Exec Summary of the study on “Successful agile leadership”

Motivation

A growing number of companies are employing agile methods. One reason for this lies in the ever increasing complexity of the business environment, to which companies react by “stepping up the iteration of their business strategies and carrying out continuous changes by way of business model innovations” [1]. Another reason is the temptation of significantly increased productivity by forming so-called “hyper-performing teams”. Agile methods introduce self-organised teams and they therefore pose new challenges to classically managed companies: How can the agile potential be fostered and developed best? Which team efforts and management input would support this? What does an agile management culture comprise and what instruments are suitable for this?

Methodology

The study “Successful Management in the Agile World” explores these questions by means of interviews conducted with 58 IT and management experts from five different organisations, all of which have already employed agile methods. The qualitative and quantitative questions were answered by representatives from a mix of hierarchical levels from business and IT fields, in order to disclose possible differences in the company perspectives.

Result

The study yielded definite answers to the commonly asked question of how one can successfully manage agile teams and their respective surroundings. Some of the results enriched our personal experience in the employment of agile methods from the perspective of organisational development, project management, line management and company consultation. Other results even surprised us.

The following points were highlighted as significant factors for success in the management of agile companies:

• A well managed organizational change towards agile
• Communication as a key element of change
• A company culture, which facilitates trustworthy intercourse across hierarchical levels and company divisions
• A new understanding of management (“management as a team sport”)
• A new appreciation of the roles of line management (“macro instead of micro management”)
• Particular consideration of middle management, which can otherwise lead to substantial resistance to the introduction of agile methods

The study confirmed that successfully implementing agile methods represents a significant change for many companies. The thematic breadth of the factors for success listed by those with firsthand experience clearly reflects the complexity of the change: besides changes at a technical and organisational level, which have already been investigated elsewhere, a transformation of the company culture is pivotal to utilising the potential of agile methods. Moreover, interplay between different divisions and hierarchical levels is necessary. A worthwhile investment: at least the five companies involved in this study unanimously testify to having profited from the changes.

All in all, a high degree of consistency with regard to the effects of agile methods can be seen between companies from different branches and of difference sizes. Internal communication, for example, flows more intensively and with fewer misunderstandings, while better quality decisions are made faster. Overall the employment of agile methods supports and improves internal exchanges of opinion: the respondents benefit from a greater degree of understanding and more effective cooperation.

It can also clearly be drawn from the results that interviewees from the IT branch have on average a more positive image of their agile organisations than their business counterparts. When one considers that the promoters of agile methods mostly stem from the IT, one can assume that they do not always succeed in achieving an adequate buy-in among their internal customers. The following statement from a senior manager from the business branch goes to show that it can be different: “The immediate needs of the customer have promptly taken centre stage.”

If you would like to study the full report ( in German), please click here Erfolgreiche Führung in der Agilen Welt – Eine Studie der PAM

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[1]: IBM CEO Report, 2010, Page 52