Agile and Dancing Chickens
We’ve all been on courses and gained certificates which we proudly pose for and publish on social media.
Here’s one of me last year gaining Mastery in Conscious Hypnosis.
It’s all very well gaining the certificate but if I don’t practice the hypnosis techniques that I learnt, I am not growing and honing my skills. Without applying myself and sharing my knowledge with real world clients to master my craft, then it’s just a certificate and a few likes.
I’ve delivered over 65 innovation projects globally covering a wide variety of market sectors and worn many different hats during my 30-year IT career.
Business agility is a passion of mine and I’ve learnt a number of lessons the hard way. The first lessons is to treat an innovation project as a discrete entity, separating it from the rest of the business, this is a very bad strategy.
Agile needs to engage the whole of the business ecosystem in order to be successful. Of course, not everyone needs to be Agile trained and qualified. The immediate delivery team do for sure if they are to perform optimally in their new Agile roles.
It’s also beneficial for some awareness workshops for managers and leaders plus key subject matter experts so that they know how best to support the initiative.
There is real value in the rest of the organisation acquiring a basic level of knowledge and awareness of how a new way of working will impact all different areas of an organisation. It’s way better to explore and prepare for any adjustments and this should be part of the business transformation process.
Agile is rarely used straight out of the box. It is a set of basic principles that underpin ways of working which, over time have evolved into a set of practices, Scrum being the most common.
It works best if it is adapted to suit your business, environment and team so that it slots in gently rather than causing a poorly planned revolution.
For example, HR, People and Culture – they need to know how to adjust job descriptions of Agile team members and who needs to be upskilled and trained, Finance need to know how reporting and governance will be impacted once an Agile project kicks off, Communications and Change need to know how the business will be impacted, in what way and who needs to know about it.
During my Agile Workshops, I fortunately don’t need to use hypnosis to get you dancing like an agile chicken, in fact, there’s no dancing at all unless you wish to freestyle in the breaks instead of a leg stretch!
Instead, I like to bring the content to life. I share my stories of Agile battles and victories in the workplace. I get attendees up on their feet to practice the theory and techniques which helps solidify learning in a fun and memorable way!
I provide practical tools and techniques so that when you return to your base camp you are far better equipped to lay the foundation of change and avoid the costly mistakes that I’ve witnessed over the years.
I like to work with organisations to plan this change, deliver engaging workshops and tailor Agile training to deliver change and optimum business value as quickly as possible.
So get setup for Agile success by laying some solid foundations. Engage the rest of the business on the agility journey to avoid roadblocks and disengaged employees.
No one appreciates a grovelling chicken dance as you beg for forgiveness!
Laura Landau
Laura is a qualified & experienced Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Workshop Facilitator, Lean Science Practitioner with solid foundations in roles as an experienced Project, Program & PMO Manager & Business Analyst.
