Beyond Building Software: Agile as an Organization-Wide Initiative

Go above and beyond with Agile!

Nearly 20 years ago, Agile software development started making waves in the
technology world when the Agile Manifesto was published. Taking the place of
inflexible and siloed waterfall software delivery, Agile was founded on the tenets
of collaboration, fast feedback loops, short development cycles (sprints), and a
focus on value-driven work. The ultimate goal with Agile is to deliver better
software faster, improving customer experience and increasing employee engagement.

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One common way to achieve this is to build Scrum teams. A Scrum team includes all
the necessary people to complete a project or deliverable. This typically means a
product owner who understands the vision, business, and customer expectations, and
representation from other teams like finance, legal or sales. In Scrum teams, more
people are folded into the routines and ceremonies of Agile and see how it works as
opposed to merely looking at it from the outside-in.

Since its inception, Agile has largely and successfully been employed by technical
teams (take a look at the Campbell Agile story as one example), however, there is a
growing need for Agile practices to move out of the technical silo and across the
entire organization. Here's why every team should be aligned on the Agile approach:

Agile Is a Catalyst for Cross-Team Reconciliation

Before Agile was widely adopted, technical teams (developers, operations, QA, etc.)
often functioned in their own silos, rarely collaborating or working toward common
goals. While Agile initiatives within tech teams are still coming to fruition and
shifting with the tides of innovation, it is becoming necessary for the entire
organization to get on board. Why?

In many situations, when budgeting and planning are performed separately, a full
understanding of Agile is required for it to be supported at all levels, and this
may mean pushing out Agile planning processes to different places of the
organization. If management, ownership, finance, or others still demand a fixed
budget or fixed feature planning, this creates a risk that wouldn't exist if the
teams are given more freedom to deliver. This requires an understanding of the
controls that Agile provides so that those holding the purse strings do not see it
as a process without accountability.

Additionally, as the pace of software delivery increases with Agile, business,

legal, finance, and other non-technical teams cannot be left in the dust. While the
business and C-level leadership might be impressed by the rate of releases coming
from the technical side, what is being produced from these teams needs to align
with business objectives, forecasts, and long-term strategy.

Equally, legal and finance must be assured that what is being delivered is being
done so in a cost-efficient, compliant way. Software products and platforms that
are misaligned with the company vision put a hole in the budget or spur legal
issues can be detrimental and reverse the benefits of doing Agile in the first
place.

Just as technical teams are coming together to work towards a common goal (better,
faster software delivery), this Agile mindset must be spread across the
organization, so the goals of every team are reconciled. When the entire
organization moves at the speed of Agile, digital transformation has the potential
to reach new levels of success.

Agile Addresses Company-Wide Cultural Issues

While Agile is foremost thought of as a technical process, it also cuts to the core
of cultural issues and can be used as an agent for organizational change. Many
organizations undergoing a digital transformation get caught up in product
features, budgets, deadlines, etc. putting cultural issues to the wayside.

Culture should really be at the forefront of a digital transformation, and the

tenets of Agile can facilitate a positive workplace. With its focus on
collaboration, value-driven work, and short sprints, Agile processes can improve
employee engagement and gives every individual on a team a sense of ownership in
their work.

Retaining highly skilled, loyal and innovative employees is critical to keeping up

with the pace of digital transformation. As it becomes harder for businesses to
fill skilled roles, it is important to maintain a positive company culture to keep
talented workers on the roster. Agile development is not just about better and
faster, but happier as well. Again, the cultural aspects of Agile should be applied
company-wide to ensure all teams are maintaining a high level of productivity and
joy.

Agile has permeated throughout technical organizations around the world, however,
as the proverb goes, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." If software
delivery is moving at a rapid pace, but the rest of the business lags behind,
digital transformation can face a costly stall.

The tenets of Agile can and should be applied to any team within an organization to
ensure everyone works toward the same vision, in unison. When organizational silos
are busted, a culture of collaboration is created and work is visible and valuable,
companies can build better products and platforms faster, better and happier.