The added value of an Agile Way of Working

The answer to this challenge was to introduce Scrum. Before adapting agile WoW, the teams faced the problem that there was too much and too complex work for traditional coordination with a waterfall model. The difficulty of the traditional coordination model was characterized by lack of transparency within the teams, communication barriers, as well as lack of flexibility and of defined short- and long-term goals. All these problems could be addressed by adapting an agile method, particularly Scrum. So, these were the main aspects we aimed to address by adopting the agile WoW. In the end, the philosophy of iterative and incremental coordination of tasks added significant value to the teams in terms of increased efficiency, improved collaboration and communication, as well as the creation of common goals.

Launching the initiative required close collaboration with the employees. Together we achieved great results through the process of continuous improvement with inputs from the teams as well as our input and coordination as agile coach and facilitator.

Part of the project was to provide the client with an appropriate tool and to train and educate the team members. For this purpose, one of the LionGate consultants took over the role as Scrum Master and accompanied the process by being part of the team to support during Scrum ceremonies, to answer questions and provide support of any kind related to the WoW. Furthermore, coaching the team as well as the leadership team was an essential part to enable the people. In particular, “Agile Leadership” was formulated as one of the main goals and was addressed by various coaching sessions and workshops. During the first months, the foundation was laid for the teams to work independently, which included creating an agile mindset, adapting Scrum ceremonies, writing user stories and going through sprints. After this successful enabling phase, we entered the next phase where LionGate continues to support the customer with expertise and experience to continuously inspect and adapt the process.