3 tips for creating impactful agile transformation goals

When it comes to transformation, there’s a serious gap between potential and reality. Companies that view their change initiatives as successful report achieving 67% of their maximum financial benefits—and amongst other organizations, this figure drops to just 37%.

Now that 80% of companies are kicking their transformations into overdrive, it’s up to leaders to architect strategies that get tangible results. That means executives must go beyond making gradual changes and instead embrace agile operating models that have the potential to transform every element of their business processes.

Since driving change at enterprise-scale is challenging, we’ve created a list of best practices that will help leaders devise impactful agile strategies. From goal setting to transparent communications, find out how to launch a transformation scheme that your entire organization will get behind.

What is agile transformation?

Born out of a software development methodology, transitioning to agile ways of working now extends far beyond your product team. For companies to be considered agile, all employees must embrace a willingness to be more flexible and reactive, collaborate effectively, and communicate openly.

Agile transformation describes the journey teams or organizations go on as they shift to their ways of working from rigid hierarchies to flattened,cross-functional talent networks. A comprehensive agile transformation will reach four facets of the organization: people, processes, technology, and structure. It will also ensure that the company adopts an iterative approach to development, meaning activities are repeated in cycles until the optimal result is achieved.

Importance of setting clear goals 

Embracing agile operating models doesn’t mean abandoning order. In fact, having a sense of structure will be critical to bringing your transformation goals to life. Here’s why:

#1. Enhance engagement and accountability 

When employees understand what they’re working towards and the reasoning behind it, they will be far more motivated to go the extra mile and play their part in enacting meaningful change. Leaders and managers should communicate both the value of these overarching transformation goals, as well as actionable advice for employees who want to make an impact to help their organization achieve them. 

#2. Measure progress through well-defined metrics

Our resident transformation expert Alex Badenoch—who previously spearheaded Telstra’s change journey—believes that every successful transformation must be structured and connect back to well-defined objectives. She describes a common misconception surrounding change initiatives, noting, “I think a lot of people think that agile transformations are sort of loose. But it needs to be more disciplined, more structured, and more thoughtful than most of us have ever done before.”

#3. Align efforts with organizational objectives 

The goals that guide your transformation strategy should relate back to the overarching objectives that your company is trying to achieve. For example, if your organization is looking to debut a new product offering, your transformation goals should facilitate innovation, collaboration, and product development. Make sure to connect your transformation objectives to your business goals to get leaders across the organization on board with your initiative. 

What does impactful goal-setting look like in practice?

If you’re searching for some inspiration as you brainstorm your agile transformation goals, look no further than the sample objectives below which Badenoch shared with us from her time at Telstra. You’ll see that these goals impact various aspects of the business, from upping efficiency to enhancing customer satisfaction to boosting morale.

While each of the four goals below is very different, they are structured in a similar manner. Each objective is accompanied by a relevant business metric such as net promoter scores for customer satisfaction. By identifying specific numbers that will indicate achievement for various goals, Telstra’s workforce could align on a shared vision of success and begin tracking their performance towards these metrics over time.

5 key goals of agile transformation 

Every agile transformation will be unique to the organization embarking on it; however, there are a handful of objectives that connect all change initiatives, including: 

#1. A culture of continuous improvement

Achieving agility isn’t a one-and-done process; instead, organizations must continuously strive to rapidly adapt to change and implement new ways of working. A culture of continuous improvement underpins successful change initiatives and it falls on leaders to set the tone for this. Executives should strive to partake in their own development opportunities and share their learning experiences to encourage their colleagues to keep innovating and evolving. 

#2. Improved team collaboration and communication 

Agile transformation is a surefire way to minimize silos and eliminate the boundaries and barriers that hold employees back. Top-performing organizations encourage employees to lend their skills to teams across the business and understand how various parts of the company work. When employees gain this expertise, they will be able to advance their careers quickly and understand the why behind the work they’re doing. 

#3. Skill-building 

Developing new skills is a core component of agile transformation. When workforces continuously build new skills, they equip their organizations with the knowledge and expertise needed to pivot ahead of the curve and launch innovative solutions. Consequently, leaders who embark on agile transformations must make strategic skill-building a key pillar of their initiative.  

#4. Reduced operational inefficiencies

By removing the silos that come with breaking work down into jobs, agile organizations can respond more swiftly than their static counterparts. Companies that strive to become more agile can in turn expect to reduce inefficiencies by reducing turnover rates and minimizing organizational reliance on freelancers and third-party contractors. 

#5. Empower teams with greater autonomy

Rather than limiting each employee’s scope to the job they were hired for, agile organizations empower workers to pitch in on projects across the enterprise and develop the skills needed to lead with confidence, regardless of their level of seniority or experience. When employees are seen for their skills and abilities—rather than their rank or job titles—workforces will be inspired to achieve their full potential.  

3 top tips for creating your own agile transformation goals

While outlining goals for your agile transformation is always a step in the right direction, there are a few best practices leaders can take to maximize the impact their objectives will have.

#1. Make sure every goal is measurable

If your goals aren’t tied to specific numbers or benchmarks, it will be next to impossible to define what success looks like. Badenoch is quick to point to quantifiable goals as every organization’s best path forward, noting, “Measurement was so important to us. It helped with providing clarity to us as an executive team and to the whole company in terms of what good was going to look like. Sometimes you embark on a journey and it’s not clear what success will look like, so it’s a little bit harder to maintain momentum.”

#2. Prioritize transparency

Once you’ve created goals and brainstormed success metrics that can accompany them, leaders must ensure that employees across the organization are aware of these objectives. In the words of Badenoch, “I think the clarity of what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it, and making it transparent and trackable all the way through is really important.” When employees have complete visibility into the agile transformation goals their organization is striving to achieve, they will feel empowered and encouraged to begin contributing to them.  

#3. Be honest with yourself about the magnitude of change

Some leaders who want to believe they’re embarking on a transformation journey may be shying away from making the bold changes needed to facilitate the shift to agile operating models. Badenoch emphasizes the importance of moving away from traditional processes and tools and instead embracing innovative technologies and systems.

In her words, “What executives should be asking themselves is are they building an organization that actually is adaptable to change and moves away from our traditional world where we resisted change and held onto the way things were until we couldn’t resist anymore and then we have these horrible transitions which are really painful. Or are you building a dynamic organization that can actually adjust and evolve?”

To learn more about what successful transformation looks like in action, check out Seagate’s case study to uncover how the leading data storage solutions provider embraced an internal-first redeployment strategy that earned them $33 million in savings.