XP2019

Abstract:
Many organisations are adopting agile approaches, not only in their IT department, but increasingly across the whole organisation. The process of introducing agile practices in organisations is called an "agile transformation". In a review article published in 2016, Dikert et al. identify a number of challenges in agile transformations, such as resistance to change, lack of investment (training, coaching, lack of physical rearrangement to suit new ways of work), agile being "difficult to implement", challenges with coordination across teams, and that different approaches emerge in multi-team environments. The review focuses on software development organisations although many of the challenges identified are not necessarily specific to software development. As organisations increasingly engage in agile transformation processes, advice today is dominated by consultants and from experience reports. Researchers have suggested to understand agile transformation processes through sociotechnical theory, change management theory and we believe that there are a number of other fields to learn from to understand and improve the outcome of agile transformation processes.

We would like to challenge the scientific community to identify what should be of prime interest for researchers in this area, as there are growing opportunities to study agile transformation as companies increasingly adopt new large-scale agile frameworks. Organisations are learning from agile practice to embrace agility in their ways of working; agile practitioners can also benefit from the wider context of organisations undergoing agile transformations, to understand the wider implications of large-scale transformations and how to sustain them. We will create a workshop to provide an interactive arena for knowledge sharing and exchange of experiences between academics and practitioners.

Schedule:
09:15- The agile transformation at Volvo Cars Lucas Gren
09:35- Agile transformation explained under the lens of management innovation implementation Akim Berkani
09:55- “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water” - agile transformation from the trenches
Johannes Berglind Söderqvist, Ludvig Lindlöf, Lars Trygg and Rashina Hoda
10:15- Head, Heart and Hands Katie Taylor