Organizational Barriers to Change

by Andy Kimrbrey | Sep 15, 2022 | Agile Coaching, Leadership And Management

How to overcome organizational impediments

Understanding the different types of barriers existing within an organization is crucial to overcoming organizational impediments. It will allow you to develop a strategy to overcome any employee resistance to the corporate change process that may occur within the organization. Once the design is in place, it is crucial to implement it and evaluate the results. One should know how to make necessary adjustments to achieve the desired outcome. Whatever approach you take, it’s important to be relentless in your efforts as a change catalyst against the status quo.

You have been working as a change agent (Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Enterprise Coach, Leader, or fill your role here) at your company for a few years now, and you’ve seen how things have been done for as long as you can remember. You know that some organizational impediments prevent organizational change, but you’re not sure what they are or how to overcome them. You also don’t know whom to turn to for help. It can be challenging to create a change initiative within an organization, especially if you don’t know where to start. This article will discuss the different types of organizational impediments to change and how to overcome them. We’ll also provide tips on how to be a successful change catalyst within an organization. So, if you’re ready to make some changes, keep reading.

To successfully overcome organizational impediments, you must learn how to identify the suitable approaches and takeaways for your situation. It would be best if you also learned how to communicate effectively with leaders about the change management process. It involves developing a strategy for overcoming resistance to organizational change and implementing it successfully.

You can do several things to develop a successful strategy for overcoming resistance to change initiatives. One of the most important things is understanding how to overcome organizational barriers. It will allow you to develop a tailored approach that will be more likely to succeed.

You also need to identify the sources of resistance to change. It will help you target your efforts and ensure that you’re addressing the biggest obstacles head-on. It’s also essential to build a coalition of supporters who will help you implement planned change initiatives and evaluate them retrospectively.

Finally, it would be best if you are prepared for setbacks and willing to make necessary adjustments along the way. The key is to be relentless in your efforts and never give up on your goal of making organizational changes.

Understand the types of organizational impediments

The first step in overcoming organizational impediments to change is gaining an in-depth understanding of the most common barriers. Several different types of barriers may exist within an organization, and it’s essential to be aware of them. Some of the most common types of organizational impediments include:

Structural Barriers:

These are barriers created by the organizational structure, policies, and procedures. They can create silos and make it difficult or impossible to managing change within the organization.

Behavioral Barriers:

These common barriers are created by the way people behave within the organization. They can include resistance to the change process, groupthink, and risk aversion.

Political Barriers:

The politics of the organization create these barriers. They can include things like power struggles, favoritism, and turf wars.

Organizational Culture:

A company’s culture can cause barriers to organizational change, including norms, values, and beliefs.

Technological Barriers:

These barriers to organizational change are created by technology. They can include proprietary software or systems that are difficult to change or upgrade.

Environmental Barriers:

The external environment can also cause barriers to organizational change. They can include things like regulations, competition, and economic conditions.

Once you understand the different organizational impediments that may exist within your company, you can begin to develop a strategy for overcoming them. It involves identifying the sources of resistance to change initiatives and building a coalition of supporters who will help you implement and evaluate your changes successfully.

Identify the sources of resistance to organizational change.

The sources of resistance to organizational change are necessary to identify because they can be the biggest obstacles to achieving your goal of implementing change initiatives within the organization. There are several different sources of resistance, and each one can be a challenge to overcome.

Some of the most common sources of resistance to the strategic change process include:

Reluctant to Change:

It is one of the most common sources of resistance, and it can be challenging to overcome. People may resist changing how they do things, even if it’s for the sake of the organization.

Groupthink:

It occurs when people are reluctant to question the decisions or actions of the group. This approach to decision-making progress can lead to stagnation and prevent changes from being made.

Risk Aversion:

It occurs when people are afraid to take risks, even if they could lead to improvements or innovations. It can hinder progress and prevent transformational change.

Power Struggles:

These occur when people attempt to gain control or influence over others to further their agenda. They can create team conflict and prevent change efforts from being made.

Favoritism:

It occurs when people are given preferential treatment based on personal relationships instead of merit. It can lead to unfairness and dissatisfaction among employees.

Turf Wars:

These occur when people try to protect their areas of responsibility or power by preventing others from encroaching on them. They can hinder progress and prevent changes from being made.

Poor Change Management:

It is building a coalition of supporters to overcome the resistance to change. It is frequently cited as one of the main reasons for organizational change resistance. Poor change management can lead to confusion, frustration, and a lack of understanding among employees. It can make it difficult to implement successful change initiatives successfully.

Develop a strategy to overcome resistance to change

Once you understand the sources of resistance to change, you can develop a strategy to overcome barriers. It involves identifying the strategies that will most effectively overcome each type of resistance.

Some of the most common strategies for overcoming resistance to change:

Persuasion:

This strategy involves convincing people that the changes are necessary and will benefit the organization. It can be effective in overcoming reluctance to organizational change and groupthink.

Incentives:

This strategy involves offering incentives to employees for accepting and implementing the changes. It can effectively overcome reluctance to a change process, risk aversion, and power struggles.

Education:

This strategy involves educating employees about the necessary changes and how they will benefit the organization. It can effectively overcome groupthink, risk aversion, and power struggles.

Communication:

Lack of communication can be detrimental to any change initiative. This involves creating an effective communication strategy that regularly communicates with employees about the change’s progress and solicits feedback. As well as being in the frontline and collaborating with them to ensure that the changes are made in a way that is most beneficial to them and the organization. Making the timelines visible This can be an effective way to overcome resistance to change, especially in cases where employees feel that they have a say in the process.

Collaboration:

This strategy involves working with different levels of the organization’s employees to develop and implement the changes. It consists in soliciting their input and feedback and collaborating with them to ensure that the changes are made in a way that is most beneficial to the organization. This can be an effective way to overcome resistance to change, especially in cases where employees feel that they have a say in the process.

Using ADKAR Change Model as a tool to implement change

ADKAR can help you overcome these obstacles and ensure your change management initiative is successful. ADKAR is a five-step change management framework that Prosci developed. It stands for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement and outlines the steps to implement change projects successfully. Let’s take a closer look at each stage.

Awareness:

This step involves raising awareness about the need for change and getting people to buy into the idea of change management. It’s essential to communicate the reasons for the transition to senior management and mid-level managers about how it will benefit the organization.

Desire:

This step involves motivating people to want to make changes. It would be best if you showed them how the changes would improve their lives or the lives of others within the organization.

Knowledge:

This step involves enabling employee productivity by providing information about the changes so that they understand what is required. Employees need to know what to expect of them and how they can complete the tasks associated with the change.

Ability:

This step involves helping employees develop the skills and knowledge necessary to implement the changes successfully. Identify the training and development programs to support employees learn new skills.

Reinforcement:

This step involves ensuring employees have the support they need to sustain the changes over time. It may include providing feedback, coaching, and rewards for successful change implementation.

By following the steps of the ADKAR model, you can overcome barriers to change management and successfully implement new processes in your organization.

Implement the strategy and overcome resistance

Once the strategy is in place, it is crucial to implement it and evaluate the results. Change agents need buy-in from top management to make necessary adjustments to achieve the desired outcome. Whatever approach you take, it’s important to be relentless in your efforts as a change catalyst against the status quo.

The best way to ensure the strategy is successful is to get buy-in from as many people as possible. One can be done by regularly communicating with employees about the changes progress and soliciting their feedback. It’s also essential to provide incentives for accepting and implementing the changes.

If you can overcome the sources of resistance to change and successfully implement your change management strategy, the organization will be much more likely to achieve its goals.

Evaluate results and make necessary adjustments

Evaluating the results of a change initiative is essential for determining whether the changes have been successful. It will involve assessing the changes’ impact on employees, customers, and all the stakeholders’ buy-in. It also includes assessing the financial and operational effects of the changes.

If the evaluation results indicate that the changes have not been successful, it may be necessary to adjust your strategy. It could involve modifying or abandoning the changes altogether. It’s essential to be flexible and willing to make adjustments as needed to achieve success.

Conclusion

No matter how well you plan for or communicate your change management strategy, there will be some adversity. It happens when emotions become involved. People can sometimes react and push back when workplace changes occur.

The key to successful change management is anticipation:

You can consider System Thinking and taking the entire organization in perspective, wearing different hats, using bespoke coaching models to address the change, and putting appropriate strategies and processes in place before introducing the change. Even seasoned executives struggle to get buy-in when that change is complex in scope, long-term, or encounters strong resistance. If you are new to leadership or not, consider engaging a change management consultant at Leadership Tribe to help you. By ensuring that the anticipated return on investment (ROI) for the change is triumphant, that investment could yield enormous rewards for your company.

What is a Scrum Team & Who is on the Scrum Team?

by Andy Kimrbrey | Sep 30, 2021 | Agile Coaching

Agile Framework

To understand the idea of the scrum team, you must first understand Agile. Agile is a philosophy for software development; agile because the system is designed to iterate quickly and iterate often, in order to respond to stakeholder needs.

Scrum is an Agile framework, a software development approach based on Agile principles and philosophy. The Agile manifesto defines the business value of these methodologies and principles and, of its 12 points, 4 are key to understanding the scrum team:

• Privilege “individuals and interactions over processes and tools.” Don’t linger long between ideation and product launch. If process is allowed to direct product development, a development team will always be slow to respond to changes and realtime customer needs.
• Early and continuous delivery of working software is a primary measure of progress. To better inform a software developer building a new function, streamline documentation by replacing codified or perhaps untimely data with user stories.
• Stakeholder collaboration over contract negotiation: The customer who collaborates throughout the development process, face-to-face, makes it easier for the development team to meet the client’s business needs.
• Simplicity and the Definition of Done: Develop the software just enough to get the job done as needed right now. Frequent iterations make room for additional changes and improvements

The Agile coach

The Agile coach trains a corporate Agile team to use Agile methodology. The coach guides and encourages these new teams through the implementation process. Our team at Leadership Tribe are experts in Agile and Scrum training, and can provide online courses for your business or for that matter anyone looking to learn more about Agile & Scrum.

The Scrum

Scrum is a framework that helps teams work together, not unlike a rugby scrum. Often marked as an Agile Scrum project framework, the scrum encompasses a defined set of meetings, tools, professional roles, and professional values. Scrum values and collaborative scrum team roles encourage members to learn through experience, self-organize while working on a problem, and collectively reflect on their wins and losses in order to improve performance and move forward.

An Agile project management framework, scrum is used by coached teams to quickly respond and adapt to any change or impediment to project needs. Face-to-face meetings, an essential part of all scrum team communications, allow team members to actively engage in a professional creative process that doesn’t rely upon stupefying quantities of e-mail and little human contact.

The scrum team develops each feature separately and, as soon as that feature is ready, presents it to the customer. The team then applies feedback from the customer to that product and moves on to other product features. Breaking down a project into small development cycles lets the entire team benefit from this continuous user feedback. Note that the customer is actively involved in this development process, often attending daily scrum meetings, and the final software product is of higher quality because it’s developed with their needs always in mind.

Scrum team

The scrum team includes three entities: development team, scrum master, and product owner. Scrum teams are usually smaller and more experienced than designated Agile teams and they tend to be more self-sufficient. The scrum master acts as coach rather than project manager.

The scrum itself consists of fewer than 9 people. For a large project, the ideal whole team size is 7: the product owner, the scrum master, and 5 developers. The smallest scrum projects usually include 4 team members: the product owner, the scrum master, and 2 developers. Outside professionals are often consulted, but there are no sub-teams.

The scrum framework is based on continuous learning and adjustment to new or changing factors. The scaffolding of the scrum framework includes all the sequential events and meetings that scrum team members regularly perform, and the face-to-face meetings that include the team and stakeholders. Note that sequential events include sprint planning and sprint review meetings, daily scrum meetings, and sprint retrospectives, or reviews.

Scrum Development team

Developers on the scrum team create the plan for every sprint, all increments, and for the sprint backlog. Cross-functional development teams may also engage with skill sets testers, designers, UX specialists, and operating system engineers. Each day, development team members meet to adapt their plan to fit the direction of the sprint goal that marks the current end of the sprint. With broad-based skills and practical experience, developers pace this process by keeping an eye always upon the Definition of Done.

Now, back to the sprint: The sprint has been described as “a container for all other events,” which facilitates the transparency the scrum process requires. Sprint planning for each event is a formal opportunity for the development team to inspect and adapt scrum artifacts, including:

• Product backlog: items completed in the current sprint to be integrated with those from the previous sprints.
• Sprint backlog: items from the product backlog list selected for an upcoming sprint. It includes a plan to deliver the increment and achieve the sprint goal.
• Product increments: the deliverables ready at the end of each sprint.

Failure to operate the sprint planning meeting, the sprint itself, or the sprint review as prescribed in the scrum framework interferes with development team process and creates a need for unplanned meetings. Scrum events like the sprint are a clearly defined and essential part of scrum project management, and the scrum team works most productively within that framework.

Scrum master

The Scrum Master is responsible for establishing the scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. The first and most powerful benefit from having a scrum master on a team is that they provide ongoing access to someone who has used Agile and scrum in another setting. They act as process leader, helping the new team implement scrum values as they coach members on the parameters and techniques of the scrum process, including self-management and cross-functionality.

The scrum master role requires that they help the product owner to:

• define product goals and product backlog management
• assist the scrum team in producing concise product backlog items
  establish empirical product planning
• facilitate stakeholder collaboration as requested or needed

The scrum master, also referred to as the servant leader, focuses the team on creating those essential increments, the deliverables, that rise to the Definition of Done.

Product owner

The product owner is one person, not a group or committee. The product owner may also act as product manager, but not always. The product owner defines the direction and scope of a project, making sure that the product under development delivers maximum value to stakeholders and users. With a clear understanding of what the business and users need from the product, they communicate these needs to the scrum team. In addition, they maintain the product backlog list of work that needs to get done in order to move production along. Anyone wanting to change prioritization in the product backlog must first persuade the product owner, who may represent the needs of many stakeholders.

Learn more about Agile Training & Scrum Training with online courses from Leadership Tribe today.

Agile Methodology vs. Waterfall

by Andy Kimrbrey | Aug 4, 2021 | Leadership Tribe

With over 8462 project management methodologies, selecting the most appropriate one can be quite tricky. You need to select one that is suitable for your project and your project team.  Development Methodology is basically a way of organizing the tasks involved in software development. The first step for implementing a project is to select the accurate methodology to ensure the effective execution of the software development process. Before we compare agile methodology and waterfall as project management approaches, let’s take a look at some basics!

Project Management Methodologies

Project management methodologies are referred to the practices and standards for organizing projects to get the maximum output. As a project manager, you need to make sure that the chosen methodology is aligned with the project, team members, goals, and organization. Here are some of the most practical types of project management methodologies:

• Waterfall methodology
• Scrum methodology
• Agile methodology
• Kanban methodology
• Lean methodology, and so on.

Agile Methodology

Agile project management uses a team-based approach that rapidly deploys a functional application, keeping customer satisfaction at its focal point. The agile method has a timebox phase known as a sprint, which has a defined period of two weeks. By keeping customer input in mind, a deliverables list is prioritized during the start of each sprint. Once ended, the team members and customer feedback, review and assess the work and provide notes to make future sprints efficient. If the planned work isn’t delivered during the two-week phase, the list of deliverables is reprioritized and used for future sprint planning.

The agile approach is so popular that it performs iterations and relies heavily upon customers’ involvement during each phase of the project, especially during final reviews. Its functionality and flexibility have attracted many developers and managers.

What are the pros and cons of Agile and waterfall methodologies?

What are the benefits of agile methodology?

• It lets the customers have early and frequent opportunities to assess the deliverables (work being delivered). They are free to provide customer feedback, make decisions and ask for changes throughout the project.
• It is ideal for non-fixed funded projects, and it ensures a high quality of development.
• This approach has testing phases concurrent with each design phase that eliminates most of the risk of bugs in the end product.
• Agile software development delivers the work faster than other methodologies, so if a product owner needs to market a specific application quickly, they can get a basic version of functional software, which is then built on successive iterations for a full feature set.

Disadvantages of Agile Methodology

• Not every customer has the time or concern to remain involved in the project in such an extensive way. This can result in some problems as the agile approach requires a higher degree of customer involvement.
• This method requires teamwork, so it can only be effective when all the agile team members are dedicated to the project.
• Additional sprints may be needed because some items set for delivery don’t get completed during timeboxed phase due to frequent reprioritization. Also, the customers can require frequent changes, which disrupt the development lifecycle.

Waterfall Methodology

It is also referred to as Linear Sequential Life Cycle Model. Waterfall methodology follows a sequential cycle that follows the following steps, each of which represents the development phase:

1. Collecting and documenting requirements
2. Design
3. Testing of code and unit
4. Testing of system
5. Testing of Performance user Acceptance called UAT
6. Fixing of issues if any
7. The finished product is delivered

What are the advantages of waterfall methodology?

• Progress can be measured without any hassle because the complete scope of the work is already known through business analysis.
• The development team and customers agree on the set of deliverables in the early phases of the development lifecycle. It encourages straightforward planning and designing.
• Customer involvement is not strictly required in the waterfall approach, except for status meetings, approvals, reviews, etc.

Disadvantages of waterfall methodologies

• There are chances that the product owner might be dissatisfied with the final product, and by this time, the changes can be complicated and costly.
• The testing is done after the product development, resulting in a higher probability of bugs and errors.
• The waterfall model cannot be used for large-size products; it is only feasible for small-sized projects.
• It can only be effective if the project requirements are concrete at the beginning of the development.

Agile vs Waterfall: what is the difference between Agile and waterfall?

Which one to choose? Here are the key differences observed by evaluating each development methodology individually.

• Agile follows an iterative project plan, whereas waterfall development has a sequential approach and is very linear.
• Agile can complete several small projects, but waterfall can only complete one small project at a time.
• The project is separated into sprints in the agile method. The project is broken into phases in the traditional waterfall.
• Product owners can change their requirements every day in agile. The requirements in waterfall project management are set at the start of the design phase through business analysis, and there are no options for changing it later. However, if a customer wishes to once a product is finished, it will require a lot of time and cost, increasing the agreed project pricing.
• As the products are developed in agile, they are tested concurrently before moving to the next phase. Whereas in the waterfall method, the testing is done once all the build phases are completed.
• The agile teams who are responsible for testers can also be included in the requirement-changing process. No testing teams can be a part of the requirement changing in the waterfall model.
• There is no need for a project manager in agile software development methodologies. The team members are allowed to manage the project on their own. The waterfall approach uses a project manager who plays a crucial role in each approach.

Waterfall or Agile project management?

First, your team and business organization will have to define and fully assess the capacities of the personnel you have on hand. The next step is to determine how best to engage these assets to reach your business and software development goals with waterfall or agile.

Your choice between waterfall and agile project management will be influenced by the size and complexity of the project plan; the time required to produce the end result; and the availability of clients and stakeholders to consult daily with the development team. In order to make the most of the talent you have, you’ll be ready to decide which methodology is the best fit — waterfall or agile, or perhaps a hybrid constructed from aspects of both.

Waterfall and agile approaches are two very popular product development methodologies with key differences. Each has a clearly defined software development life cycle (SDLC). And in each, a set of clearly defined processes guides the workflow. Note that the agile method is the best choice for solely digital projects and will include software, like Jira, or Kanban boards, to manage and release software over the SDLC.

Revisiting the Waterfall methodology

Of the two, the waterfall approach is the more traditional method of software development. The organizing principles are linear and sequential, geared to produce a single successful project delivery. The final product emerges out of requirements set out at the start of the project, with little or no change of scope or adaptation allowed in the development process. Throughout, each waterfall project has a single project manager overseeing the development team, playing an essential role at every step. The product is then tested at the end of the build phase of the development process by test teams who have no input into any changes that may be required going forward.

As you can see, the strong points of waterfall are its whole-system approach, defined scope, defined team roles, and clearly measurable progress. Significantly, this method is the easier to cost. A drawback lies in its structural rigidity and limited stakeholder engagement during the development process.  Waterfall project management is also difficult for large-scale projects because deliverables are pushed far into the future.

Revisiting the Agile Methodology

Agile methodology organizes software development in a much different way. Self-organizing teams and stakeholders collaborate, without a designated project manager, to produce incremental software iterations in sprints. Deliverables from these sprints are tested and evaluated by the entire team. Project requirements are prepared daily to allow for changes at any time, with customer satisfaction remaining a constant goal.

The scrum is where cross-functional teams perform the sprints. Customer involvement in the planning and testing phases of the scrum ensures final product functionality. Note that an ongoing need for multiple sprints may increase both time and pricing.

In contrast to the waterfall method, the agile process demands customer involvement at every stage, including proximity of teams and stakeholders for efficient communication. Most importantly, project team members must be both competent and completely dedicated to fulfill the agile principle of self-management. Product testing is performed concurrently by agile testers, instead of after completion of the development phase in waterfall.

Impact of Scrum in Agile Methodology

The heart of the agile model is the scrum. Based upon the four core tenets of the Agile Manifesto, the scrum values individuals and communications over processes and tools; working software over documentation; customer and team collaboration over contract negotiation; and response to change over adherence to a plan. Because digital product development evolves quickly, the scrum team is always ready to respond by producing iterations of work from sprints every two weeks.

Unlike a project manager, the scrum master’s purpose is to safeguard the openness and respect that agile team members need to succeed within the lightweight agile  development framework. The process is simple: A product owner enters the work required into a product backlog; the scrum team selects work from that backlog and turns it into an increment of value during a sprint; the team and stakeholders inspect and evaluate the results or prototype of that sprint and make adjustments to take that iteration into the next phase, the next sprint; another selection from the backlog is made and, based upon the previous phase, the process repeats. This transparent process also offers an opportunity to evaluate a business’s management environment and target areas where changes or improvements can be made, as necessary.

Waterfall vs Agile summary

Your project requirements will, of course, guide your choice of project management methodology, and the waterfall and agile approaches are designed to meet various business needs and dependencies. Both waterfall and agile software development methodologies are founded upon teamwork and distinct phases of product development, but with significant differences:

The waterfall model is linear, highly structured, employs a sequential design process, tests only after the build phase, and allows no changes in project development once the process begins. The agile approach, by contrast, is famously flexible, allows changes in scope and direction at every phase of the project, engages an incremental approach to produce continuous iterations of software under development, and then tests that software concurrently with development.

​Final verdict

What are the pros and cons of Agile and waterfall approaches? Which is better, Agile or Waterfall approach? Both the software development methodologies have their pros and cons, we cannot say which one will be best for every situation as each of them are entirely different working software. However, there are a few factors that you need to consider before choosing one. Those factors include customer availability, SDLC, team type, funding, feature prioritization, and scope.

Once you keep these factors in mind, choosing the appropriate methodology for a certain software development project would become easy! Still, if we can choose one that will work for most situations, it would be Agile. Its iterative approach, distinct phases, and customer involvement make it a safer, more efficient option to choose for project management software. 

Find out how we can work with your team on Agile Methodologies and more by contacting Leadership Tribe today.

by Andy Kimrbrey | Aug 4, 2021 | Leadership Tribe