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We continue to get to know Aligned Agility’s VP Enterprise Agility. In this second blog, find out how Tina measures agile success, and her advice for other women stepping into the agile space.
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In the first blog about Tina Behers, we learnt what what Disney World has to do with agility, the difference between agile and digital transformation, and about her holistic approach to transformation. In this second blog, we find out what agile really looks like, how she measures agile success, and the advice she has for other women entering the agile space.
When it works, agile transformation can be… transformative. Yes, pun intended.
“The greatest impact of an enterprise transformation is really in the intent behind agility – being able to change, being able to understand market conditions and how they affect an organization, and being able to respond quickly.”
Tina references the Covid pandemic as an example of this in action, as a lot of companies struggled with how to continue with business as usual at the onset of the shutdowns. Some of her own clients that had already adopted a more agile mindset efficiently assessed their computer resources, for example, and quickly got laptops to office workers who were forced to stay home.
“With an agile mindset, they were able to see how lockdown was affecting their business, and they were able to react quickly to keep things running. Other organizations who weren’t so adaptive saw their market share decreasing, stocks plummeting or worse, they are now out of business.”
Failing to incorporate Tina’s top three fundamentals for successful agile transformation results in key pitfalls she sees time and time again – not understanding your value to the customer, not receiving executive support and buy-in, and not maintaining alignment through regular communication. But there’s hope thanks to experts like her.
“We try to help organizations avoid these mistakes by explaining best practices and running workshops to help them identify their value, their proper portfolios, and implementing an iterative plan.
“A lot of the big consulting companies will say, ‘we can make you agile in six months’. That’s cute. But the reality is, unless you’re essentially a start-up with less than a hundred people, being able to achieve enterprise agility in six months is a fallacy.”
Once you’ve started your agile journey, Tina recommends evaluating your progress at least quarterly, and measuring what really matters to your organization using Objective Key Results (OKRs). For example, assessing if you’re seeing improvements in code quality, market share, and product viability. “If you are, keep doing what you’re doing,” she says. “If not, bring in somebody to help you right the ship.”
Tina is also passionate about organizations finding the right consultants with tangible agile transformation experience, not just certifications. She also stresses how important it is that businesses listen to the people they’ve hired to help. Otherwise you’re doing yourself, your company, and your customers a disservice, and risk continuing to do things the way you've always done it.
In the first blog about Tina Behers, we learnt what what Disney World has to do with agility, the difference between agile and digital transformation, and about her holistic approach to transformation. In this second blog, we find out what agile really looks like, how she measures agile success, and the advice she has for other women entering the agile space.
When it works, agile transformation can be… transformative. Yes, pun intended.
“The greatest impact of an enterprise transformation is really in the intent behind agility – being able to change, being able to understand market conditions and how they affect an organization, and being able to respond quickly.”
Tina references the Covid pandemic as an example of this in action, as a lot of companies struggled with how to continue with business as usual at the onset of the shutdowns. Some of her own clients that had already adopted a more agile mindset efficiently assessed their computer resources, for example, and quickly got laptops to office workers who were forced to stay home.
“With an agile mindset, they were able to see how lockdown was affecting their business, and they were able to react quickly to keep things running. Other organizations who weren’t so adaptive saw their market share decreasing, stocks plummeting or worse, they are now out of business.”
Failing to incorporate Tina’s top three fundamentals for successful agile transformation results in key pitfalls she sees time and time again – not understanding your value to the customer, not receiving executive support and buy-in, and not maintaining alignment through regular communication. But there’s hope thanks to experts like her.
“We try to help organizations avoid these mistakes by explaining best practices and running workshops to help them identify their value, their proper portfolios, and implementing an iterative plan.
“A lot of the big consulting companies will say, ‘we can make you agile in six months’. That’s cute. But the reality is, unless you’re essentially a start-up with less than a hundred people, being able to achieve enterprise agility in six months is a fallacy.”
Once you’ve started your agile journey, Tina recommends evaluating your progress at least quarterly, and measuring what really matters to your organization using Objective Key Results (OKRs). For example, assessing if you’re seeing improvements in code quality, market share, and product viability. “If you are, keep doing what you’re doing,” she says. “If not, bring in somebody to help you right the ship.”
Tina is also passionate about organizations finding the right consultants with tangible agile transformation experience, not just certifications. She also stresses how important it is that businesses listen to the people they’ve hired to help. Otherwise you’re doing yourself, your company, and your customers a disservice, and risk continuing to do things the way you've always done it.
She might have earned herself the nickname ‘AgileCraft Tina’ because of her extensive experience with the tool now known as Jira Align, but Tina’s the first to admit that the right agile tool for one organization may not be the right one for another.
It depends on where you’re at in your agile transformation journey and what you’re trying to achieve. “If you need consistent roadmapping and OKRs, you could consider something like Aha! Roadmaps rather than Jira Align. And if you just need to structure Jira projects so you can work as teams of teams effectively, you could consider add-ons like Advanced Roadmaps, Appfire’s Big Picture, or Easy Agile’s add-ons, to name a few of our other partner’s apps.”
Whatever agile tool you choose or plan to use in the future, the most important thing to remember, she says, is “tools should support your agile transformation. If you’re trying to do a transformation with the tool driving it, you’re not going to be successful.”
As a female leader in the agile world, and a woman in tech, Tina is still somewhat of a rare breed. Her advice to women coming into the industry?
“Be true to who you are. Someone said to me years ago – you can’t control how people receive your message, only how you deliver it. Be firm in your commitments and stand by them. You’re not always going to be liked, but it’s not a popularity contest – your goal has to be to help people and organizations become better.”
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