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    DA™ Transformation Practices

    The following process goal diagram overviews the potential activities associated with disciplined agile transformations.

    Copyright Project Management Institute All Rights Reserved Transformation v5.6 Enable Everyone Establish training plansTrain the teamsProvide skill-specific trainingEducate leadershipCoach everyoneMentor leadersAwareness trainingProvide role-specific training Be Safe Career safetyPhysical safetyPsychological safety Engage Everyone Engage executivesEngage functional leadersEngage influencersEngage stakeholdersEngage team leadershipEngage teams Plan the Transformation Identify transformation scopeAssess current stateDefine outcomesChoose improvement strategyIdentify improvement roadmapCreate improvement backlogBudget the transformationIdentify timeline Assess Current State BenchmarkingExternal assessorInternal assessorInterview key stakeholdersStaff survey: comprehensiveStaff survey: facilitatedStaff survey: quick pollValue stream assessmentStructured assessment workshopValue stream mapping Define Outcomes External outcomesInternal outcomesNorth star vision Choose Change Strategy ADKARBridgesBrightlineCustomKotterKubler-RossLean change managementLewinMcKinsey 7-SSatir Identify Improvement Roadmap Business area transformationFast-track transformationGreenfield transformationSAFe® evolutionScrum transformationValue stream evolution Establish Transformation Support Create center of excellence (CoE)Create communities of practice (CoPs)Establish active executive leadership supportEstablish transformation guidance teamEstablish transformation monitoring team Guide Transformation Initiate transformation workCreate transformation work backlogChoose transformation operating cadenceSupport communities of practice (CoPs)Oversee transformation work Monitor Transformation Proactive monitoringReactive monitoring Evolve Culture Behavior firstCulture firstInstall agile culture Lead Transformation Act on learningsActively remove roadblocksCommunicate regularlyCreate alignmentEmpower teams to self-organizeLead by example Thrive Continuous improvementOngoing coachingOngoing trainingSemi-autonomous teamsSpot coaching Govern Transformation Develop transformation guidanceDefine roles and responsibilitiesDevelop transformation metricsReview artifactsMotivate adherence to guidanceTrack progress Measure Transformation Assessment trendsContinuous improvementCustomer responsivenessCustomer satisfactionEmployee engagementMarket responsivenessOutcomes achieved - OrganizationOutcomes achieved - TeamPredictabilityProductivityQuality

    Figure 1. The process goal diagram for transformation.

    The considerations for effective transformations are:

    1. How will we motivate and support people throughout our transformation? Enablement potentially covers a range of activities, including training, coaching, and mentoring. "Everyone" means everyone, from the people on the front line to the executives guiding our organization.
    2. How will we ensure that it is safe for people to be involved with our transformation? People will not be willing to be involved in the transformation, or even support it, if they feel they are not safe to do so.
    3. How and when will we engage everyone involved with our transformation? We need to engage everyone who will be impacted by, or will have an impact on, our transformation efforts. This engagement effort will focus on motivating people to be interested and involved, on identifying and communicating what we're trying to achieve, and then on doing the work to actually transform.
    4. How will we approach the overall transformation effort? We need to identify what we're trying to achieve and where we're trying to achieve it. How will we determine where we current are, what roadmap path we need to follow for improvement and what improvement strategy we will follow. We will likely need to identify a budget and timeline to obtain support and funding for this endeavor.
    5. How will we determine how we are currently working and what our challenges are? At the beginning of our transformation, we need to determine where we are and what are our strengths and weaknesses.
    6. What are the outcomes we are trying to achieve with this transformation? Where are we headed and what are our end goals (which should include become a learning organization)? What do we hope to achieve along the way?
    7. What change strategy will we use to guide our transformation approach? There are several strategies available to us – ADKAR, Brightline, and Kotter to name a few - that define approaches to change. We want to choose the strategy that is the best fit for our situation.
    8. What type of improvement journey do we need to take given where we currently are? Stage 1 of the DA Transformation Roadmap, Align, says to take an improvement path that reflects our context. For example, if we are already doing scrum or SAFe® reasonably successfully, then naturally we want to follow an improvement path that reflects this. However, if we are new to agile ways of working (WoW), it is better to follow a greenfield path that reflects this. Context counts when it comes to transformation.
    9. How will we support the transformation effort with our stakeholders? Successful transformations are the result of hard work, not luck. Everyone's learning and improvement journeys will need to be supported along the way with training, coaching, and sharing opportunities. This requires ongoing investment and intentional effort.
    10. How will the operational execution of the actual transformation process happen, and who will be doing the work to guide it? We need to actively ensure that the transformation is moving forward and that we're doing the work required to experiment, learn, and improve.
    11. How will we ensure that transformation effort is healthy and working for everyone? This involves independent monitoring of the transformation to provide an unbiased, ombudsman-like service.
    12. How will we change the culture to provide an enduring shift in mindset? A critical aspect of our transformation to evolve our culture to one that is oriented towards enterprise agility and new ways of thinking (WoT).
    13. How will we ensure that leadership is fully enabling the transformation? A critical success factor in transformations is leadership support. Not only must the leadership team support and enable our transformation, they must also be seen to be doing so. Furthermore, they must do so throughout the entire transformation, not just at the beginning.
    14. How will we continue improving after the initial improvement work is done? Stage 3 of the DA Transformation Roadmap, Thrive, says to thrive is to become a learning organization that improves continuously. A learning organization is one that is skilled at experimentation, acquiring new ideas and techniques, sharing those things among the organization, and actively unlearning previous ways of working (WoT) and ways of thinking (WoT).
    15. How will we motivate and enable effective transformation efforts? Our transformation initiative is potentially a large investment for our organization, and as such it will be governed to ensure that it is successful. We deserve to be governed well.
    16. How will we know that the transformation is improving our effectiveness without any unintended negative consequences? Given that our transformation strategy is fit-for-purpose, reflecting the situation that we face, the way that we measure our transformation should also be contextual in nature.  

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