Management in an Agile Organisation
The last 10 years of my career I have been involved in the Agile transformation of a large and very dynamic multi-national. I had the opportunity to experience the journey from the first bottom-up initiatives via a supported pilot, to a full-blown top-down Agile transformation. In this article I like to share my personal observations and experiences of this journey and I will especially focus on the role of management.
There is an interesting but complicated relation between an Agile organisation and management. They can’t live with and can’t live without each other. In this serie of blogs I also will share some suggestions how they can “live together” since an Agile organisation without management will not be successful after all.
Challenges faced
Obviously we faced many challenges in this large transformation during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, since this series of blogs is about the role of management in an Agile organisation, let’s focus on challenges related to this topic.
There is a limit to inclusivity in an transformation
This is a sensitive topic to discuss. When preparing the transformation we had a discussion about the hypothetical situation what to do when certain people would not fit or did not want to fit in our new Agile organisation. The direction was clear, this transformation should not result in any forced layoffs, I call that 'inclusivity to the max'. A commendable approach, but with negative consequences for the transformation. You only need a few people in strategic positions (like management) that do not believe in the change and before you know it your fighting an uphill battle.
These people do not even on purpose sabotage the transformation, but in hierarchical organisations most people listen very carefully to the statements and watch very care to the behaviour of their managers. By not being a role model for their teams these people frustrate and slow down the transformation significant. I even believe, a transformation can never be successful closed when the issue of non-believers in strategic positions is not resolved.
Recommendation
Be very clear on the organisation you want to be after the transformation. Of course objectives can be adjusted based on new insights, but do not change ambitions because it is hard to achieve them. Who said transformation was easy?
Dare to give honest feedback to the non-believers in strategic positions and be prepared to eventually separate ways when these non-believers do not change and turn into believers.
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