Julie Wyman & Sarah Shirck - scrumalliance.org · Roles: Developer, Scrum Master, Product Owner Artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment Events: The Sprint, Sprint Planning,

Managing ResistanceHow the Kanban Method Supports Lasting Change

Julie Wyman &Sarah Shirck (@spark_CM)

excella.com | @excellaco

Agenda

• Why do people resist Agile?

• How Kanban & Change Management Can Help

• What Now? Recommendations & Resources


Sometimes Agile doesn’t stick

Why?


VersionOne, 12th Annual State of Agile Report

Organizational culture at odds with agile valuesTop

challenges

53%

General organization resistance to change46%

Inadequate management support and sponsorship

42%


Who’s heard of Kanban?


Kanban Level Set

• Visibility

• Collaboration

• Explicit Policies

• Predictability

• Flow

• Pull-system

• Limit WIP

• Focus

Visual approach to work that emphasizes flow, collaboration, and evolutionary change


Who’s heard of Change Management?


Change Management Level Set • Personal growth and

development

• Reducing impact of change

• Empathy, understanding, and encouragement

• Clear communication

• Managing expectations

• Creating an engaged culture

Helps reduce the impact that change has on an organization, its culture, its people, and its ability to fulfill its vision and mission


Identity

Incremental Change

Feedback Loops

Personal growth and development

Reducing impact of change

Empathy, understanding, and encouragement

Creating an engaged culture

Managing expectations

Clear communication

Pull-system

Flow

Limit WIP

Predictability

Visibility

Focus

Explicit Policies

Kanban Change Management


Identity

Roles, Responsibilities, Skills, Sense of Self


IdentityA sense of identity is what makes every person, team and organization unique:

• biographies• role identities• unique characteristics• personal experiences (private &

public)



Small, incremental change

Gain agreement to pursue improvement through evolutionary change


Scrum Proto-KanbanDo ALL these – or you’re

not doing Scrum

Roles: Developer, Scrum Master, Product Owner

Artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment

Events: The Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retro

Start with what you do now &

For example, you may start without…

Kanban Cadences: Standup, Replenishment, Operations Review, Delivery Planning, etc.

Work in progress (WIP) limits or WIP limits per person

build towards a true Kanban System



Feedback Loops

At all levels


Feedback Loops

Shape and inform strategies

Across the whole system –not just at the team level


Benefits

Reduce Resistance – Less DisruptionContinuous Improvement


ReducesResistance


Managing Resistance

• Respect individual identity

• Encourage and advocate for management’s support and sponsorship

• Provide clarity around the details of the change (e.g. when/how it will be introduced and intended outcome)

• Communicate how roles, responsibilities, and value will translate during the change

• Engage, empower, and support change champions and coalitions


Less Disruption


KanbanMany small j-curves to limit the disruption

Cost / pain of change

Payback period

Capability

Time

CurrentCapability

DesiredFuture Capability

Based on image from: David Anderson’s March 2017 Kanban Coaching Professional Masterclass

Reducing the disruption


Continuous Improvement


Feedback Loops Drive Continuous Improvement

Avoid the checklist trap

Never “done”

Evolving solution


What Now?


Questions to consider…


Identity1. Have you considered how potential changes may impact an individual’s identity and their

perception of the value they provide?2. Do individuals understand how their skills, role, and responsibilities will be impacted by the

change?3. Do individuals buy-in to the proposed changes?

Incremental Change1. How can larger changes be broken up into many smaller efforts?2. What high value activities or process changes can be made at the start to encourage buy-in and

ease the transition?

Feedback Loops 1. Are you creating and promoting a safe space for people to ask questions and voice concerns? 2. Have you communicated the cadence and forums in which feedback will be gathered? 3. Are you gathering feedback across the whole system?


In Summary…• Consider Kanban as an alternative

path to agility

• Kanban’s change management principles help:

• Reduce resistance• Limit disruption• Create a continuous improvement

culture• Increase the likelihood of success

and achieving lasting change


ResourcesKanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business

Lean from the Trenches: Managing Large-Scale Projects with Kanban

The 8-Step Process for Leading Change

Prosci


Questions?

Julie Wyman & Sarah Shirck - scrumalliance.org · Roles: Developer, Scrum Master, Product Owner Artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment Events: The Sprint, Sprint Planning,

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