Change Management

Things have been put in motion, the decision to go agile has been made. But that’s not the end of the job for top management because the change starts right here. Management has to act as a role model: the top brass should not only preach an agile mindset to their employees, but also practice it themselves.

What change measures are needed here: vision workshops, info events (e.g. digital roadshows), leadership coaching.

Flatter hierarchies in agile organizations mean that team leaders’ hand over their functional leadership responsibilities to agile teams. In the spirit of leadership, they can help ensure that employees feel confident with their new decision-making roles and to always have an open ear for them throughout the change process.

What change measures are needed here: update info calls, holistic communication approach from change story to change design.

As a newly introduced role in the agile context, it is immensely important for product owners to have an agile mindset. They are not directly involved in the implementation but hand over this responsibility to their teams. This is a big change for them, especially in the early stages of agile adoption, and they can lend them a helping hand. Another responsibility of product owners is to interface with customers, also representing the (new) agile way of working with them, for example when it comes to prioritization and feedback.

What change measures are needed here: establishment of peer-to-peer communities and training including individual learning nuggets.

Agile coach is a new role in the company that did not exist before the agile transformation. Agile coaches are deeply familiar with the methodologies and ensure they are properly applied, guiding agile teams and driving their continuous improvement. They are facilitators, experts, points of contact, and conflict managers. In this way, they remove obstacles at all levels and contribute to organizational development.

What change measures are needed here: coaching and organizational development, peer-to-peer communities.

What used to be individual departments are now teams working hand in hand: developers, business departments, UX designers, quality managers, and testers. Each team member has their own specific area of expertise and can also reinvent themselves within the team, set new priorities, and continue to develop. Members of agile teams can become multipliers in the organization by supporting other teams in the transformation, introducing them to pair programming or answering the questions they’ve been dying to ask.

What change measures are needed here: gaming elements, multiplier system, coaching & agile training.

In agile transformation, new lean approaches often come up against existing processes that need to be adhered to. Fortunately, there are secretaries and assistants who support agile teams and roles in making the change by pulling the operational strings.

What change measures are needed here: newsfeed, (social) intranet campaign.

So, to summarize: There is no one change leader in agile transformation. Rather, there are countless roles that contribute to successful change by living the agile mindset. They are change leaders themselves and at the same time part of other change measures. If a company’s change management succeeds in getting this mechanism up and running and supporting it, the course is set for the agile mindset to take hold in all areas of the company. These are the best prerequisites for making the change a sustainable one.

It is important to not hurry the rollout and to ensure a careful planning process beforehand. It must be well thought out and considered as a phase. If the cloud solution is rolled out across the group and is met with poor adoption and negative feedback, there is no recovery from it and all the work you put in was in vain.

So let’s take a step back and look at who our customers in this project really are. Because only if we understand the customers will we be able to accompany the rollout with the appropriate change management measures to make it a success.

So, who do we talk to as the cloud solution is being rolled out across the company?

On the one hand, we meet colleagues like Olivia. She has been with the company for a few years and has just become an application owner. Olivia wants to make her app available everywhere quickly and sees the new cloud solution – which she’s heard about from a colleague – as her way of achieving her goal. Olivia is an early adopter for us: she is interested in the new solution and quickly recognizes the benefits the change entails for herself. Björn is another a potential hybrid cloud customer. He has been with the company forever and is well networked. Because he has been around for such a long time, he has seen many innovations come and go. He no longer wants to jump on the bandwagon at full speed only to see it come to a standstill shortly after. He also sees a lot of risks, especially with cloud computing, in terms of data security. After all, once everything is in the cloud, it’s there forever. Björn is part of the early or late majority for us: he only joins in when it becomes clear that the innovation is here to stay and that some of his colleagues in his network are using it successfully.

From now on, Björn and Olivia will accompany us during our rollout; they are our exemplary users. And we’ll be using them as a guide for the rest of the process.

Learning

These personas show us that users are very different and that we have to respond to this in change management with the right measures to reach all users.

It is in the nature of Björn, Olivia, and all other users to want to understand why the group needs to implement a hybrid cloud solution at all. Why they are asked to change something and what it does for them. What’s more, they also want to know where they can get the support they need. The answers to these questions have long been crystal clear to the project team, but how exactly can we communicate this to Olivia and Björn?

In terms of change management, it is now time for us to tackle the change architecture. This architecture includes the vision and strategy for change, a change story, and a comprehensive communications strategy that will start with the next phase.

Vision, strategy, and change story help users understand the “why” of the change and become aware of the change. Moreover, a change story in particular helps create a positive attitude, thereby increasing the readiness for change among users. A change story is a story that everyone can easily relate to that illustrates the why. Associations and a catchy visual language are usually used for this purpose.

Of course, we haven’t forgotten about Björn and Olivia and always keep them in mind when developing our approach (no kidding, we have both of them hanging on the wall as posters). For both, vision, strategy, and change story are equally important. The vision of the company is for all employees to always think of the cloud first when asked where they store their apps and the like. The strategy is based on the vision and the project team wants to ensure that all employees are appropriately qualified to use the cloud, with the right security measures in place because the company does not want to move everything to the cloud after all. And for the change story, the project team has chosen the metaphor of “flying”.

The communications strategy is what connects these individual components of the change architecture. In simple terms, this strategy specifies when we communicate what to whom and how. At this point Björn and Olivia can no longer be treated the same because when it comes to the communications strategy their needs are no longer the same.

Olivia would prefer to get started right away on the journey to the cloud. For her to stay this passionate we need to provide her with the relevant information and qualifications for this as quickly and easily accessible as possible. Björn doesn’t want to dive into the cloud right away, but he also has a high demand for information about the change and would like to know how it works for other colleagues.

So, at the end of the ideation phase, we have defined the change architecture and underpinned it with many different formats and methods.

Learning

Here it becomes obvious just how important our thorough preliminary work around Björn and Olivia has been – because it enables us to understand what these types of users really need.

In line with our change architecture, we implement several change measures with the roll-out of the hybrid cloud:

• There is a section for the hybrid cloud on the intranet.
• There, the vision, strategy, and change story are made available for everyone to read.
• The change story is also available as an animated image film.
• In addition, you can find all further information about the hybrid cloud there.
• Frequently asked questions are also available on the intranet as a FAQ, which is constantly being expanded.
• Olivia and all other early adopters are assigned a mentor who supports them in the form of training and acts as a single point of contact for any questions on the way to the cloud. Olivia can also sign up for this on the intranet.
• Information events and Q&A sessions are offered regularly for Björn to keep him up to date.
• We also summarize the first launches into the hybrid cloud as a success story for everyone to read.

Once all these measures have been carefully and thoroughly designed and prepared, we can start to communicate them to our users. The intranet site is promoted by all project members: in personal conversations, in email signatures, and blog entries on the intranet. Additionally, there are posters in the offices of future users that link to the intranet site with a QR code. Save-the-date invitations to information events are distributed to users’ mailboxes. All the materials are based on the change story and the metaphor of flying – that way we create a high recognition value for the user.

A poster like this catches Olivia’s eye right away and she uses the intranet for an opportunity to connect with her mentor, excited about the prospect that she can start hosting her application in the cloud tomorrow. Her mentor provides her with advice and support and recommends Olivia to choose the off-premises solution. For Olivia, this means successfully moving her application to the cloud and for us getting our first success story.

Björn finds a suitable date to attend an information event. All his questions are answered there. He also takes a closer look at the intranet site as well as Olivia’s success story.

Learning

The right mix of methods and formats for the change architecture based on the different personas is crucial to the success of the hybrid cloud rollout.

Olivia and her peers have done well with the move to the hybrid cloud. They now only rarely need their mentors, but they still drop by from time to time to check on things.

But our mentors are not running out of work because now it is Björn who is knocking on their door, along with other colleagues. With the published success stories and the information events, we have managed to get them to take to the cloud as well. To continue to ensure optimal support from our mentors, we need to make an adjustment here. Instead of decentralized qualification of users in face-to-face settings, we now start to centralize it into training sessions. Still, we don’t have enough mentors for all the cloud newcomers. That’s why we approach our early adopters and turn them into mentors if they feel like it.

And so we’ve come full circle: Olivia will be calling Björn next week to discuss his first steps into the hybrid cloud.

Learning

Without feedback loops throughout the collaboration with the project team, the increased need for mentors would only have come into focus later. This could have created dissatisfaction among users, negatively impacting their willingness to change.

Conclusion

Whether it’s a hybrid cloud, a new process, or a change in the way we work, all these rollouts require users to adapt to change. That is why we focus on the users and ensure they are informed, qualified and, finally, motivated by coming up with suitable change measures.

Zarah: Hi Théo. Let me ask you a question. What role does the human factor really play when it comes to cybersecurity in the automotive industry?

Théo: Hi Zarah. It is not enough to “just” master the technology and processes mandated by the new UNECE WP.29 regulation. OEMs must take an integrated approach to create awareness throughout the organization, from developers to management and suppliers to customers, to be able to guarantee cybersecurity.

It is in the nature of Björn, Olivia, and all other users to want to understand.

Zarah: You’re right. You just have to look at how incredibly successful social engineering cyberattacks are. (Speaks in a low-pitched voice) I am your system administrator. Please give me your password, it’s a matter of life and death.

Théo: Sure, these types of attacks exploit people’s good qualities like helpfulness and trust and prey on their fears and belief in authority. This is how criminals gain access to confidential data, gain access to our IT systems, and can inject malware into our network. Just take UNECE WP.29 for automotive manufacturers as an example. Not only do they have to protects their IT systems, but also their products from attacks. To do so, developers need to understand the risks in order to program adequate protection measures.

Zarah: Conversely, this means that we absolutely have to focus on people when it comes to cybersecurity, doesn’t it?

Théo: Exactly. In fact, it’s the smart thing to do just that. Because developers, users, and all stakeholders in general play an important role in reducing cyber risks.

Zarah: I see. So, we also need an integrated change management approach for the implementation of cybersecurity technologies and processes. Because without the integration of IT systems, processes, organization, users, and developers, the implementation of any regulatory requirements is doomed to fail.

Théo: That’s correct. From our point of view, in cybersecurity change management we need the three pillars of cyber mindset, cyber awareness, and cyber skills.

Zarah: That means that the first thing we would do is to work with everyone involved to develop a vision taking into consideration what the product lifecycle looks like, for example, what risks there are, and what strategies we come up with. For example, in the form of cybersecurity policies, roles, etc.

Théo: And then any existing knowledge about cybersecurity would have to be disseminated across the organization. You basically need a multiplier system with cybersecurity change agents who share their knowledge with colleagues and are important points of contact.

Zarah: Exactly, and we need to equip them with relevant knowledge and communication skills, as we do with other business transformations, so that they can fill this role adequately.

Théo: I agree. And finally, it’s vitally important to adapt recruiting strategies: existing skills need to be deployed in the right place, while new skills profiles are brought on board. All cybersecurity experts in the company must be offered sufficient development opportunities and excellent specialist careers.

Zarah: Makes sense, especially when you know how hard it is to recruit this kind of talent (laughs). Hey, thanks, Théo, that was great!

Théo: De rien, you’re welcome, and bitteschön!

Maik, how would you describe your leadership style?

Trust and openness are the be-all and end-all. I am as transparent as possible with my employees about my ideas and goals. I want them to understand what drives and motivates me. Conversely, I believe in the effectiveness of a long leash and try to lead as little as possible in a directive manner and try to rely on inspiring impulses instead.

What goals do you set for yourself to be successful as a leader?

I like to get into the doing quickly instead of laboring over a plan forever. I’m more of a doer, I don’t like to overthink things. But in a company with many different employee profiles, I’ve learned that it’s often the small steps that get us to our goal one step at a time. That’s why I focus on these small steps as often as necessary.

In your view, what are the key dimensions for making teams better and more satisfied?

I can only say this over and over again: it’s the agile values. Being passionate about what you do and committing to it. Making tasks as simple as possible. Giving feedback every day. Setting the right focus. Like I said: communicate and act openly and transparently. Be bold, as often as possible. And most importantly: value and respect your employees.

How do you deal with conflicts in the team? Interfere or let it happen?

It’s best to find a balance between personal responsibility and moderation. If I see that my employees are growing with every conflict they resolve and learning something in the process, I don’t have to step in. When conflicts put a strain on the work climate and workflows, I throw ideas like conflict resolution workshops or coaching into the ring.

Mindset change is one of those buzzwords we keep hearing. What do you think, is it more than just blah blah?

It’s essential. Change starts in the mind. Only if everyone believes in a new approach to collaboration, for example, and sees the benefits right in front of them, will they set out on a path towards it. The truth is, however, and I have experienced these many times: changing people’s mindsets is not a trivial matter. It is not enough to hold an innovation workshop, but you must work on it continuously, persistently, and ideally with a professional sparring partner over a long period of time. Sometimes that’s annoying, but it pays off in the end.

Which of your strengths do you like to talk about – and which of your weaknesses do you prefer to keep under lock and key?

That’s a good question. I don’t really like to talk about my strengths. You can ask my wife about that. But all joking aside, I think that as a leader I am reasonably motivating, inspiring, and fair. And it’s no secret that I don’t necessarily have great patience, so there’s no lock and key for that.

What is your ultimate advice for all junior managers?

Change your perspective more often – to be able to lead, you must put yourself in your employees’ shoes. Nothing lets you get to the core of team cohesion and cooperation faster than walking in your colleagues’ shoes.

Thank you very much, Maik, that was indeed very inspiring!