A successful hybrid approach to agile working

Suzie Walker at Qodea explores the growing momentum around hybrid approaches to agile transformation

Agile working has emerged as a flexible approach to managing projects and organising work, emphasising adaptability, collaboration and customer focus. The benefits can be huge – a recent report by the Agile Business Consortium found that a strong agile culture can increase commercial performance by 277%.

But implementing agile practices and reaping the rewards is no small feat. It demands months or even years of effort, along with substantial financial investments that can reach six-figure sums. The transition to agile involves significant changes in training, culture and processes.

There are two traditional approaches to implementing agile – top-down and bottom-up. Both have distinct benefits, but also their own drawbacks. As such, many organisations might find it more optimal to take a hybrid approach, combining the strengths of both strategies. But first, they must understand what those strengths are.

The pitfalls of agile transformation

In a top-down approach, agile transformation begins with senior-level sponsorship and strategic planning. This method can help break down organisational silos, align teams towards common goals, and integrate standardised processes for consistency across the company.

On paper, this top-down method seems ideal, marshalling the resources and motivation needed to make such a major shift happen. However, in practice, it can quickly run into problems.

For a top-down approach to be successful, employees need to be sure that the change will bring significant added value to their work. But often that value isn’t immediately clear.

New methodologies imposed from above can breed disengagement among employees, negatively impacting both productivity and morale. And unless the new agile principles are based on a clear understanding of the challenges faced by development teams, they risk being misaligned with actual practices.

There is also the danger of overemphasising process over value. Internal agile advocates may become so focused on implementing processes that they inadvertently stifle creativity, or breed the very bureaucracy they aimed to avoid. In some instances, a top-down approach can backfire.

While meant to make things easier, it often creates new problems. It can trigger organisations to accidentally slow down work, waste resources, and frustrate employees – the opposite of what agile aims to do.

Bottom-up approaches are often used as an alternative, and seek to spread agile practices from one pioneering team to others. This often aligns well with real-world needs and more quickly builds employee buy-in.

But while bottom-up strategies for agile adoption have their merits, they’re not without flaws either. These approaches can still struggle to overcome broader cultural barriers, and may lack alignment with overall company strategy.

Merging the two approaches

This takes us to hybrid strategies, which can help organisations reap the benefits of agile quickly and cost-effectively by combining the advantages of both bottom-up and top-down approaches while countering their drawbacks.

There are many factors to consider when combining two radically different approaches. But by highlighting each approach’s most important elements, we can gain a clear idea of what a successful hybrid agile approach looks like: 

1. Leadership commitment. Senior management must fully sponsor the transformation, clearly communicating its vision and purpose. Their support provides the strategic direction and resources necessary for long-term success.
2. Pilot teams. Start by piloting agile practices with selected teams to flag and address any early challenges before scaling up.
3. A strategic direction, not a rigid roadmap. Define a clear strategic goal with measurable objectives to track the impact of agile, rather than a fixed route. Having that flexibility allows for adaptation while ensuring alignment with overall business goals.
4. High performing teams. Identify teams whose members and workflows would be most likely to thrive in an agile environment. Invest in targeted training and coaching to help them succeed, and give them the autonomy to adapt agile practices to their specific needs.
5. Standardisation with flexibility. Set clear standards for agile practices to ensure consistency across teams, but allow room for adaptation and experimentation to meet each team’s unique challenges.
6. The right technology and tools. Provide teams with the right technology to support agile workflows, like collaboration platforms and testing tools. Focus on metrics like DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment) to guide high-performing teams and home in on key agility measures. 
7. Continuous reflection and iteration. Agile is an ongoing journey. Emphasise continuous reflection and iteration through regular reviews to identify areas for improvement and adaptation. 

The power of hybrid

By combining elements of top-down and bottom-up agile strategies, organisations can give the methodology a better chance of success. Starting with pilot teams can create momentum, allowing agile practices to grow organically as others learn from practical, real-world experiences rather than treating it as an experiment.

Meanwhile, having leadership buy-in with a firm but flexible strategy allows for agile to scale without running into roadblocks – or running out of resources. For decision-makers, a hybrid approach to agile offers a balanced path to scalability and sustainable change, allowing teams to evolve without disruption.

Suzie Walker is Delivery Director at Qodea

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and eternalcreative