Agility at scale is one of the crucial issues for large organizations. We interviewed four experts in order to put together an ebook, allowing us to understand the benefits of agility at scale and SAFe. The following article is an extract from this ebook and allows us to understand the benefits of agility at scale.
Firstly, a profound transformation of the enterprise culture
According to Gartner, in 2020 approximately two-thirds of IT directors and R&D managers in technology companies prioritized the rollout of scaled agile practices. Agile represents a major transformation of an enterprise’s culture.
- Scaled agile involves a profound transformation of the way that an enterprise is organized and operates. Organizations that take this step will be more flexible in their way of operating, more capable of absorbing the impacts of change, and more responsive in terms of bringing out products that meet customers’ expectations.
- Agile practices give more space to teams and people, more breathing room and autonomy, and greater collaboration between the enterprise’s departments.
Originally, the goal of scaled agile was simply to put in place a framework that enables multiple agile teams to work cooperatively. A number of effectiveness-related benefits have resulted from this type of approach.
6 ways in which scaled agile adds value:
- Better responsiveness with regard to strategic business issues
- Establishment of an innovation-oriented approach across all business units
- Greater cross-team collaboration
- Adoption of a “user”-centric approach for a better customer experience
- Better management of teams on a day-to-day basis
- More effective prioritization of tasks
Change to stay competitive in the market
Businesses today need to change if they are to remain competitive in an unpredictable and constantly changing market. Even if we talk about strategic issues like digitalization, having an organization with a complex structure doesn’t allow us to be innovative. Innovation requires creativity, and a highly constrained environment doesn’t allow for creativity. Similarly, an organization can hire the best talents under the sun yet still not achieve the magical results it’s looking for. Nowadays there are some enterprises that are generators of talent in that they provide a fulfilling environment, one that allows creativity. These organizations are today’s market leaders.
Give (back) the power to those who can innovate
An agile and—to an even greater degree—a scaled agile approach enables businesses to combine the organizational and managerial transformations required for the digital transformation of the world and therefore of enterprises and their markets. It gives (back) power, visibility, and ownership to the people actually “doing” the work—the same people who will then be able to innovate, organize, and adapt to this changing world.