The Tech industry has benefited from the amazing success of Agile delivery for over a decade. Hundreds of billions of dollars in value have been created by applying the key principles and practices. I help businesses outside the tech sector implement Business Agility to unlock this potential.
Business Agility is based around the same core values and concepts as Agile Delivery, but is tailored to a business delivery environment. It’s a value-oriented, outcome-focused way of working that fosters a constructive, collaborative environment and a culture of trust.
The core principles are Transparency, Communication, and Positive Feedback Loops
Transparency
We create transparency and visibility across four key dimensions:
- Goals
- Plans
- Progress
- Problems
By ensuring that we know where we’re heading, how to get there, what’s happening, and what’s holding us up, we are always confident we are working on the highest-value outcome, and we know what we need to do next.
Communication
We want everyone focused on execution. To do that, they have to be able to collaborate and solve problems together. We focus on the core conversations that drive work forward, and eliminate waste caused by delays, dependencies, and decision-making. The Way of Working in Business Agility defines the key conversations that take place at each step of delivery, with a focus on ensuring that conversations engage the right people, at the right time, with the right information, making the right commitments.
Positive Feedback Loops
By working in time-boxed iterations, and always delivering something valuable, we get rapid feedback on progress. Our stakeholders can always see what is happening, which drives trust. By getting feedback frequently we are able to adjust our course to stay focused on delivering real value for customers.
Business Agility in Practice
Business Agility is a new Way of Working. It’s based on two modes of operation – Discovery and Delivery. Each mode has a structured pathway that leads to valuable outcomes at the earliest possible point.
Discovery Mode
In Discovery Mode, we are working out what needs to be done. This is where we know the general strategic direction, but we don’t have a detailed delivery plan. Our goal is to navigate through the ‘grey space’ to a clear understanding of what we need to create, and what we need to do to make that happen.
Discovery Mode is built around the Discovery Workshop, where we ask a series of structured questions to define Problem, Solution, People, and Plan. With a proven framework and well-defined artefacts at every step, getting from ‘What’ to ‘How’ is a breeze. the Discovery Workshop generates artefacts including a Delivery Charter, Roles and Responsibility document, Risk Register and Delivery Plan.Once we have our first cut of a plan, we flip into Delivery Mode and start creating value.
We may return to Discovery Mode at any time, to firm up assumptions, to refocus the delivery, or to add or remove features from our delivery.
Delivery Mode
This is where we create value. We want to spend 90% of our time in Delivery Mode. We take our Delivery Plan from the Discovery Workshop, and start executing.
Our time is divided into fixed-length Iterations which have the same structure. It kicks off with an Iteration Commitments Session. We take the plan, together with our learnings from the previous iterations, and make realistic commitments about what needs to be delivered this iteration.
Every day we have a Stand-Up meeting where we check in with what’s been completed, get a sense check on iteration progress, and raise any problems that need to be shared.
At the end of the iteration we hold a Showcase where we demonstrate what we have completed, and receive feedback from stakeholders. This builds trust, and is a critical part of the positive feedback loop that drives success. We also hold a Retrospective, where we examine the lessons learned in the previous iteration, so we can adjust and course-correct as needed.
Every iteration creates a valuable outcome, and the whole approach generates absolute transparency of the value-creation pipeline.
Benefits of Business Agility
For leaders, the transparency of Business Agility makes leadership vastly simpler. If you can always see the plans, progress, and problems, you can be confident you are resolving the most important issues, and that, while you may sometimes get bad news, you will never be surprised.
This gives you the bandwidth to focus on direction and governance rather than managing details and fire-fighting.
For your people, Business Agility creates frequent wins that drive a sense of satisfaction. By collaborating openly and delivering frequently, a Culture of Trust rapidly emerges, allowing everyone to excel in their are of expertise. Agile teams are happier, more engaged, and vastly more productive than teams that are centrally controlled.
Get Started!
Start your Business Agility journey today! No matter where you are on your maturity pathway, now is a great time to get to the next level.
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