How Enterprise Processes Improve with Team and Technical Agility?
The enterprise can be a complex beast, with many moving parts and stakeholders. Like a well-oiled machine, everything needs to work together seamlessly in order for the enterprise to function properly. However, enterprises are not machines – they are composed of people. And people are not always predictable. This is where team and technical agility comes in and how enterprise processes improve.
Team and technical agility is the ability of a team to rapidly adapt to changes in the environment and execute on their goals. It is about being able to rapidly respond to change, whether that be a new customer requirement, a shift in the market, or anything else. In this article, we’ll explore how team and technical agility can help enterprises improve their processes and become more successful.
Defining Team Agility, Technical Agility, and Process Improvement
In order to understand how team and technical agility can help enterprise processes improve, we first need to define what we mean by “team agility,” “technical agility,” and “process improvement.” Rather than using mundane, clinical definitions, we’ll use real-world examples to illustrate each concept.
Team agility
Imagine you work for a large company that sells software. Your team’s job is to develop the software that the company sells. One day, the CEO comes to your team and asks you to develop a new feature for the software. This is a totally new requirement – something that your team has never done before. In order to accommodate this request, your team needs to be able to rapidly adapt and change the way they work. This entails being able to quickly learn new skills, adapt to new processes, and execute on the CEO’s vision. This is an example of team agility. Methods for achieving team agility include things like Scrum, Kanban, and Lean.
Technical Agility
Now imagine that you work for the same company, but you are on the technical support team. Your job is to help customers who are having problems with the software. One day, a new software release is pushed out and it breaks a lot of things. Customers are flooding in with support requests. How do you go about it? Your team needs to be able to quickly identify the most common issues and develop solutions for them. This might involve writing new code, modifying existing code, or even just providing customer support. In order to do this effectively, your team needs to be technically agile. This means having a deep understanding of the codebase and being able to rapidly make changes when needed.
Process Improvement
In this scenario, let’s say that you work for a company that manufactures cars, such as Ford. Your team’s job is to quicken the process by which the cars are built. In order to do this, your team needs to be able to rapidly identify areas of improvement and implement new processes. This might involve installing new machines, changing the layout of the factory floor, or anything else that can help speed up the manufacturing process. By doing this, your team is able to improve the process and make it more efficient.
In each of these examples, improvements are made by increasing the agility of the team by either 1) making them more adaptable to change or 2) increasing their technical expertise. With a proper understanding of the definitions in place, we can now see them live and in action, as demonstrated in the below example:
Case Study: Saab’s aeronautics business
SAAB is a Swedish aerospace manufacturer that specializes in fighter aircraft. They’re developing a Gripen combat plane for $43 million, and they have over 100 agile teams working on the software, hardware, and fuselage of the aircraft. To manage their numerous teams, they employ a team-of-teams method with daily stand-ups and frequent sprints. This has allowed them to create exceptionally efficient military aircraft at a low price.
Every day, each team has a 15-minute meeting to discuss any issues. If an issue on the team can’t be resolved, it is passed on to a larger group of teams for resolution. This procedure continues until the executive action team has compiled a list of major concerns that need to be addressed. This method aims to maintain progress on track.
The Saab organization has managed to achieve great success by coordinating its team’s efforts through a common rhythm of three-week sprints, and then sharing the project master plan with everyone in the company. Additionally, they have chosen to colocate traditionally disparate parts of their organization, which has also contributed to their impressive results. In fact, IHS Jane’s named the Gripen aircraft as the world’s most cost-effective military plane thanks to all these operational improvements that Saab put into place.
What lessons on process improvement can large businesses learn from this case study?
There are a few key lessons that businesses can learn from Saab’s example:
Having a clear and concise vision is essential for success.
Maintaining frequent communication among teams is crucial for coordination and progress tracking.
Breaking down large projects into manageable sprints allows for greater focus and efficiency.
Putting the right people in the right place is important for organizational harmony and overall productivity.
Encouraging technical agility among team members allows for greater adaptability and faster problem solving.
Applying these lessons can help businesses to improve their processes and become more efficient. In turn, this can lead to increased productivity and profitability. Implementing process improvements can be a challenge, but it is essential for businesses to stay ahead of the trends and competition. With the right team in place, businesses can overcome any obstacle and come out on top. At Agileseventeen, we understand the importance of process improvement, and provide Agile training and coaching to help businesses of all sizes achieve their goals. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you improve your processes and scale your business for success: talkagile@agileseventeen.com