Time for a fundemental change

Agile transformation at the BMW Group

May 24, 2023Reading Time: 3 min.

We essentially know the automotive industry inside out at csi entwicklungstechnik. We also know that there is now less and less time to develop innovations that will surprise and inspire customers. This is essentially because national and international car manufacturers’ development cycles are becoming shorter and shorter. Only companies that can keep up with the rapidly accelerating pace and at the same time react to ever new challenges will remain in the race. As a long-standing development and coaching partner to almost all the major car manufacturers, we have therefore developed the tools and methodologies that we are also using to support the BMW Group with our expertise in project management and consulting.

Coaching, project management and control for future projects

To implement this, a decision was made in Munich to systematically transform and revolutionize the existing processes with a new and agile working model. We were brought on board by csi in early 2020 to support the BMW Group team in this innovative future project with our knowledge of agile methodology. Since then, we have been supporting the BMW Group in the development of new models with our “Center of Competence Agile”, which we founded at the csi site in Munich in 2018. Naturally, we are delighted, because it shows how much the BMW Group trusts us in terms of coaching, project management and control. We have already been working for them for over two decades, among other things as a development service provider.

Successful realization of agile working methods at the BMW Group

Agile working has been rooted as a central element of the new working model for this new type of collaboration. Since the start of the project, our team currently working on the project, which numbers 20 operational scrum masters and agile coaches, has trained over 800 BMW Group employees: we have communicated the key fundamentals and values of agile process architectures, as well as the methodology and requisite tooling in mindset workshops, IT tool training courses and team building events.

Agility and motivation for success

The added value of agile working is constantly honed, even within the project phases, with exciting, practice-based formats, including our popular “Agile Cooking” approach. After all, agility is above all a mindset and cultural issue that can work really well only if it is truly embodied, and when those involved recognize the new flexibility and freedom that the changed approach offers.