Want to ‘teach’ agile ways of working? Go immersive.
About 4 years ago, I started at Co-op in the marketing department. Two years later a Digital department was formed. The vision for Digital really appealed to me, so I worked extra hours with the agile teams in the department to transition from marketing to Digital.
Once in Digital, I found that one of the main difference was in how they worked. In Digital, people are everything. The team work in a flat structured environment where each team member is empowered to self-organise, contribute and collaborate. The Product Manager sets the outcomes and the team say how those outcomes should be achieved. I could not stop raving about it. I bounced out of bed every morning, eager to find out what new experience lie in store.
I wrote a blog about my new role and started being contacted by colleagues who wanted to find out more about this alternative way of working. I met with several of them over coffee to chat about their Digital aspirations. These meetings made me realise that there were people across Co-op with the necessary skills and behaviours to work in an agile way, they just needed experience.
I wanted to find a way to help so decided to design a course. The purpose was share knowledge through real hands-on experience. Not just show them how we stick post its on the wall but explain the reasons why and help to shift their mindset from the day to day schedules of a traditional corporate environment.
For it to be successful, I felt that the course had to meet two main objectives:
1. help introduce new behaviours to their current teams
2. offer individuals some agile experience so they’d be more qualified to apply for Digital roles.
Coming up with a structure for the course was difficult as agile working is very hard to apply if you only know the theory — it needs to be experienced. In the end, I ran the course two evenings a week for three weeks. This meant that it didn’t interfere with day-to-day work commitments, and anyone interested in attending could do so in their own time.
Ten enthusiastic non-digital colleagues from our Manchester Support Centre enrolled in the pilot — proving there was a user need. And in true agile fashion, I had to iterate on the plan so that I could get on with delivering it — as it was important to start learning about what worked, and what didn’t, as quickly as possible.
People on the course formed into two teams and worked on real projects using some of the agile methods we use at Co-op Digital. This meant they were able to get the hands on experience necessary to really understand the practicalities of working in this way. I roped Digital colleagues in to help deliver the sessions and spend time with each person individually.
While there is a business led programme to consider how we embed digital transformation, the goal of my course was to start small with people who wanted support, to see if I could help. From everyone’s enjoyment of the course and hearing that some of the techniques that have been adopted in their current roles, the evidence suggests it was a good idea.
So now I’m going to work to improve the course and run it again. This time it won’t just be for colleagues but anyone interested in an immersive agile experience — particularly those from underrepresented groups in tech.
The next course starts on Saturday, 28th April and will run in Manchester, over a few weekends.
