Employees who have absorbed the agile mindset and established the efficient, agile structures are not only more productive and increase added value during times of comprehensive home office than companies which have merely constructed an agile facade.
We want to share our experiences from a year of comprehensive home office with each other and with our customers and demonstrate how important it is to also really live the commitments we have made.
Agility is a way of living and acting - not a trend with colourful Post-Its.
The fact that this brings lots of advantages in times of decentralised cooperation is no coincidence: The core of all agile working models is the independent working method and self-responsibility of each and every person. Teams of motivated employees who have a clear goal in their sights do not lose this outside of the office. If you know your own contribution to the product and company success, you can better prioritise the upcoming tasks and gain a clear focus. A pronounced awareness of responsibility and increasing motivation are only two of the positive effects - we are certain of this.
The fact that agile work is currently very popular and on everybody‘s lips is not down to corona, nor that the approaches are revolutionary, or even new – so why are so many companies in upheaval and in agile transformation right now? Moreover, how does that help us in the home office?
The correct motivation, a tailored method and the employees abilities, in addition to consistent change management are the factors which usually make successes very quickly visible. The focus on the important and value-maximising tasks ensures increased product quality and a clear, user-oriented product or service orientation.
However, the cooperation models as well, which are not directly product-oriented, but make the organisation structure agile (for example, OKR), require the commitment, both of the employees and management. It takes courage and trust in the abilities of your own employees and the organisation to venture into an agile transformation. However, with the correct blend of openness for new things as well as advice from professionals with practical experience in the introduction and scaling of agile frameworks, concealed efficiency can be leveraged.
We regularly teach that this is not successful simply through the use of a “new framework“. Only when the fundamental approaches of an agile mindset are really understood and enacted can modern organisational structures lead to efficient work processes and customer-oriented products.
This once again comes full circle to the parallels between home office and agile work:
the respect and the trust to allow agile business to become part of daily life for your employees can now be returned through consistent work results from the home office.
We are currently experiencing that the result level in agile projects is significantly lower in comparison to “classic“ projects in the current altered working situation. In these projects as well, little to no reprioritisations and adjustments were made, as more short-term planning instead of predicting and scenarios was already the day to day situation.
“Keep the people in focus and establish organisational structures which give you the maximum support in exercising your skills” - this motto has once again proven itself for us in the current situation! We want to make our contribution towards not only seeing this type of fast and focused cooperation as crisis management, but to anchor it in the long-term and sustainably with our customers.
What experiences have you gathered from this context?
We are happy to hear your questions about our coaching & training concepts.
We would be happy to work together with you on your agile projects.
Please get in touch with our contact partners!
CLEMENS HEILAND & FABIAN SCHULZE
csi development technology | Munich | Consulting
Clemens.Heilandcsi-onlinede | Fabian.Schulzecsi-onlinede
