The impact of Agile on Change Managers
The Law of Unintended Consequences
Organizations have a unique way of rewarding good people; defined as those who consistently deliver by balancing time, cost and quality.
Notionally, the increased workload and visibility linked with continuing effective delivery could be intended to provide for promotion opportunities, however they should be defined. So far, so good.
The uniqueness of the reward almost always involves increased workload and visibility to the C-Suite. This is where the law of unintended consequences starts to kick-in.
Agile enables organizations to develop and release products, solutions, services and updates faster. Generally, these are good things.
There is, however, a natural impact on change professionals as more individuals are impacted, and more often by change. As we all know, change must be managed carefully to ensure true and lasting benefits of changes, projects and new products/services and different ways of working.
Those guiding, managing and implementing change are constantly under the faster, cost, time and quality pressures. Indeed, everyone in the organization and the recipients of faster, more responsive services and products are under the same pressures.
Organizational culture plays a big part in how the speed of Agile and the potential impact on change professionals are managed. This is not a passive leadership and management activity. Under the acknowledged delivery pressures, it is often the people-focused activities that slip observation and positive action. How many times have you heard something like this? I wonder what happened to Tom, Harry, Mary, Jean? They used to be all over this, then something happened.
There are unspoken criteria for organizational success. When your boss asks you to do something, the first thing to say is “yes”; the second “what is it?”
Another flavour of this is your boss saying something like “I have an opportunity for you….”
This is where organisational culture, leadership and management good practices should apply. Even with the fully acknowledged benefits of Agile, pressures exist and increase over the delivery and implementation life-cycle.
The big challenge for organizations and those with people management responsibilities is balancing acceptable delivery pressures, whilst ensuring all the good words stated in the organizational charter, leadership and management workshops are applied when tested under pressure.
There is, of course, also an individual, personal responsibility for self-management.
As a change management professional working in an Agile delivery environment, what are you doing to manage your delivery and individual or team performance under increasing pressure and pace of change?
