Katalyst has previously explored the value of the Agile mindset, both in and outside of IT. But how exactly can an enterprise incorporate it into its operations? Scaled Agile Framework goes beyond a mentality and offers a structure for how companies and customers alike can benefit.
It‘s important to first distinguish that Scaled Agile is both the name of a system and the organization that instituted it. “Scaled Agile is sort of like Kleenex. They came up with a name that coincided with a brand name,“ says Alan Zucker, Founding Principal at Project Management Essentials, LLC. Scaled Agile (SAFe) creator and Chief Architect Dean Leffingwell considers his solution a “paradigm,“ but regardless of how one defines it, Agile leads to increased employee engagement, the desire and ability to tackle more complex projects, and higher customer involvement.
It also allows for greater adaptation when things don’t go according to plan. In this current, unpredictable environment, companies must resist the temptation to play it safe by sticking to tried and true practices. In fact, this may be the perfect time to begin moving in a more Agile direction. This can inspire everyone to remain motivated and invested even if they’re working remotely.
“SAFe came around when we had these larger organizations who have maybe 100 people all working on the same solution,“ recalls Jill Stott, Senior Agile Trainer at NextUp Solutions Training. “Rather than having one large team of 100 people in SAFe, they have you break up into multiple teams, and they have some guidance around how to coordinate those interdependencies. That’s kind of the difference. Agile is a mindset, and then SAFe is a way to apply it to large–scale operations.“
The Professional Sandbox
In many ways, Agile is a very natural approach to business. In fact, you might find some similarities to the way you played as a child. Zucker compares Agile to building a sandcastle: “You’re building it with your friends, and you didn’t build it all at once. You didn’t assign these very rigid roles of, ‘You’re going to do this; you’re only going to make the roads and I’m going to be the one that gets to use the bucket.‘“ The process is much more organic: when you build something that works, you continue in that direction. If something doesn‘t turn out as intended, you knock it over and try a new path.
Agile similarly invites that inherent sense of collaboration, experimentation, and curiosity. The projects may now be more technical and advanced, but the principles remain the same.
Taking the Lead
SAFe is built around a series of core business agility competencies, ultimately centered around a customer-focused mindset. The first is that the leadership must possess a growth mindset, inspiring the team, and encouraging them to actively take ownership. This is a difficult hurdle for some organizations, but if those in charge don‘t fully embrace it, their Agile outlook is doomed from the start.
“Traditionally, the manager knew everything, and the employee‘s job was just to be instructed by that manager and not step up and be leaders themselves,“ says Stott. “In Agile, it‘s vital that the team itself who is building the product are empowered to make those day to day decisions on their own without being micromanaged.“
This is especially critical for managers who want may want to gently enter Agile as they explore future possibilities moving forward after the pandemic. “When they’re fearful, they tend to go back to what familiar and want to tighten up the guidelines,” warns Stott. Leaders must strike a balance of trust and training with their workers. The concept of Agile may be new to them as well, and it‘s important to establish best practices to maintain consistency and maximize efforts.
“You don’t put ten people on a basketball court for the first time and say, ‘Play a game of basketball,‘“ says Zucker. “You want them to have the foundational skills of being able to dribble, to shoot, to know how to guard the other players before you start the basketball game.“ As employees progress step by step, they can be trusted with increased independence.
Continuous Learning
In true Agile fashion, the educational process is never complete. SAFe also relies on the principle of a continuous learning culture and a relentless need for improvement and innovation. That contagious sense of determination ensures mutual investment—and satisfaction—from everyone involved with a project.
“When you have engaged employees, it reduces turnover, increases sales, and increases profitability,“ says Zucker. “The magic that Scaled Agile brings about is that it creates highly motivated people.“ At an Agile company, employees want to contribute and find ways to optimize operations. It creates “an environment where employees are figuring out the best solutions,“ he says. “They’re figuring out what to do, they’re assigning themselves work, and the role of the boss or the manager is to create that environment and clear impediments out of the way.“
Of course, it‘s not just employees and leaders who benefit from Agile. “One of the values in Agile is customer collaboration,“ says Stott. In traditional product development, a client will provide a vision for a finished project, then return to collect it at the end of the contract. “Odds are it’s not what they wanted because they haven’t been involved in the process at all,“ she says. “If you’re locked into a contract, you don’t have any wiggle room. You have to enter some change requests, and then they have to pay additional money. It makes it kind of unfair for both parties to not work collaboratively through that entire process to get quick feedback to make sure we’re on track, and we’re delivering what the customer needs.“
Does your organization have the right mindset and capability to adopt Scaled Agile Framework? This might be the perfect time to jump into the sandbox and reach out to the experts at Katalyst for guidance on reaping the benefits of this fascinating system.