Hennepin County's Culture Centered Roadmap for IT Agile Framework Adoption

Transcription

1 's Culture Centered Roadmap for IT Agile Framework Adoption Sue Ponsford Kathy Fraser Kathy Browning

2 Introductions Sue Ponsford Supervises two agile teams: 1 doing Scrum, 1 doing Kanban Working on an IT-wide agile framework adoption effort Certified Scrum Master, Product Owner and Agile Leader Kathy Fraser 20 years in Information Technology Supervises teams that have recently adopted Scrum & Kanban Certified Scrum & Product Owner Kathy Browning Leads organizational change management efforts for HC s IT department Masters Degree in Human Resource Management

3 Why HC IT is adopting agility IT-wide Increase the IT department s ability to provide innovative solutions for customers Shorten the amount of time it takes to deliver work Increase IT s flexibility in order to better meet the ever changing requests and needs of customers

4 Frameworks we chose Scrum Incremental delivery of products & services Structured with defined roles and prescribed events Dedicated cross functional teams focused on delivering value Frequent customer collaboration and continuous feedback Kanban Flexible with no defined roles or events Suitable for task oriented teams Allows for visualizing workflow & limiting work in-progress Minimizes task switching Helps Identify and removes barriers

5 Supporting principles and practices for agility Agile principles Individuals and interactions Lean Thinking Maximize customer value DevOps Increase flow Working software Eliminate waste Feedback loop Customer Collaboration Reduce work in-progress Continuous learning Responding to change

6 Leading change from within your bubble Research is starting to show that transformation efforts tend to fail Organizations that start with a small motivated group can demonstrate success and gain broader buy in over the long run Image courtesy of Michael K Sahota

7 Coaching benefits Expert practitioners help guide teams and the organization Outside perspective brings invaluable insights Tailored adoption fits the needs of each team Avoiding obstacles & overcoming challenges Gain maturity for the team & their processes more quickly Coaches can mentor individuals or guide entire teams

8 Our first experiment: the FileNet team Leadership was anxious that they start delivering functionality more quickly because of contract deadlines Sending the team to training was easy Breaking down the work silos was hard Convincing customers to trust us was hardest

9 Feb Two Scrum teams formed Started sprint immediately after training Early customer engagement In-flight waterfall projects Few first sprints were successful Apr Product focused alignment Staff reshuffling Team faced adversity SharePoint journey to scrum 2018 Jun Increased workload Old waterfall habits returned Team reached the storming phase Jul Dec Team is at the norming stage Functioning as a team vs. individuals More knowledge sharing & continuous improvement Agile coach to the rescue Process & team maturity Team re-alignment

10 Distributed authority Shared decision making Leaders at all levels Leadership for agility Value Driven Organization Staff Middle Management Executive Leadership Servant Leadership Empowered Self-managed Accountable Inspire Coach & supports Removes impediments Sets the vision & shared goals Creates the culture

11 Culture eats strategy for breakfast (Usually attributed to Peter Drucker) It s easy to send people to training It s easy to move staff into product teams It s easy to tell everyone to work differently It s hard to change X years of organizational identity It s hard to change processes that impede agility but provide CYA It s hard to get people on board when you're threatening their sense of identity and safety

12 Understanding the need for culture change Recognition that this will not be an easy or quick change Agile requires shifting the culture the mindset and behaviors of IT staff at all levels Began with assessment current state of our culture

13 Agile Culture Survey Surveyed IT leaders prior to Leadership meeting

14 Starting the culture shift Discussed survey with 3 questions: What does it look like when this is part of our culture? What needs to change so this is our culture? What can we as leaders do to affect the needed change? Yielded 4 areas of focus: Collaboration Continuous Improvement Flexibility and Adaptability Trust in Communication

15 Agility in Thought and Action: IT Community Collaboration Continuous Learning Flexible and Adaptable Trust in Communication We all work together to achieve optimal solutions for our customers We view our work as an ongoing opportunity to learn and grow We re able to switch gears and try a different approach We are open and transparent within our teams and with our customers DO: Engage the customer. Help each other out. Embrace the diversity and strengths of others. Make all work visible to enable prioritization. Leverage existing work. Seek out diverse perspectives. DON T: Focus on individual achievement we sink or swim as a team. Disregard the opinions of team members or customers. Hold back and wait for others to speak up. Work in isolation. DO: Try new things. See setbacks as learning opportunities. See feedback as a growth opportunity. Welcome new ideas. Share knowledge. Carve out time for development. DON T: Blame others. Shut down new ideas. Look for a scapegoat. Punish mistakes. Look backward. DO: Listen to customer needs and feedback to make adjustments. Reflect as a team and change to enhance effectiveness. DON T: Get stuck on one way to doing things. Tell the customer no without checking options. Assume the way we ve always done it is the best or only way. DO: Make it safe to admit mistakes and express concerns. Encourage all voices to be heard team and customer. Be transparent and share information across teams, divisions, lines of business, IT, and customers. DON T: Punish the messenger. Hide information. Create unnecessary work to cover your bases. Rely solely on electronic communication talk face-to-face.

16 Integration Strategies and Touchpoints Our specific plan - org change management Recruiting and Hiring Onboarding Recognition Team Meetings Training (Internal and External) Performance Expectations and Reviews Communication and Marketing Communities of Practice Job descriptions, postings, Interview questions Include in department and team onboarding process Formal and Informal adapt department program Standing agenda item, icebreaker, etc. Intro to agile training across IT Community Team goals, gather peer and customer feedback Leverage all channels, share agile stories Share learning and best practices

17 Success factors/lessons learned Buy-in from leadership is essential Align teams appropriately Build leaders at all levels Teach leaders to coach Don t ignore your culture!

18 Next steps / what s next Continue to engage leaders at all levels Foster agile behavior across IT Start partnering with others on wider strategies Support teams as they re ready to adopt agile frameworks and techniques

19 QUESTIONS?