Adopting Agile ways of working to help meet the challenges of governing now and into the future
The Challenge
Governments at all levels are under pressure to more rapidly develop and implement policy as societal expectations change and increase. Our client, a state government department, was no exception and was under pressure to consider a broader and more complex policy portfolio within its current level of resourcing. To meet this challenge the department wanted to trial an approach that delivered early and often to ensure that policy development remained aligned with senior level expectations. The department wanted to explore new ways of working within government and decided to establish an Agile delivery centre and two pilot programs.
What ADAPTOVATE Did
Set-up an Agile Delivery Office
With the department, ADAPTOVATE setup an Agile Delivery Office (ADO) to support the delivery of the two test and learn pilots. We developed government specific onboarding materials for the pilot teams and the ADO to establish a common language and understanding of new ways of working.
Onboarded and Coached the Teams
The department selected the teams for the pilots after which ADAPTOVATE onboarded and coached them in Agile ways of working. We worked with the ADO and the teams to align the teams to the goals for their pilots, after which the pilots launched. Throughout, we provided ongoing support and development to the ADO and the teams involved.
Helped to embed agile practices
ADAPTOVATE supported the ADO on how to coach senior leaders and embed agile practices outside of the pilots within the department. ADAPTOVATE collaborated with the client to deliver a measurement framework for ongoing use. The framework measured maturity in applying agile practices, team engagement, and readiness to share agile practices more broadly within government.
Results
The new way of working resulted in the pilot teams being able to showcase their work and request feedback in shorter cycles. Issues and bottlenecks were highlighted and addressed early. Regular planning allowed the teams to seek feedback quickly where there was a lack of clarity. The department were able to increase transparency and alignment through visual management of the work.