Agile may not always be the right answer
Sometimes companies, due to lack of knowledge, experience or even guidance, dive head first into adopting a certain way of working, or "framework". You'll hear them say "We need to implement SAFe" or "We are using Scrum as our Agile framework" and so on. This tells us one thing and one thing only: they know some framework names.
But implementing a framework off the shelf is just jumping to conclusions. What is the true reason behind using a framework?
Read with your team the 12 Agile Principles
This should be a no-brainer, really, but you will be surprised how many people think they are working in an Agile manner but don't adhere to a single point in those 12 principles. We are not looking for fanaticism here; we are merely looking for a checkpoint and a good enough approximation to these principles. Needless to say, the closer you are to these, the higher your chance of success you have in implementing Agile in your organization and teams.
Whiteboard session with your team about what is going on right now
This session should be all about the current state of your company and business, painful points, and what is going well and what isn't. Use a whiteboard and a few sets of Post-It/Sharpies to essentially brainstorm. Put the Post-Its on the board (or wall) and then cluster them according to their category e.g., teams, testing, leadership, organization etc. Be creative but also keep a simplistic approach so that it won't get overly complicated. You can even use a SWOT pattern in the background to help you aggregate your Post-It tickets.
I find this exercise really revelatory at times, especially as the group of people you run the exercise with gets increasingly bigger, thus offering more input to the session. You will see people from different areas agreeing with each other and a lot of head nodding. Keep track of the results of this exercise for the future, since you will need to return to this conversation at a later time.
Ask yourselves why
You will be surprised how many people do things without asking themselves why they do them. What's the underpinning reason for wanting to implement Agile (or any other way of working) in your organization? Is it because it's trendy? Do you even know what Agile is? The 5 Whys method is not new; it dates back to the 1930s, and it aims to do exactly that: ask "why?" until you get yourself the real answer. Here's what it would look like:
- We want to implement Agile in our organization.
- Why?
- Because we think that it can help us work better and deliver faster.
- Why?
- Because we think our teams are not working well enough at the moment.
- Why?
- Because they may not be organized in the most appropriate manner.
...and so on. You will see that you start somewhere and end up somewhere else, thus finding the true reason behind wanting to do something.
Ask yourselves why now
If your company decides to start using Agile, there are a few assumptions to be made right off the bat:
It isn't using Agile as its prime way of working
It is using some sort of waterfall approach
Some factors sparked the need for Agility right now
This question aims to answer predominantly №3. What are those factors that made you want to implement some Agile ways of working right now? Why not last year or two years ago? (Agile is not new)
Ask yourselves what good looks like
Has anyone around you experienced working in an Agile company? If yes, maybe they can shed some light on what good looks like and how it would work for you.
The following questions will (and should) be asked by an experienced Agile coach anyway, should you decide to bring one in to help you with your transition. Asking these questions not only prepares you better as a team and forms a unified way of thinking towards change, but it also makes you appear as one team with one vision and one message to everyone around you. It helps maintain consistency, and when times get hard (which they will), you will all remember where you started and why.