Video and slides available at https://www.kaizenko.com/washington-dc-scrum-user-group-dcsug/ Have you ever thought to yourself... • How can we make Agile Scaling less of a goal itself and more of a method to get our organizational goals? • We know we need to scale but where do we go from here? I'll share the three factors that emerged as common themes throughout my experience working on government Agile Scaling projects that ultimately impacted the trajectory of each agency's Scaling journey: • Communicate vision consistently • Focus on your people genuinely • Create your own path intentionally Regardless of the agency acronym or the frameworks used, these concepts shaped their Scaling outcomes. So, whether you are working in the government, commercial or the non-profit space, these concepts can help you take your organization to the peak of its Agile Scaling journey.

1. “You don’t have to see the whole
staircase, just take the first step.”
— Martin Luther King, Jr.

2. Agile Scaling: 3 Factors
you need for Success
Nicole Spence-Goon
excella.com | @excellaco

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About me
Lifelong learning!

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About you

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About my Agile Scaling experiences

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About where we’re going…
Discover on our journey:
3 factors impacting Scaling Agility
§ Anti-patterns (Valleys)
§ Effective applications (Peaks)

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Communicate vision
consistently
Focus on your people
genuinely
Create your own path
intentionally
3
Key
Factors

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Communicate Vision
consistently

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• Start with crafting your Vision
Communicate Vision Consistently
• Amplify your Vision for the teams
• Keep sharing/adapting your Vision

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No consistent understanding
of project purpose
No strong Product Owner
Product Vision shared one time
In the Valley:
Communicate Vision Consistently
Result:
Product Vision was not the priority

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No consistent understanding
of project purpose
People focused on purpose
can remind teams about the
priorities
In the Valley:
Communicate Vision Consistently
Discoveries:
Reinforce goals to maintain
focus & alignment

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Product Vision statement guided decisions
Created goal ownership for
the Product Owner
Reminders helped teams to
stay aligned on the
purpose
Helped development teams
make technical decisions
What Was the Result?
Reminders helped Product
Owner to determine MVP
At the PEAK:
Product Vision created with
Product Owner
Vision statement used as an
information radiator
Vision statement reminders
guided Roadmap and
Planning
What Was Done?

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Let’s discuss
Nope, no Vision
Can you develop one?
• What do you foresee as the biggest
obstacles in developing a vision?
• How can you overcome any of these
barriers?
Vision?
Do you have a vision
for the project you’re
currently working on?
Yes, we have one!
Has it helped?
• Is there anyway to make it
more useful?

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Focus on your people
genuinely

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Focus on your people genuinely
• Support the teams’ decisions with actions
• Support team connectivity by creating collaborative
environments
• Empower your teams to make their own decisions

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In the Valley:
Command & Control within Scaled Agile environment
No Team decision making power
Result:
No sense of ownership
Low morale
Develop an environment of trust
for teams to act cohesively
Discoveries:
Identify areas where teams
can be autonomous
Focus on Your People Genuinely

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Team level decision making defined how they worked
Teams developed sense
of ownership
Teams were invested in
project success
Leadership deepened
their level of trust in
teams
At the PEAK:
What Was the Result?

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Polling your perspective

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Create your own path
intentionally

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• Start with a lightweight Scaling approach
Create your own path intentionally
• Customize: don’t accept one-size-fits-all in your
Scaling approach
• Keep experimenting with your approach

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In the Valley:
Very prescriptive framework used with no deviations
Heavily predefined
structure - predefined
roles & activities
Result:
No experimentation
No deviations in
prescribed activities
Allow flexibility in
structures that aren’t
working
Discoveries:
Encourage
experimentation to
improve individual team
processes
Create your own path Intentionally

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Keeping it lightweight - no formal framework applied
At the PEAK:
What Was the Result?
Less structure made
room for more
learning
Structure evolved as
teams evolved
What Was Done?
No formalized
framework
Experimented with
any area
Changed structures
as needed
Teams gained more
autonomy

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We are here: Keep discovering!
Not an easy path but vital
to avoid the self-inflicted wounds of Scaling Agility

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Where will you go
from here?
Communicate Vision consistently
Focus on Your People genuinely
Create Your Path intentionally

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How to connect
with me
Nicole Spence-Goon
nicole.spence-goon@excella.com
linkedin.com/in/nicole-spence-goon/
Excella
@excella
@excellaco
https://scalingmanifesto.org/
Manifesto for Scaling Agility
Scalingagilitygroup