40% of Transformations Stall. Here’s How to Scale Instead.

More than 40% of digital and AI transformations stall at the scaling phase, according to McKinsey. That doesn’t mean the transformation was a mistake, that it wasn’t worth the effort, or even that it failed. It simply means that the steps you took to get your initiative off the ground are probably not the steps you need to take it to the next level. And if your transformation is agile-focused, and the way you’re going about it isn’t working, it may be time to try something new.

Wherever you are in your agile transformation, whether you’re just getting started, are scaling across teams of teams, the following are some steps you can take to overcome inertia and move ahead.

And they don’t all require an army of agile coaches.

Support New Ways of Thinking with the Right Practices & Technology

Agile is inherently people-focused. For it to truly take hold in an organization there must be a foundational cultural change and people must adopt new ways of thinking. Yet, when organizations face challenges or experience the pain of misalignment, one of the first places they look for answers isn’t people focused at all–it’s technology. In some ways, it makes sense–a lack of transparency around objectives or work can contribute to misalignment, and the right solution or tool can improve visibility into problems, but technology is only part of the equation. In addition to technology, organizations must also lean into people and practices–the three form a beneficial cycle. New practices that drive positive outcomes support new ways of thinking–when people experience positive results, they warm to the new processes. Technology, in turn, can help streamline these practices, scale them, and make outcomes visible. 

Our Isos Technology Fast Track service is designed to help organizations quickly tackle challenges relating to Atlassian tools and best practices for working and collaborating to reach your organizational goals. We take a deep dive into your current setup and work patterns and then we develop a comprehensive, customized roadmap to tackle your challenges. It’s a good fit for organizations that want to optimize processes and workflows, adopt best practices, or improve the adoption and use of Atlassian tools.

Make Meaningful Progress by Right-Sizing Your Approach

For many organizations, a comprehensive scaled agile transformation is the right approach. But for others, it can be a hard internal sell or simply overwhelming–getting the buy-in and budget to hire a team of coaches, changing the mindset of the entire organization, and implementing new ways of working. Or, maybe you’ve already done this, but your program is stagnant. The good news is, there are plenty of ways to make meaningful progress. You can start with where you are by working with an agile coach to identify a few key, near-term goals or areas for improvement, backing out the practices that would help you achieve those goals, and piloting small, iterative changes that add up over time. As you figure out what works for your company and start making inroads towards your goals, you’re likely to start winning hearts and minds of your team as well.

Our Isos Technology Master Practitioner service is designed to support leaders or in-house agile transformation teams adopt Agile ways of working and/or supporting technology like Jira Align, Advanced Roadmaps, and Big Picture. This right-sized approach to agile coaching is flexible enough to work with any framework and is a good fit for organizations looking for guidance to support or augment your in-house agile transformation team or seeking to align Agile programs with business goals.

Read our whitepaper: How Atlassian Solutions Can Help You Correct Misalignment and Supercharge Business Outcomes.

Put Your Agile Framework into Action in Ways that Move the Needle

Agile frameworks like SAFe play a pivotal role in any large-scale transformation, but as any organization undertaking one knows, they are not without challenges. There is a tendency to adhere to them too rigidly or get bogged down debating theoretical ideas that don’t translate into action. In our experience at Isos Technology, regardless of what framework you’re using, companies that address these six key areas are more likely to succeed: strategy and alignment, organizational agility, product approach, culture and change management, agile mechanics, and value delivery. At Isos Technology, our agile transformation roadmap helps organizations move beyond the theoretical and put Agile practice in ways that address each of these key areas and actually move the needle toward your high-level objectives–and importantly, it is compatible with whatever framework you are using.

At Isos Technology, we offer a broad range of agile coaching and transformation services designed to ensure your operating model, organizational design, and portfolio funding guidance support your strategic objectives and that your practices and technology drive priorities across the organization. They are a good fit for organizations looking to adopt a more modern operating structure and model, improve their ability to respond to changing market needs and gain greater insights from their enterprise agile planning and portfolio management solutions.

Read our whitepaper: How Atlassian Solutions Can Help You Correct Misalignment and Supercharge Business Outcomes.