Agile Tansformation Failure: Reasons and Solutions - Malani du Toit - Consultant: Training, Learning & Performance
The Agile methodology has been around since the mid-1990s, and its popularity has increased significantly with the establishment of the Agile Manifesto in 2001. Although several thousand project managers and leaders have become certified Agilists, many organisations still struggle with Agile transformation. According to statistics consolidated by parabol.com from surveys by KPMG, Scrum Alliance, Business Agility Institute, and other organisations, 86% of software development respondents and 63% of IT departments adopted Agile. Still, other organisational departments had less than a 30% adoption rate. This blog post will address the main reasons for Agile transformation failure and provide solutions to overcome these problems and challenges.
Lack of an Agile Transformation Strategy
According to statistics from parabol.com, 74% of survey respondents do not believe their companies back an Agile culture, and 62% of top management understands Agile has no concerns for them. Therefore, many organisations are still far from the maturity required to gain the benefits of Agile transformation because the organisation has no evident transformation culture or strategy. The strategy may exist but must be more precise and have focused actions. According to Barizon (2021), Agile concepts are simple, but the absorption is difficult due to people’s mindsets, backgrounds, and experiences.
Agile transformation failures can occur when there is a lack of a clear and well-executed long-term change management strategy and consistency of purpose. Successful Agile organisations have leaders who understand, have designed, and executed a holistic change management strategy. The business must have a comprehensive strategy for steering new working methods to enable successful change.
Lack of Experience with Agile Methods
The main reasons for Agile transformation failure are participants having inadequate experience with Agile methods, lack of understanding of the broader organisational change required, and the business philosophy and culture at odds with Agile values. The Agile approach requires a different mindset, and people must understand and embrace the Agile values and principles. To overcome this challenge, the organisation must invest in Agile training and coaching programs for everyone involved in Agile transformation. Agile readiness assessments can also help identify areas where employees may require additional training and support.
Lack of Management Support and/or Customer Involvement
According to a KPMG survey cited by parabol.com, 13% of top management fully support their organisation’s Agile transformation. This lack of support can be due to management’s perception of Agile methods as threatening their power or fear of the unknown. However, a lack of management support can result in teams not having the resources or autonomy to make decisions or take the action required to deliver value. It is essential to involve the customer in the Agile transformation process to understand their needs and develop solutions that meet their expectations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, implementing Agile approaches for product development, especially software development, has been a buzz since the mid-1990s. However, several organisations fail in Agile organisational transformation. This blog post has addressed the three main reasons for Agile transformation failure and provided potential solutions to overcome these challenges and issues companies experience. Agile transformation is a continuous process that requires changing mindset and culture. Companies must invest in Agile training and coaching programs to achieve the desired outcomes. Ultimately, all organisations can successfully achieve Agile transformation if they follow a tailored Agile transformation strategy or organisational change management plan.
