Agile Corporate Governance

Transforming an organisation, or a department within an organisation, is usually a complex affair. However, it doesn't have to be.

Recently, I ran a business transformation programme for a small service delivery division within an emergency services organisation. Within 4 weeks, we were able to create enough momentum, that the team could maintain the transformation and drive continuous improvement (Kaizen) themselves. This transformation has had a profound effect on the team and we are beginning to see flow-on improvements across the wider organisation as well.

Consider for a moment, your management style. Dr W. Edwards Deming, put forward two types of mistakes that you, as a manager can make when dealing with "variation" in process and outcomes. Interfering or tampering when everything is normal or within tolerance (common causes), indicative of micromanagement, and a failure to intervene when a process in out of control (special causes), indicative of absenteeism. As an Agile Manager, you need to find the middle ground between these two extremes.

Becoming an agile organisation is an incremental process. There is no point you say to yourself, "yesterday we weren't agile, but today we are. Success!". However, there are points you can say, "today we are more agile than yesterday!". The journey be become an agile organisation can be formal, through a transformation program, or informal, through ad-hoc changes addressing problem areas. Regardless of the mechanism, your agile journey begins with a set of clear organisational goals. What is your organisation trying to achieve by becoming agile?

The 3rd domain of Agile Governance develops an organisational structure that promotes the increased communication, trust and empowerment of your teams. The ideal Agile Governance structure has minimal layers of management between the CEO, or equivalent, and junior team members. By empowering individuals and teams with personal authority & responsibility to deliver the Customers requirements, combined with self-organising teams, a single mid-level manager should be capable of supporting between 5 and 10 teams.