Multi-Year Learning Plan for Enterprise-Wide Agile Transformation

The Challenge: Developing training for an Agile transformation

Recognizing the value of Agile development, the company wanted to transition its software development life cycle (SDLC) from a traditional waterfall approach to an Agile methodology. This approach would allow the company to focus on individuals, interactions, and collaboration rather than comprehensive documentation to deploy new applications and software quickly. To ensure success and adoption, training was necessary at all levels of the organization, from the executive team down to the individual contributor. Due to project volume and intensity, the client needed long-term support and training, from start to finish.

The Solution: A multi-year learning program to develop Agile skills

The company partnered with Judge Learning Solutions (JLS), a division of The Judge Group, to evaluate its processes and provide enterprise learning solutions. With an increased focus on improving productivity and organizational behavior, JLS worked with the company to build and develop a custom solution for training and coaching employees through its Agile transformation.

After carefully assessing the company’s existing environment, JLS leveraged its Agile and learning expertise to create a customized training and coaching solution. To begin the process of fully understanding and developing the necessary training, JLS specialists met with company stakeholders to run organizational assessments, lead team discussions, and have face-to-face conversations to identify current business processes, challenges, and transformational roadblocks. After an eight-month partnership, JLS designed and built a multi-year approach to Agile transformation. This approach included a series of solutions involving education at the executive and leadership levels, training to develop a strong skills foundation for team members, and sustainable Agile coaching to prevent backpedaling, while simultaneously training future coaches within the organization.

The Result: Successful pilot program leads to six more program launches

Judge Learning produced a schedule of classes to cover teaching, mentoring, problem-solving, planning, leadership, and team-building skills. Executive workshops began with teaching the origins of Agile transformation, highlighting significant practices, and outlining educational strategies with clear objectives and measurements for success. Diving deeper into the transformation, JLS helped develop activities and lessons to drive conclusions about strengths, weaknesses, and areas of opportunity within the company’s respective departments. JLS partnered with the company to refine the frameworks over time as the transformation to Agile was adopted, and the process continued to evolve. JLS also helped develop role-based bootcamps, featuring expert knowledge and guidance for the implementation of various Agile frameworks, such as Scrum, Kanban, DSDM, SAFe, and LeSS, among others.