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The 4 fields of Enterprise Agile Transformation

There are countless companies that have started their Enterprise Agile Transformation in recent years. With good reason, because no one would question the benefits of the Agile Method today; this is an obvious fact that is unanimously accepted in all sectors of activity.

So, contrary to what one might think, Agile is not the one who wants!

Not all organizations are ready for Agility considering that this implies giving more autonomy to business units and work teams and creating cross functional teams as well. Moreover, not all business leaders will necessarily welcome Agility with open arms.

Thus, more than processes, the Agile method calls for a work philosophy that encompasses both the personnel and structure of the organization.

The Agile Enterprise therefore calls upon a profound transformation of the organization. This comprehensive transformation will affect all facets of the Organization including Personnel, Organizational Structure, Strategy and Technology. That’s the path to a successful Agile Transformation.

Here are the 4 fields of Enterprise Agile Transformation*:

 

Organizational structure of the Agile Enterprise

– Template and location of the Work Force

o Adopt a mission-oriented approach to the template and location of your Workforce

– Hierarchical structure

o Simplify and streamline your reporting structure

– Roles and Responsibilities

o Build roles and responsibilities from business units and minimize the Head Office’s control over operations

– Governance of the company

o Streamline decision-making

 

Personnel

– Leadership

o Train managers to develop a vision, inspire, model and coach rather than lead

– Talent Management

o Be prepared to make efforts to attract and retain talent

– Organizational culture

o Challenge the company’s culture, ways of doing things and attitudes

– Communication and informal networks

o Create opportunities for employees to form organic networks within the company

 

Technology of the Agile Enterprise

– Support tools and systems

o Make sure you have the right tools to provide the necessary support for an Agile way of working

– Evolution of Architecture

o Implement a design and architecture based on the requirements

– Delivery pipeline

o Automate your testing and process integration to support continuous and timely delivery

– IT Operations and Infrastructure

o Ensure that you have an appropriate IT infrastructure and operations in place to support rapid change

 

Process of the Agile Enterprise

– Team process

o Free up team time so that they can work on value-creating activities

– Liaison mechanisms

o Set up means and tools so that resources from different functions can collaborate

– Planning and Decision Process

o Recognize that the best of plans can fail and design your planning and decision-making so that you can quickly test and learn

– Performance Management

o Set up a results-oriented performance management structure

 

Conclusion

The fact is that any company would benefit from proceeding with its Enterprise Agile Transformation; however, some of those who would like to benefit from the Agile benefits might also be its biggest obstacle, some decision-makers.

In short, the Agile Enterprise will emerge from an in-depth review of processes, technology and, above all, people and organizational structure.

And as everyone knows, change is never easy… and some people actually never manage to change.

* Source : McKinsey & Company

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