In today’s world, where the pace of change, innovation and digitisation is increasing, and where there is pressure to adapt quickly to changing client needs, Agile methodology is becoming common in organisations in place of traditional ‘Waterfall’. While software development and Project Management may be leading the shift to Agile though, often staff on the receiving end find it hard to keep up with the new pace of change and the need for rapid value realisation. To enable and support the business through ongoing change, one of the implications for Change Management is a need to adapt accordingly. Based on recent experience, the information I’ve read and conversations I’ve had, below are just a few insights into the implications for Change Management and how we may need to change in an agile world.

According to Steve Denning, ‘Agile’ has three essential characteristics:

1. Work is done by small autonomous cross-functional teams working in short cycles on relatively small tasks and getting continuous feedback from the ultimate customer or end user.
2. The primary aim is to deliver value for the customer.
3. The organisation or network needs to be agile, as top-down organisational structures often have different goals and undermine the efforts of agile teams.

These characteristics have various implications for Change practitioners.

Let’s look at the first point and its implications for Change Management. Instead of implementing large solutions ‘big bang’ into the Business after a longer time span, smaller ‘chunks of value’ are now delivered for staff and clients frequently, and on an ongoing basis, often in an iterative manner. This means that Change Managers may no longer have time to analyse the detailed business impact of a static end solution and to plan and execute the full gamut of Change Management interventions to prepare impacted stakeholders for the change. Preparing staff for ongoing iterative changes becomes faster-paced, more selective and more reactive. Change practitioners will need to learn to tolerate ambiguity while making the change journey as intuitive as possible. This involves co-creating the journey with (not to or for) the end users, to enable faster adoption and higher utilisation.

In an agile world, Change Managers need to work closely with their teams to understand the impact of a release and then work with the business to select and implement Change Management interventions that will most effectively prepare stakeholders for the immediate change. As noted by Denning, ‘Agile is about working smarter, rather than harder. It’s not about doing more work in less time: it’s about generating more value with less work’. What are the key Change interventions required to support the change and what is most effective given the time constraints and iterative nature of change? Can the solution itself be made more self-explanatory, to make the change more seamless and to minimise the change efforts required of staff?

In selecting effective Change interventions, tools such as lengthy communications and training manuals may not be feasible. For example, using a training environment that is easy to update may be more practical than preparing lengthy manuals. By the time a lengthy communication or manual has been drafted, reviewed and approved, solution changes may result in the need for rework or implementation timelines may be delayed. Communications (and review processes) may need to be shorter, more frequent, and ‘correct as at a certain date’. It may also help to explore options such as regular auditorium sessions with larger stakeholder groups, to keep them informed of the latest updates using minimal content development. Instead of planned monthly meetings with key stakeholders, negotiating a more ad-hoc ‘open-door’ engagement approach may help given the faster pace of change. In essence, more frequent and more informal engagement is beneficial, preferably face to face.

An analysis of the situation and the practical use of feasible, effective and sometimes innovative interventions is key. Just as the agile team incorporates client feedback continuously, it is also important for Change Managers to elicit staff feedback about the effectiveness of Change interventions, and to adapt their approach accordingly.

Change Managers may also need to rely more heavily on a network of effective Change Agents who help facilitate ongoing change across the organisation and create a ‘critical mass’ for change. This helps ensure that key messages are shared across a wide audience, and that questions, concerns and areas of resistance are surfaced and can be addressed timeously.

Note that the points mentioned above relate to enabling change in ‘sprint-mode’ for a specific agile release. Change Managers can usually analyse the high-level business impacts of an initiative upfront though and can promote awareness and understanding of the need for change, as well as the programme and its strategic goals and benefits. This lays an important foundation for building understanding and acceptance in the Business, and for helping staff make sense of the more detailed and rapid changes to come. At times, Change Managers may need to focus both on creating this high-level awareness, and on preparing staff for the more immediate changes being introduced by a specific release, resulting in the need for both a ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ focus.

In terms of creating high-level awareness upfront to pave the way for later changes, Change Managers may also need to enable a change in focus from a traditional product-centric view, to a client-centric view. As per Denning’s second point, the primary aim of Agile is to deliver value for our customers. Customers now have more information and choices and can easily take their business elsewhere. Competition is fierce and ‘client experience is king’. For organisations that have been primarily product-focused, this may require a culture shift towards client-centricity. The Change Manager may need to help stakeholders understand and internalise the Agile focus on optimal client experience.

Lastly, as organisations transition from Waterfall to Agile, Change Managers not only need to help prepare staff for the changes introduced by a project, but they also need to build stakeholders’ understanding of Agile and the need for ongoing change in today’s environment. Otherwise top-down organisational structures may undermine the efforts of agile teams. Part of the broader Change Management approach may need to include building awareness about the implications of Agile. For example, where changes to Change Management material were previously seen as a poor reflection on project planning, it is important to manage the Business’s expectations, so that these are understood as being inevitable in adapting to clients’ changing needs. Not only do Change practitioners need to manage resistance relating to project changes, but also to broader changes in the way they are implemented using Agile methods.

In an increasingly Agile world, Change Management itself is changing, and Change Practitioners will need to be agile and adaptable in their approach. Agile Change Management is not about following a new recipe for success, but about using lessons learned and guidelines from others to fast-track the learning curve. It’s about analysing a specific situation and combining experience with innovative and practical thinking, to enable rapid change efficiently and effectively on an ongoing basis. Lastly, it’s about constantly learning and improving, to help make change as smooth as possible for impacted stakeholders and ultimately for customers.