Managing ResistanceHow the Kanban Method Supports Lasting Change
Julie Wyman &Sarah Shirck (@spark_CM)
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Agenda
• Why do people resist Agile?
• How Kanban & Change Management Can Help
• What Now? Recommendations & Resources
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VersionOne, 12th Annual State of Agile Report
Organizational culture at odds with agile valuesTop
challenges
53%
General organization resistance to change46%
Inadequate management support and sponsorship
42%
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Kanban Level Set
• Visibility
• Collaboration
• Explicit Policies
• Predictability
• Flow
• Pull-system
• Limit WIP
• Focus
Visual approach to work that emphasizes flow, collaboration, and evolutionary change
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Change Management Level Set • Personal growth and
development
• Reducing impact of change
• Empathy, understanding, and encouragement
• Clear communication
• Managing expectations
• Creating an engaged culture
Helps reduce the impact that change has on an organization, its culture, its people, and its ability to fulfill its vision and mission
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Identity
Incremental Change
Feedback Loops
Personal growth and development
Reducing impact of change
Empathy, understanding, and encouragement
Creating an engaged culture
Managing expectations
Clear communication
Pull-system
Flow
Limit WIP
Predictability
Visibility
Focus
Explicit Policies
Kanban Change Management
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IdentityA sense of identity is what makes every person, team and organization unique:
• biographies• role identities• unique characteristics• personal experiences (private &
public)
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Small, incremental change
Gain agreement to pursue improvement through evolutionary change
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Scrum Proto-KanbanDo ALL these – or you’re
not doing Scrum
Roles: Developer, Scrum Master, Product Owner
Artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment
Events: The Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retro
Start with what you do now &
For example, you may start without…
Kanban Cadences: Standup, Replenishment, Operations Review, Delivery Planning, etc.
Work in progress (WIP) limits or WIP limits per person
build towards a true Kanban System
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Feedback Loops
Shape and inform strategies
Across the whole system –not just at the team level
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Managing Resistance
• Respect individual identity
• Encourage and advocate for management’s support and sponsorship
• Provide clarity around the details of the change (e.g. when/how it will be introduced and intended outcome)
• Communicate how roles, responsibilities, and value will translate during the change
• Engage, empower, and support change champions and coalitions
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KanbanMany small j-curves to limit the disruption
Cost / pain of change
Payback period
Capability
Time
CurrentCapability
DesiredFuture Capability
Based on image from: David Anderson’s March 2017 Kanban Coaching Professional Masterclass
Reducing the disruption
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Feedback Loops Drive Continuous Improvement
Avoid the checklist trap
Never “done”
Evolving solution
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Identity1. Have you considered how potential changes may impact an individual’s identity and their
perception of the value they provide?2. Do individuals understand how their skills, role, and responsibilities will be impacted by the
change?3. Do individuals buy-in to the proposed changes?
Incremental Change1. How can larger changes be broken up into many smaller efforts?2. What high value activities or process changes can be made at the start to encourage buy-in and
ease the transition?
Feedback Loops 1. Are you creating and promoting a safe space for people to ask questions and voice concerns? 2. Have you communicated the cadence and forums in which feedback will be gathered? 3. Are you gathering feedback across the whole system?
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In Summary…• Consider Kanban as an alternative
path to agility
• Kanban’s change management principles help:
• Reduce resistance• Limit disruption• Create a continuous improvement
culture• Increase the likelihood of success
and achieving lasting change
excella.com | @excellaco
ResourcesKanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business
Lean from the Trenches: Managing Large-Scale Projects with Kanban
The 8-Step Process for Leading Change
Prosci