Sprints in Change Management
Achieve Impacts With the Pulse of Agility
by Mikko Lehtonen, Thomas Mandl, Markus Spiegel
When a Global Crisis Pushes You Tumbling Down a Steep Slope of Change
The COVID-19 pandemic showed how quickly and successfully companies can react to changes by using agile methods. Compared to this, traditional change management seems cumbersome and outdated. Therefore, more organizations are steadily introducing more agility into their change management. Finally!
In recent years, the business world has faced unexpected disruptions and business impacts. Initiatives are being launched by the dozen, adoptions can’t happen fast enough, and the stakes are higher than ever. In many industries change isn’t about fine-tuning; it’s about surviving and completely transforming industries.
In our experience, sprints are not just a nice to have: They are must-have in these types of transformations. Let us share ICG's experience with agile change processes.
Agility and sprints
The first step in change management is typically to create a sense of urgency. Next, a vision for the future is developed, then a change roadmap is created, and principles for the transformation are defined. Now, let’s introduce agility into the process. Maintaining credibility in a change process requires demonstrating that decisions and actions will benefit the organization. Skeptics will put up roadblocks unless they see evidence of real results. Since people have only so much patience, such evidence needs to be provided quickly. The best short-term wins that ensure success are obvious, unambiguous, and clearly linked to the vision. Celebrating these wins will create and win over an army of volunteers and get more people on board. Success breeds success.
The next six tips will be the foundation for your success in an agile change process.
In summary, sprints can effectively be used to manage change in a structured and manageable way. They provide clarity, accountability, and measurable results while allowing organizations to take an agile approach toward change management. By following best practices, organizations can use sprints to break down complex change initiatives into smaller, achievable tasks that lead to overall success.