Setting the Stage for an Agile Development Culture
Agile principles may be more prevalent in startups and smaller organizations, who might still be finding a foothold in their markets, searching for the right business model and who may be more flexible in their strategies. They can test new ideas and make course corrections faster.
Yet larger corporations with more solid foundations in their markets can also benefit from and embrace agile development. This often starts with a reminder that it could take time to build an innovative mindset culture in the company, which may be set in their ways for many years and reluctant to change the way they do business and innovate. It’s not to say that larger companies can’t have best practices in innovation, but rather that traditional methods of innovation might sometimes get in the way of rapid, flexible and agile approaches.
Product Plan, in its blog, “8 Ways to Use Agile Principles to Drive Innovation in Large Organizations,” looks at ways to empower the innovation team, create an overall rapid research culture, get leadership on board and ultimately develop an environment that is more supportive.
- Trust and Autonomy Empowers Teams to Innovate. Innovation doesn’t have to be something huge. It doesn’t have to mean a new product or new direction. You can start small. Give product teams both the power and trust to solve problems in the way they see fit. Once the problem is clearly identified, the team is free to determine the best solution. The team is usually very close to the customer and can make the best judgment calls on what to build and how to build it.
- Access to Customers Reduces Innovation Risk. Innovation is far less risky when you start small and get feedback as quickly as possible. Opinions within your organization are not always the most important ones. Yet, stakeholders (and yes, their opinions) still play an integral role in enterprise product development decisions. Ultimately being successful in innovation is about knowing what your customers need, not just what stakeholders think they need. Teams need access to customers. And they should feel empowered to make decisions based on what customers (not just internal stakeholders) actually say.
- Retrospectives Drive Continuous Improvement. Even Waterfall organizations can benefit from retrospectives. Give your team a safe environment to discuss challenges and frustrations without fear of judgment. If you can foster a sense of psychological safety and a culture of retrospective thinking and iterative improvements, you can start your team off on a path to more rapid innovation. All this, without changing a single thing about your process itself.
- Communicate with Stakeholders More Frequently. Stakeholder communication is not an event. It is not a task on your to-do list. It is not a box you can mark “done.” Continuous communication with executive stakeholders becomes significantly more important for product teams who want to innovate more rapidly. Transparency builds trust, so rather than withholding information, be forthcoming. Get buy-in from leadership and stakeholders not only before development begins but also during development as changes are made. Create an ongoing dialogue that doesn’t leave stakeholders feeling left in the dark.
- Align on the Fact that Priorities will Change. If you’re embracing rapid innovation or agile principles, you need to set the stage for change. Stakeholders should be aware that the product roadmap is not a plan set in stone but rather a living document that can change. Explain to stakeholders that the further out you’re stepping and planning, the less certainty there is around your strategy. It may even be useful to point out specific items you’re fairly certain about and those that you are less certain about. Reflect that change is likely within your product roadmap on the roadmap itself. This will help you build trust and confidence from stakeholders who will understand that upcoming priority shifts are not arbitrary.
- Remove Specific Dates from your Product Roadmap. Roadmap timeframes and dates are frequent points of friction between product managers and stakeholders. You may find it best to remove dates from your product roadmap altogether. Or, if your executive team still demands dates, you may elect to use “big picture” dates rather than specific deadlines. When you present your plan without dates or with more broadly defined timeframes, you focus away from the tactical aspects of product development and emphasize the overall strategy. This is the goal of a roadmap in the first place; to communicate high-level strategy. Your agile roadmap should not become a “promise” to your executive teams. Instead, it is a depiction of your strategy, given the things you know right now.
- Talk in Broad Themes Rather than Features. Another way to refocus stakeholder attention to more strategic elements of the product roadmap is to simply present “themes” rather than features. Theme-based product roadmaps talk in broad themes that tie back to strategic goals. They give product teams more flexibility around the specific things that will be built. Rather than telling stakeholders, “here’s a list of the features we’re going to work on,” themes should focus on outcomes. What metrics will be moved by each theme?
- Evangelize the “Why.” You don’t have to preach the agile gospel or even say the word agile. But you do need to drive awareness. Be transparent with stakeholders about your intentions when making changes and shifting priorities. It will not only help you build trust but also help get stakeholders into a more agile mindset. Rapid innovation doesn’t have to be a bad word, but you need to be prepared to enlighten stakeholders about why it isn’t bad. Ideally, you can talk about “why” delicately. Talking about all the shortcomings of the status quo will only make people defensive. Focus instead on addressing the values and benefits of a more agile approach.
Accelerating Innovation
All Things Innovation looked at agility through the lens of ambidexterity in “Strengthening Innovation in a Dynamic Environment.” Organizations today often face a conundrum in the current economic environment. On the one hand, there is a directive to cut costs and optimize operations. On the other hand, the rapid pace of change means that a company is expected to focus on innovation to thrive. One avenue is to balance ambidexterity, a business and innovation strategy that puts an emphasis on exploring new opportunities while exploiting existing ones. The need to develop ambidexterity is more urgent today, as companies face expanding into new markets, heightened competition and operating in diverse environments.
In “Creating a Culture of Experimentation,” we also looked at ways to develop the culture and mindset. Many in the community feel that fostering a culture of innovation is paramount. A key to this is building a culture of experimentation. This stems from infusing a cultural mindset into the corporate enterprise, as there has been renewed emphasis on collaboration and effectively developing the skills, talent and leadership for innovation. Innovating quickly and using incremental steps is important, especially as AI has gained ground. But it’s also the culture of experimentation that enables the team to think creatively and push boundaries.
The Benefits of Agile Innovation Principles
Agile principles, traditionally applied in software development, have proven to be equally beneficial in fostering innovation across various industries. According to Gemini, here’s a few key benefits:
- Accelerated Time-to-Market: Agile’s iterative approach allows for rapid prototyping and testing, enabling businesses to introduce new products or services faster.
- Enhanced Flexibility and Adaptability: Agile emphasizes responding to change over following a rigid plan, making it ideal for navigating uncertain and dynamic markets.
- Customer-Centric Focus: Agile prioritizes customer feedback, ensuring that innovation efforts align with actual user needs and preferences.
- Improved Collaboration and Teamwork: Agile promotes cross-functional collaboration and self-organizing teams, fostering a culture of innovation and shared ownership.
- Reduced Risk: By breaking down projects into smaller, manageable increments, agile minimizes the risk of large-scale failures.
- Increased Employee Morale: Agile empowers employees to take ownership of their work and contribute to the innovation process, leading to higher job satisfaction and engagement.
- Continuous Improvement: Agile’s iterative nature encourages constant learning and improvement, leading to better outcomes over time.
Sprinting to the Innovation Finish Line
Incorporating agile principles into innovation processes can significantly enhance an organization’s ability to adapt to market changes, deliver value to customers, and drive sustainable growth. Cultivating an agile mindset can unlock your team’s innovation potential. This focuses on moving quickly, efficiently and flexibly, while reducing the time to market. Flexible planning, cross functional teamwork, continuous learning and improvement can all contribute to shorter and successful development cycles.
As Stefanini Group puts it in its article on agile innovation, “Remember, fostering a work environment conducive to collaboration, innovation and adaptability is as crucial to unlocking the benefits of agile innovation as the framework you ultimately choose. Once you lay that foundation, you are well on your way to embracing agility.”
Video courtesy of Stefanini Group
