Leadership in a scaling agile environmentLeonoor Koomen

INTRODUCTION LEONOOR KOOMEN

­ACTAGILE.COM & ING :• Trainer and coach of executive boards • Trainer and coach of (lead) Agile Coaches• Assistant in organizational design and obeya’s

­Agile• Certified in roles: scrum master, product owner, agile coach• Certified in practices: Scrum, Kanban• Certified in frameworks: LeSS , SaFe• Certified in Coaching• Certified in Lean Six Sigma• Certified in Enterprise Coaching: ACI-ENT• Certified in Agile Leadership: CAL1 @agileonoor

SO I AM AN EXECUTIVE AGILE COACH

SOME OF THE WORLDS I HAVE LEARNED FROM

Why do companies chose a journey to agility?

• Reduce time to market/volume

• Break down silo’s

• Increase engagement

But most of all……

Because Agile is in Fashion and because of the

myth that agile will bring twice as much in half the

time!

And why do companies fail? source state of agile survey

Let’s say that again

38 % of agile initiatives

that fail do so because of

lack of management supportSource:State of agile survey

SO LEADERSHIP IS IMPORTANT!

LEADERS SHOULD BRING A COMPELLING WHY

Artwork: Thea Schukken

LEADERS SHOULD BRING FOCUS:CLARITY ON VISION, DIRECTION AND MEASURABLE GOALS

AND WHEN I SAY FOCUS I MEAN STRATEGIC FOCUS, NOT TACTICAL NITTY GRITTY MEDDLING

SO PLEASE STOP TELLING THE TEAMS HOW TO DO THEIR WORK

FEEDBACK IS CRUCIAL IN BECOMING A CONTINUOUS IMPROVING ORGANISATION ( LEADERS SHOULD GO FIRST!)

WE WANT LEADERS TO BE A TEAM WITH THEIR PEERS

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STOP CONSTANTLY SHUFFLING PEOPLE BETWEEN PRIORITIES/TEAMS

AND BREAK SILO’S, STARTING AT THE TOP

WE WANT LEADERS TO ACT AS HEAD OF IMPEDIMENTS

AND BEING ACCESIBLE IS KEY TOO

SO IS LEADERSHIP DIFFERENT IN A SCALINGENVIRONMENT?

I HATE TO BREAK IT TO YOU, BUT YOU ARE NOT..

YOU MAY HAVE A FEW MORE DEPENDANCIES

SO YOU NEED TO COME UP WITH A PLAN TO SCALE

TRANSPARENCY IS ESSENTIAL AND GETS MORE DIFFICULT WHENYOUR SHOP IS BIG

SO WHAT NOW?

WORKING PRODUCT IS THE PRIMARY MEASURE OF PROGRESS SO----

LEADERS SHOULD RESIST THE URGE TO ASK FOR PROGRESSREPORTS

AND CREATE AUTONOMY & ALIGNMENT – WITH OBEYA

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Henrik Kniberg: Spotify engineering culture

WHAT IS OBEYA大部屋

Based on Toyota Production System

1. 360 degree overview2. Cascading3. Continuous interaction4. Structural Problem solving

Obeyas provide dedicated space as well as time for coordination and problem-solving, and are designed to minimize organizational barriers1. 1 Sam MacPherson, Lean Leadership Academy

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OBEYA – 4 GUIDING PRINCIPLES

OBEYA @ ING

THE HOPEFUL NEWS FOR AGILE TRANSFORMATIONS

IT’S A CLICHÉ BUT IT IS INDEED A JOURNEY

YES, WE CAN STOP MOST MEETINGS!

FAILING FAST IS EASIER IN SOME WORLDS THAN OTHERS, BUT ITCAN BE DONE!

WE NEED METRICS AND INCENTIVES THAT MATTER TO STEER WELL

AND YES, CHANGE CAN MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY

AND PLEASE REMEMBEREVERY CHANGE, NO MATTER HOW BIG OR SMALLSTARTS WITH THE SAME WORD….

YOU!GOOD LUCK!

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