Agile Transformation Processes

Berlin, 19.11.2020

Transforming Enterprises

Agile Transformation Processes

Transforming Your Business In An Agile Way

Berlin, 19.11.2020

Head of Enterprise Architecture

Ognjen Manojlovic

Igor Tunjic

Senior Consultant

Olga Medvedeva

Marketing

Consultant

Göryen Giebel

Your Host

Your Speakers

Your Virtual Coffee Lounge Facilitators

Senior Consultant

Max Erdrich

Tolga Üge

Consultant

Coffee Lounge:

Join the post-meetup discussion at ca. 16:45

What Is Agile Transformation?

Agile Transformation is about applying the ideal of "agility" to the transformation of an enterprise.

The process can be agile, even if the enterprise is not (yet)

What Is Enterprise Transformation?

The transformation affects more than one layer of an enterprise, i.e. not just business model, organisation or IT but mostly all three together.

Enterprise Transformation is about fundamentally changing what an enterprise does or how it does it. Often it is both at the same time.

The scope of a transformation can be wide (e.g. changing the business model entirely) or narrow (e.g. introducing a new service that requires new technology and organisation)

When Should You Use An Agile Transformation Approach?

In these situations you need a process that offers:

High level of flexibility
"Search" for right approach and content
Continuous reinvention of both means and ends ("what and how")
Smooth transformation & adjustments to a volatile situation
Ability to react to (late) changes in priorities

Agile processes are especially useful when working in unclear, "foggy" situations:

initially, you don't know exactly what you want to achieve or how to get there.

Key Agile Principles

Whichever process you follow, you will always find a few key principles that define "agility".

Coffee Lounge: What are the core aspects of agile transformation?

Create a shared

vision

Build

empowered

teams

Cultivate

an agile

mindset

Use modern, collaborative tools

an agile transformation process

Create a Shared Vision

Have you involved all key stakeholders and got the right skills on board.

WHY

Do you have a common purpose regarding transformation?

WHAT

Does your team understand the big picture?

HOW

Do you have the key enablers such as processes and tools in place?

WHO

The best team will fail if it cannot unite behind a shared vision that defines the why, what, how and who of your transformation.

Enterprise Ecosystem and Architecture

CxO, Domain Experts, Transformation Architects, Business Engineers, System Engineers...

Build Empowered Teams

Most organisations view themselves as "machines" - leading to over-specialisation and command and control structures.

When it comes to transformation teams, it is better to view organisations as living organisms - ensure that your transformation team bridges organisational boundaries

Cultivate an Agile Mindset

*https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/doing-vs-being-practical-lessons-on-building-an-agile-culture

What cultural struggles do you experience in your company?

Coffee Lounge: How did you experience the transformation to agile?

In a recent survey by McKinsey 60% of respondents said they were transforming to an agile organisation. Their biggest challenge: changing the culture*

Cultivate an Agile Mindset

*https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/doing-vs-being-practical-lessons-on-building-an-agile-culture

A clear, purposeful cultural aspiration is key to sucessful transformation.

Follow an Agile Transformation Process

Think in phases and iterations

Enterprise Transformation is a creative problem solving and design process, which starts with initial ideas and leads all the way to launching new products, services, organisations and systems into the market.

While there is clear progress along the phases, this is not a "waterfall process" – you need to implement the full transformation cycle right from the beginning.

Within each phase you run through at least one (but often more) transformation cycles, which are continuously reconfigured in an exploratory fashion.

Agile Transformation Phases

Understand your current situation and develop an initial vision of what you want to achieve.

Do whatever you can to validate your ideas: build prototypes, engage stakeholders, work through the numbers.

Work out the details of what you want to achieve.

Build your solution, get ready for re-organisation and launching new products and services. Train your work force.

Launch your products and services, start living your new processes.

Phases lead you from AS-IS to TO-BE with clear, measurable progress at the end of each phase.

Analyze your situation. Explore "What if" questions, identify constraints and critical factors.

Define the principles which will guide your design. Look for patterns that may help you to find an "optimal" design. Identify and flesh out design alternatives.

Plan and organize the actual transformation. Prepare your stakeholders, train your workforce, communicate details of the transformation.

Create prototypes of the future to test your ideas against reality – models, simulations, mock-ups, apps & systems ... to shape and inform the transformation process.

Agile Transformation Cycles

Transformation cycles ensure that you get feedback from all stakeholders early and that you learn continuously ("fail often, fail early").

Each cycle should have the same duration ("timebox") to create a regular rhythm.

Aligning Phases and Cycles

You should perform all activities within a transformation cycle right from the beginning ... but the emphasis will be more on exploration initially and on transformation in later phases.

Agile Collaboration

Use a collaborative brainstorming tool for first exchange of ideas
Use predefined templates to channel the discussion
Use the visual result to communicate the outcome easily and informally to the stakeholders

Use a formal architecture model to keep the current state and the desired state of the company
Use a formal modeling language with clear semantics (e.g. archimate)
Use the model to evaluate the impact of changes to the entire enterprise

Collaborative task management

Use collaborative tools to manage the big picture without losing sight of the details.

Collaborative thinking and brainstorming

Collaborative enterprise architecture

Use a flexible, collaborative ticketing and workflow engine to capture all tasks and channel them in the right direction
Ensure that nothing is forgotten
Track progress at all times

Coffee Lounge: Which agile, collaborative tools do you use?