the business goals. Design it in such a way that coming together is a must and part of the corporation’s DNA. If needed, put it in people’s KPIs.

Think about the current reward structure you have in place. Does it reward people who help the organization communicate and collaborate better? Or is it still heavily skewed towards incentivizing individual performers?

Align with Business Goals

All the work that you are doing should align with the business goals. If it doesn’t, then stop doing the work immediately and focus on work that aligns with the business goals. There’s no point in doing something if it doesn’t positively impact the business.

Ask yourself, what are my priorities? Does it positively impact the business and align with business goals?

Know Your Advantage

Lastly, a reminder to big corporations, you have a huge advantage versus startups. You have the manpower (compared to the limited number of employees in startups), financial resources, and strong business relationships. These are clear advantages that you should leverage. The only thing you might be missing are individuals who know how to make the most of those advantages.

#leadership #management #technology #agile #transformation #businesstransformation #digitaltransformation

Disclaimer: This is a personal post of the author. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are his own and not those of his organization.