Challenge: Getting everyone to speak the same language
The biggest challenge for external agile coaches is to ensure that everyone in the organization speaks the same (agile) language. It is crucial that everyone thinks the same about what agile is, what it does, what the consequences are and how to implement agile working. Some at Delta NV had already heard of the term agile, others were still novices. From IT and MT teams to staff and administration teams. Literally everyone of the 500 employees was given a different role in the agile way of working. A horizontal structure was established by means of a customized agile change design .
The Integrated Agile Transformation Model was used to work on the transformation. Agile coaching is essential, especially in the beginning. Internal agile coaches are therefore trained as soon as possible. The role of the coaches is to ground the agile mindset: to get everyone on the same page.
The agile transformation was initiated in four waves of thirteen weeks. A wave flows from demonstrating, taking by the hand, watching in the background and really transferring. After the assessment & foundation phase, attention is paid to team rituals, feedback loops and internal teams are formed. The next phase focuses on individual improvement and tooling to make the process as streamlined as possible. After the lead phase , the transfer phase follows. Here the process is left to the teams themselves. A new wave is deployed, with new foundations and goals.
In just under a year and a half, Delta NV, together hk phone number with three external coaches and four internal coaches, managed to surpass the current teams and have the teams work together. Together, teams offer more value than separately and this pays for itself in the long run.
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Self-managing teams in a flat organization
The integral approach to this transformation required diagonal changes. The teams changed throughout the organization. The showstoppers (such as departments that are fully focused on the long-term goal and people with a pronounced authoritarian leadership style) within the organization were made visible. The new organization of Delta NV meant that employees no longer worked separately from each other in their own departments or so-called islands, but in multidisciplinary self-managing teams.
In small teams, they worked together on strategic business goals. In order to plan the activities as smartly as possible, a team 'foundations' was set up for each goal. In multidisciplinary teams, they worked on the results to be delivered. People from HR, creatives and developers work together to develop a product or service. A team member thus becomes a knowledge partner in their own team, without hierarchy. The result is a flat organization where switching is fast and the lines of communication are short.