The “compulsory” organisational re-factoring needed in order to be more Agile has a lot of wins but, as any organisational design, it also has flaws and typical issues you should expect (e.g. silo effect in teams, not ready technology base, how to deal with middle management). So, this talk gives some options for dealing with these situations before they get tough. Another topic that is covered is the non-sense of the “Agile corporate transformation” concept and what to do if you are in this situation. YouTube live presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grMDYgCNCbQ Versión en español: https://www.slideshare.net/xalbaladejo/refactorizacion-organizativa-agile-un-momento-clave-en-la-transformacin-agile-parte-1/

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Organizational refactoring
A key moment in the Agile transformation
Speaker: @xavi_albaladejo
Company: @Mango
Tag: #agrs2018
Xavier Albaladejo
Agile-Lean (Executive) Coach
& organizational transformation

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Warning: any organizational design will have
flaws
e.g: silos
Value Stream Knowledge, enrichment, cross-help
We should know that this would happen 

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Organizational models
Traditional structure
Area
priorities
 Silos  No natural collaboration
WTF??
BTW, what is the PURPOSE of this company?

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Organizational models
Traditional structure
Management and more
management
:
PMO
PM
Area
priorities

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Organizational models
Traditional structure
€ € €
The "silo" effect increases if each
area has its own budget as this
discourages cross help 

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Organizational models
Traditional structure  What this company is about?
 You cannot derive it from the org chart!!
MKT
Customer
careSells

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Warning: any organizational design will have
flaws
e.g: silos
We should know that this would happen 
Are we
about to
do the
same
mistakes
here?
€
€
€

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Why organizational refactoring?
 Organization guided by purpose
Company strategy = Company structure
 Stable business strategic lines  “Value centers”
o Autonomous, empowered:
• Biz problem definition, technology, delivery,…
• Take decisions, test & learn.
  A meaningful place for people to work and grow 

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Side effects of Agile reorganization
… and how to deal with them 

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Side effects of Agile reorganization
Pursue of high autonomy  Groups & teams silos!! (expected
behaviour as they have clearer business goals… and it will hurt):
 Lack of cross help.
 Lack of transversal knowledge spread and enrichment.
 Lack of ownership of transversal initiatives!!
A
B Common situation (lucky if you’re not here ) – Technology &
systems not ready. Coupling will hurt.

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Side effects of Agile reorganization - How to deal with them
 Feature teams by Customer Journey step in order to internally
decouple and prepare architecture.
• With Agile Portfolio Management to create alignment for transversal initiatives.
1
2 almost parallel ORGANISATIONAL changes:

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Customer
Conversion
Market Expansion
Side effects of Agile reorganization - How to deal with them
2 almost parallel organizational changes:
 Feature teams by Customer Journey step in order to internally
decouple and prepare architecture.
• With Agile Portfolio Management to create alignment for transversal initiatives.
 ASAP: Feature teams by real Business goals / initiatives (i.e. avoid
transversal projects)  real Value Centers (VC).
o Strategic  Stable VC
1
2
2 almost parallel ORGANISATIONAL changes:

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2 almost parallel TECHNOLOGICAL challenges:
Side effects of Agile reorganization - How to deal with them
 Celebrations, social activities  .
Several teams (even from different VC) working on the same component
Silo technical decisions
… and more celebrations & social activities 
 Test automation, CI, trunk based development.
 Internal Open Source.
 Component guardians.
 Joint activities with other teams.
 Improvement groups (strategy, technical workshops, PoCs).
 Communities of Practice to share knowledge and learnings.
 Joint Reviews, Bazaars to share common purpose and results.
1
2

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Side effects of Agile reorganization - How to deal with them
We are creating a networked organization instead of a hierarchical one:
Social
activities!!
This organization is for the
people / teams to help them:
• Learn & share together.
• Help others.
• Be guided by purpose.
• Own “the system”.

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Corporate business agility

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The Corporation
 30 to 150 years to be created. Thousands of people.
 How many years do you need to change this?
 Context will change faster than speed of change 

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The Corporation
 30 to 150 years to be created. Thousands of people.
 How many years do you need to change this?
 Context will change faster than speed of change 
 And also there are…
"This cannot
be done
here"

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The Corporation
 30 to 150 years to be created. Thousands of people.
 How many years do you need to change this?
 Context will change faster than speed of change 
 And also there are…
 You have a limited amount of energy.
 If you try to do a Corporate change, e.g. in 2-3 years:
1. You’ll probably go crazy
2. You’ll get very low impact in few people
3. Millennials will leave
4. …

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 To be more agile is not needed everywhere in
the company with the same priority.
 [Sometimes] you can be Agile in small
companies (150 people at much?).
 In the world there are also people like this:

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Organizational refactoring APPROACH
 De-scaling: internal spin-offs.
 Groups on small business strategic lines.
o  Organization guided by purpose.
o  Empowerment and responsibility.
 You can see what your “new” company is about 
De-scaling: internal spin-offs.

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Organizational refactoring APPROACH
 Internal spin-offs - Benefits
 Smaller (e.g. 150 p)  faster transformation & faster performance.
 Easier to introduce Agile Product Management, outcomes based.
 Its own culture!
o New structure & new roles have a big influence in culture.
o Big change in middle management!!!
 All is far more clear:
o Responsibilities.
o What is not working.
o Lack of things.
 Scalability in terms of Business.
 Oops!
De-scaling: internal spin-offs.

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Quick market feedback, important for the company
Organizational refactoring change STRATEGY
How not to eat an elephant

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Quick market feedback, important for the company
Organizational refactoring change STRATEGY
How not to eat an elephant
All people knows where the orcs are placed

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Organizational refactoring change STRATEGY
How not to eat an elephant
Quick market feedback, important for the company
All people knows where the orcs are placed

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Organizational refactoring change STRATEGY
How not to eat an elephant
Quick market feedback, important for the company
All people knows where the orcs are placed
In your first transformations

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Organizational refactoring change STRATEGY
How not to eat an elephant
Quick market feedback, important for the company
All people knows where the orcs are placed
In your first transformations

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Organizational refactoring change STRATEGY
How not to eat an elephant
Winning horses,
no kamikazes
Quick market feedback, important for the company
All people knows where the orcs are placed
In your first transformations

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Organizational refactoring change STRATEGY
How not to eat an elephant
Winning
horses
People there will make
things happen by
themselves!!
 Find who has this information (senior management, HR, …) and work
with them in the selection:

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Key drivers
 You’re ALWAYS solving problems to be more agile and showing results.
 You’re ALWAYS solving problems for SENIOR MANAGEMENT…
… and HELPING PEOPLE involved in the change.
 Make people explain their story to others (managers, peers –
socially)  the organization will PULL the change!!
Mindset change
Solving problems to
achieve Vision
Lean Startup
Scrum
XP & SW Craftsmanship
DevOps
over
This way creates solid changes. People will make them sustainable.

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Culture change
The shadow of the culture
…some management can
stop the transformation
below them
Senior management can be
aligned to the goals of the
transformation but…

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Culture change
The shadow of the culture
Your winning horses
to give example

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Management. Responsibilities
Dedication
“Shaping
the
context”
takes time
Traditional
Strategy
Organization
Operative
Micro-management and inter-team coordination, among
departments, capacity management, assignments.
Collapsed management that benumbs projects.
People
Culture
Strategy & transversal
knowledge spread
Organization
structure and policies
Operative
People
growth and motivation
Culture fostering
Agile
Management removes
organizational impediments in
the value flow
(i.e. that impact in several teams)
All aspects
need a lot
of “Go
see” and
listen to
the
trenches
make things HAPPEN - with inclusiveness
Leadership / facilitation to

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Management. Change
 360 feedback on new management
responsibilities and behaviour
 Values & contribution.
A
D
R
K
A
 New mental models
 Micro-trainings based on things to improve
at this moment, in group workshops.
 TED Talks, simulations, visits, …
 Coaching on behaviours in the real world.
GROW

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Management. Change
IN Thanks, but OUT
 Cultural fit
 Be clear on values
and what behaviours
will NOT work here
b) Agile is not
for all
people
c) Desire is not enough.
Leadership is ALL.
• Inspiring shared vision
• Getting things done
• Taking care of people
Some middle managers can
be the main stopper
a) Re-locate and
grow (new roles)
Product Mgmt? POs?
Are you sure?
GROW

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Recap
Strategy & transversal
knowledge spread
Organization
structure and policies
Operative
People
growth and motivation
Culture fostering
… with a new kind of
LEADERSHIP
… with the right people…
Create Value Centers
where needed…
P E O P L E
Make things HAPPEN
collaboratively

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Xavier Albaladejo
 Xavier Albaladejo is specialised in organisational transformation,
change strategy and cultural change based on Agile-Lean
principles, in order to help companies to be simpler, customer
centric, more flexible and enjoyable.
 He is currently working as Agile-Lean organisational coach at
Mango online.
 Xavier Albaladejo coordinates the Master on Agile in the
University of La Salle, he writes several Spanish blogs on Agile
(transformacionagil.org and proyectosagiles.org) and founded
Agile Barcelona. He has also been president of Agile Spain.
 Xavier also enjoys hiking, sci-fi and playing the bass guitar.
Speaker: @xavi_albaladejo
Company: @Mango
Tag: #agrs2018