Work is about a daily search for meaning and daily bread, for recognition as well as cash said Studs, Terkel. The nature of work keeps changing and mostly or the better and our search for better, more meaningful work continues. people want their jobs to have meaning and they look to their companies leaders to define clearly the outcome they desire.
Most employees remember the broad corporate missions but how they interpret and internalise these statements make all the difference in how engaged and effective the organisation is.
the connection between position and outcomes undergoes extreme stress during organisational changes. This is especially true of agile methodology when the companies focus on the mechanics of agile and deemphasises critical principles. Unless the leaders are committed to achieve clarity and support the work that goes into it, no major change can succeed.
Define the outcome
How does one create consistent alignment of the work being done with the outcome required? there should be clarity of focus and purpose within the team members. This helps deliver value not just delivering features. Effective leaders do not leave to chance the important ways to create value. They define the business outcome clearly ad n give the team the autonomy to achieve the outcome. They clearly and consistently articulate the purpose but they do not dictate how to perform it. Agile often fails when people are given ambiguous goals or they misinterpret what they are given and are not corrected. This leads to wasted resources.
Getting to why?
The why of what a company does is very important and defines the objectives and the desired outcomes. it is important to focus on principles over practices, establish alignment to enable autonomy. It is important to set up an unbroken chain of why. This establishes the links between what the team does and the business outcomes that the company needs to achieve. A good agile implementation reinforces the chain of whys' and defines outcomes clearly.
- It articulates a clear purpose and strategy for the team's output and links it to the broader company goals.
- It ensures that everyone understands the purpose in specific terms.
- It helps in organising the work needed to accomplish the desired outcome.
- It helps in breaking up the work and assigning teams that will coordinate with one another.
- It helps in course correction in response to feedback or change in direction.
One of the most powerful benefits of agile is its ability to quickly recognise when things are off course and adjust based on feedback. If teams have internalised their business outcomes, they can make better decisions on what to pursue and what to stop.
Companies that get agile right benefit from higher customer satisfaction and also a reduction in development costs. It also leads to better employee engagement and job satisfaction.
Many traditional executives fear a loss of control leading to chaos but the chain of why moderates this and serve as a check. When teams understand their purpose, the structure and standards allow teams to innovate within defined parameters. Agile works precisely because alignment with why enables autonomy.
By David Ritter and Lindsay Chim
BCG 2019/04
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