In this article, our guest author Carsten Rasche provides insights into the myScaledAgile approach. Carsten is an Executive Consultant at the management consultancy borisgloger consulting and, as an organizational psychologist in the context of agile transformations, is primarily concerned with the question of what suitable framework conditions look like in which individuals and teams can continuously develop.
Many companies, whether start-ups, SMEs or corporations, now work according to agile principles. The initiatives often start in one department and, if successful, are then rolled out to larger areas or the entire company. A variety of frameworks are available for this purpose that promise to help with implementation - they are called Scrum@Scale, SAFe® or LeSS. However, they fail to recognize one important aspect: as different as companies are, the framework should be just as individual. Our practical experience from various transformation projects forms the basis for a metamodel developed by borisgloger consulting: the myScaledAgile approach. The aim of the approach is to map the multi-layered topics and development strands that an agile working model requires and to put them in a meaningful order.
These three steps will help you:
1. preparation of the framework development
The first phase defines the framework conditions for the development and implementation of a new collaboration model. In addition to the question of which strategic goals the organization is pursuing to which a new framework is aligned, the focus is on the goals of the change. Which parts of the current organizational structure and processes may be adapted and which may not? Ideally, top management is directly involved and provides the impetus as the client. A lightweight status quo analysis should also provide answers at the start as to what level of maturity the company has in various dimensions and which points need to be developed further in the course of the change project. The retrospective is suitable for a representative cross-section. Representatives from all affected departments and all levels take part - from employees to managers. Especially when it comes to the framework development of larger departments or even entire organizational areas, it is advisable to form a dedicated change team that bears responsibility and acts as a point of contact within the organization. This team is often called a transformation team. It is recruited from all areas of the organization and also works in an agile manner.
Inset: Six factors of successful scaling
In our practical projects, six success factors have emerged for the introduction and establishment of agility in large parts of the organization. Our experience shows that it is not enough to simply orchestrate several agile teams with the help of a prefabricated scaling framework in order to transform into an agile organization. A stable foundation is built on six building blocks.
Communication and the flow of information are the basis of agile working. That is why the organizational and product architecture has a special role to play. It must ensure that different teams can work as independently of each other as possible. Building on this, a supporting infrastructure is essential in order to exchange information smoothly and release product parts independently of each other. This is what makes fast deliveries possible.
Essential for high-quality deliveries are the necessary skills and experience to manage the project. Strengths must be utilized in terms of customer orientation in order to optimally meet the needs of the users of products and services. Management frameworks help to control and keep an eye on the overall system of the organization. In conclusion, the transformation can only succeed if leadership and culture of the company evolve and agile values and principles are integrated into a modern understanding of leadership.
2. design of the new working model
In the second phase, the transformation team develops the new scaling framework based on the defined framework conditions. This may involve several workshops with regular feedback from the organization. The process should deliberately start with structural adjustments: existing hierarchies, departmental structures and value creation processes must be reviewed to ensure they are fit for purpose.
The aim of agile organizational and process models is to align the organization more closely with the customer, to move away from a functional structure and instead develop an organization that is oriented towards products or customer segments. This also goes hand in hand with new management models: most agile working models provide for fewer hierarchical management roles in order to strengthen the self-organization and decision-making authority of the teams. Only in the second step are the processes developed that the company needs to coordinate the new system.
The biggest challenge is to align the different teams, which should be as autonomous as possible, towards common goals. Various models are available for this, such as Klaus Leopold's Flight Levels concept. It helps to maintain an overview of decisions at the respective levels (strategy, coordination and operational level). An agile working model also includes goal management, which serves to translate the organization's vision into common goals for departments and teams. In recent years, the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) method has proven to be increasingly suitable for this purpose. It promotes the self-organization and personal responsibility of teams and employees with quarterly targets.
In addition to target management, in which the top management of the organization is involved, the actors need concepts that help them coordinate large work packages with several teams involved - for example, big room planning or a lean portfolio management process. The final step is to define specific synchronization mechanisms for collaboration between the teams and with the stakeholders.
3. implementation of the new working model
In the third and final phase, the focus is on developing a plan for the dissemination of the new framework and supporting its implementation. The transformation team should be explicitly tasked with first applying the new concept in a pilot and then driving the changeover in other parts of the organization.
The concept of Open Space Agility has proven itself for major changes. It relies on a large group event at the start of the change (from phase 3) with all participants, in which they are invited to carry out experiments on predefined topics over the next hundred days. In the case of implementing the new scaling framework, this would be a minimum set of criteria that each team implements for itself within the first hundred days. After that, all teams come together again and share their experiences with each other. This enables joint learning and the further development of the framework. The next hundred-day iteration then begins, in which further aspects of the framework are adapted in the teams.
With the myScaledAgile approach, you have created a framework for rolling out agility more broadly in your teams and organization. Good preparation and the courage to change structures are essential for this.
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