Agile methods and agile transformation

When we talk about working agile, we are inspired by the small start-up, which can quickly make decisions, change priorities and is close to the customer to constantly understand needs and desires. In larger organizations, some of these abilities are lost because processes, organization, and governance principles strain the legs of agility. Therefore, agile implementation or transformation is about simplifying processes, delegating responsibility but also creating an agile culture.

Working agile is therefore precisely about putting the customer at the center, at the same time as the organization's potential to create unique deliveries is increased through other ways of organizing. But succeeding in working agile is also about finding out what agile means to you, what kind of agile setup will suit and how and at what pace the change towards agile should happen.

For us at MetierWestergaard, an agile transformation is about ensuring the right competencies are in place, working with processes and organization, and last but not least, changing the mindset and culture. All three elements are essential for a successful agile journey.

Agile methods

Many organizations are looking towards agile methods to increase the ability to adapt to the changing needs of customers. When we work with agile methods at our customers, this includes agile at 3rd levels - at portfolio level, at project level and at operational level (in the operating organization).

We work with organizations

We have developed an agile compass, which we use in the organization to set the direction for how agile we want to be and in what way. The agile compass gives the organization a quick overview of possible focus areas and insight into the effects of these. The compass is also a good opportunity for a team to gain a common understanding of the agile journey, and the foundation created through the common understanding is crucial for the journey of change.

If you want further information or advice on project management, you are also welcome to contact us.

Scaled Agile Framework is the leading framework for how large organizations scale Agile. SAFe is thus a framework that creates common principles and language in the agile organization. At team level, SAFe is in principle the same as Scrum, namely self-organizing teams working in short iterations. But in addition, SAFe addresses both the Program and Portfolio levels. The program level synchronizes up to 10-15 Scrum teams in one Agile Release Train. The portfolio level distributes budgets between Agile Release Trains, as well as matures and follows up on the company's major initiatives. An SAFe program, or Agile Release Train (ART), typically consists of 50-125 people, and several Danish companies have 10 or more ARTs running.

FACTS ABOUT SAFe:

• SAFe is a framework of principles for implementing Lean-Agile in practice.
• SAFe supports companies in addressing the challenges of developing the organization in a changing world where the agile approach is necessary
• SAFe synchronizes cooperation and thus delivery for several agile teams.
• SAFe comprehensively describes the roles, responsibilities, artifacts and activities needed to implement Lean-Agile development.

Since the launch of SAFe 1.0 in 2011, there has been a new major update of the framework almost every year. Today, SAFe is starting to become mainstream. 70% of Fortune 100 uses SAFe, and there are more than 450,000 certified worldwide.

Business Agility requires that the customer is at the center, and therefore the customer is also at the center of SAFe, where there is talk of ‘Customer Centricity’.

SAFe works with several different methods for involving customers, including Design Thinking, which ensures that products and services are developed based on user needs.

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