Did somebody say Agile Change Management?

Written by: Sha Kamarudin, APAC Cloud Adoption Manager

When I first learned about Change Management, I was only familiar with ITIL best practices for managing change requests across the change lifecycle. I'm becoming more and more aware that the ITIL framework is only a part of the overall scope of things. As my involvement in projects has grown, I have learned more about Organizational Change Management and Agile Project Management practices. Today, technological innovation impacts how firms evolve to achieve an optimal working culture. The challenge of innovating, reinventing, and enhancing the way people perceive change management, in general, makes more sense for Change Management Practitioners to tackle.

Because of my past work as a Scrum Master, I've come to understand that managing change involves far more than simply following the project's standard operating procedure. Agile Project Management must incorporate Agile Change Management techniques within the development lifecycle to be effective. Because of the project's fluidity, change management can become more than just a tool for communication or training in an Agile project. There should be more to it than just drafting strategy documents or advising on managing expectations from the people's perspective. There is also a push and support for programs that help people become more aware and prepare for conflicts.

In response to rapid change and disruption, organizations are increasingly implementing Agile working methods. The Change Management Practitioner believes that incorporating an Agile Change Management framework into a waterfall or hybrid software development process makes sense.

Using Agile Project Management can reduce the risk of software development. We've honed our adaptability and ingenuity in the fast-paced corporate world of today. Agile change management can be more effective before the sprint planning process even begins if it is recognized and minimized organizational change management or human risks.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. How do you eat an elephant?

The concept of iterating your way up to a complete solution in a sprint using the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) concept is another intriguing discovery. Changes in business requirements are better managed throughout the development lifecycle by breaking down a complex process or change management activities into smaller, more manageable portions (which are usually time-boxed to ensure that each sprint or iteration is completed and implemented within a specific timeframe).

People who work in an Agile Change Management environment need to change both how often and how they implement changes.

2. Analysis over paralysis.

Each sprint can undertake a Change Impact Analysis to document what is changing and how it affects the people and processes involved. The signs in the findings can help people communicate and learn about the project all the way through, so that they can deal with resistance and get more people to use it at a sustainable pace.

3. Visuals attract value.

Through retrospective change management activities such as collaborative workshops, regular showcases, and awareness roadshows, customers can have a progressive view of the final product. To increase visibility on specific changes, the current adoption program can be visualized using collaboration tools. When we get feedback from people at a high level, we can improve our delivery. We can also think of new ways to manage expectations and results based on this information.

4. Standing up won’t knocked you down.

An Agile project necessitates more regular team communication (imagine 15-minute daily stand-up meetings) and a greater emphasis on obtaining feedback from customers. It will foster greater openness and cooperation among all parties involved. Decision-making can be sped up thanks to the availability of "real-time data."

When it comes to this subject, I could go on for days. For the time being, I encourage all change management practitioners to learn more about new approaches to managing change and to experiment with alternative tactics that may help in a more widespread adoption of that change. One size does not fit all when it comes to managing change, and we must keep on inventing, innovating, and doing more. Let us immerse ourselves in fresh knowledge so that we can keep up with the rapid breakthroughs in human behavior and technological capabilities.

Connect with me here to chat more on how Oracle incorporates Agile change concepts into our True Cloud Methodology.