The Agile PMO - Creating A Lean Organization from the Inside-Out
For many, the idea that you can transform an organization from the PMO outwards seems odd, if not impossible. But my experience says that this is becoming a trend that more and more clients are asking advice for.
We know that for an Agile transformation to work, we need to engage not just the Delivery Teams to approach work differently, but we need a change agent high in the organization to support that change in mindset. I’ve always found it difficult to find that right person in an executive leadership role who is willing to have the courage to “bet the company” on a new and unproven approach such as Agile and Scrum. As coaches, we tend to start “pilot” projects, and hope that traction will occur “once everyone sees the great results that we get.” But I think that this approach is fraught with peril of not getting the right project to start with, not getting the right results immediately, and not motivating people by seeing results from a process that they are not comfortable with.
I think I’ve come upon a new approach that works better. Instead of trying to “sell” Agile at an Enterprise level, embrace pure Lean principles high in the organization and work with the PMO leader at the organization. Once they are comfortable with ideas such as “more leadership and less management”, “shorter concept to cash cycles”, “enabling Lean Startup mentality for disruptive product development”, “always looking for the elimination of waste”, “exploiting variability through appropriate cadence control and appropriate utilization rates”, “delegated authority”, “continuous improvement”, and “rolling planning”, the PMO becomes a terrific agent for instituting change, because they are usually already endowed with the right responsibilities and accountabilities that can push the organization forward.
Outline/Structure of the Talk
This session will be part lecture and background and part experience recounting and part “how to” (right down to artifacts that have been found to be useful). We will leave sufficient time at the end to listen and engage on audience perspectives and experiences.
Learning Outcome
- Agile is just one easy to understand instance in a Lean mindset
- Fiscal responsibility in an Enterprise is complex, and can easily erode the organization into extreme risk adversity, instead of appropriate risk taking
- Better Delivery is merely one desired outcome from an Agile transformation
- Examination of appropriate Portfolio Management artifacts and details on how to use them
X
Target Audience
PMO, Executive, Upper Management, Product Owner, Delivery Team
schedule Submitted 9 years ago
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