Advantages and Challenges of Scaling Agile

 

 “Many companies get trapped by the paradox of hitting numbers ‘now’ versus improving sales for future quarters or years ahead.”-Tiffani Bova

With aim of faster-delivering value to the customer, agile has gained roots in various software development organizations. But the actual and meaningful change gain starts from the scaling of agile throughout the organization. With agile the time to market is reduced up to 40%. Scaling agile is about differentiating business along with creating more efficient teams.

In our previous article, we have seen what scaled agile is and what are their different frameworks. In this article, we will go through the challenges scaled agile faces while transforming and what benefits it provides to the organizations.

 Implementing and inspiring a small team or group of teams is an easy task compared to changing a complete organization's thinking and work execution. Thus, making scaling agile a challenging task.

Challenges of Scaling Agile

The challenges of scaling agile can be categorized mainly in three main divisions which are as follows.

Work Management Shift

After achieving the cultural shift of agile it requires to align with the actual work where a work management shift is needed. Implementing the principle of best possible work and enabling the value flow work management shifting is necessary but bringing it, in reality, is a challenging task. The fixed time and resources with teams that are more fluid, constant learning, and change accepting to adjust the scope accordingly helps achieve it. A scaled agile organization can shift their work management with open leadership approach management style, adjusting budget practices by determining value stream, modifying team structure to active collaboration and rapid experimentation, and changing communication to horizontal rather than top down.

Cultural Shift

Agile is always considered as a mindset and culture built in an organization rather than a set of practices or principles. It is always easy to apply some rules and regulations rather than changing the mindset which is a challenge for agile transformation. While scaling agile change of mindset and shifting company culture is the most challenging point for an organization as failure in it will cause failure in the transformation to agile. Scaled agile demands to think, act, and respond in a very different way and also work planning, managing, and employee engagement at a different level. This shift requires commitment from the top to bottom along with time and intention.

Technology Shift

Scaling agile in the enterprise means creating increased visibility, transparency, and flow of information that is for evaluating and argument potential solutions. This requires an enterprise to clear its technology stack and replace it with better technology solutions. For example, if planning, development, and designing are in one tool but delivery is in another tool it will disconnect the delivery from the rest of the others and strategic goals. In scaled agile, it ensures the technology solutions where every process is connected providing improved transparency, mapping, strategic plans, collaboration, and information flow in both directions.

Advantages of Scaling Agile

To know what difference it makes by applying scaled agile to an organization let’s see the advantages it provides.

Employee Engagement

Employees are empowered to decisions making for their work and also informed on how their work impacts the higher-level business goals. This builds trust and a sense of responsibility towards their work engaging them more in their work.

Improves Organizational Visibility

Connecting and visualizing work from every team brings a higher level of visibility. This provides managers and executives a bigger picture of every action that helps in removing bottlenecks and proper work allocation decisions.

Align Everyone with a Goal

Scaled agile helps connect and align top-level management to the employees working on the goals. This alignment helps in boosting cross-team alignment, and transparency increases faster reply time and improves agility.

Increase Capacity Management

By proper balancing of workload and availability, scaled agile maintains the focus of creating value continuously along with flexibility, change, and empowering leadership.

Provide Specific Goals

 Providing specific concepts, and practices scaled agile enables the organization to move towards a common goal. This allows teams to concentrate on a common mission creating a high-quality and customer-centric product.

“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.”- James Cash Penney

Implementing scaled agile in an organization ensures that the complete organization is moving towards the same goal with new and updated technology, work concepts, and especially a mindset that helps in growth.

We, at Advance Agility, are the new-age Agile Coaching, Consulting and IT services company. We enable end-to-end Digital Transformation. Agile execution is integral to our being. We are doing SAFe implementation with small, medium and large organization across the globe. Our vision is to be the leading Agile execution player globally. To keep adding value at every process stage. We are on a mission to empower our clients, move from concept to cash in the shortest sustainable lead time by adopting human centric approach to business agility. Embracing the change is in our DNA. Things that keep us apart are Quicker and Seamless execution with End-to-end gamut of services. Our Global presence and Stellar Track Record give us an edge over our competitor.

Connect with us at advanceagility.com to learn about SAFe and SAFe Implementation. We provide various SAFe certification courses along with DevOps, Scrum, Agile Coaching and more trainings. Write to us at contact@advanceagilty.com for any agile training or consulting needs. We are always looking for competent agile trainers as well. So if you are a good trainer or want to become one, do get in touch with us to that we can learn, grow and achieve together.