SPARK'S AGILE TRANSFORMATION
In July 2018, Spark New Zealand went live with arguably the largest end-to-end Agile transformation anywhere in the world. It was the latest in a line of bold moves by the company dating back to 2013, all designed to turn Spark from a traditional telco to a world-class digital services provider.
Why Agile?
Being a leading digital services company puts you in direct competition with some of the most admired brands on the planet. To compete for market share with the likes of Microsoft, Amazon and Google, Spark needed to do 3 things:
1. Be more customer inspired
2. Be faster to market
3. Empower their people to achieve their full potential
Agile was chosen by the Board and Executive Team as the operating model most likely to deliver these changes. But participation couldn't be optional - for it to work, Spark had to be "all-in" and deliver the Agile transformation across its entire business of 5,000 people. It was a massive call by the Leadership Team, but real transformation takes courage. Together with its Partner, McKinsey, Spark completely designed and implemented an Agile operating model in 7 months...
Many Moving Parts
Implementing Agile@Scale requires a redesign of almost ever part of your business. Very few areas remain untouched. This creates an incredible opportunity for improvement, but it inevitably has to be done with minimum possible impact to the commercial operation. It's like changing the engines on a 777, mid-flight. Pretty challenging. To go fully Agile, Spark needed to solve a massive operational puzzle:
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Tribe and Squad design - which of the many options is right?
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Chapter Leads and Product Owners - completely new roles to define
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Agile Coaches - critical roles, but lack of available talent in market
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Quarterly Business Review (QBR) process - from rigid to flexible OPEX/CAPEX process
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Job titles - new employment agreements and career models
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Contribution Models - development paths for all roles, gold standards
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Cultural transformation - a radical shift in mindset
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OKRs and KPIs - the metrics required to run an Agile business
Mark Redgrave was part of the 20-person Leadership Team who developed and then stood-up Spark's Agile operating model. When it went live, Mark took the role of Agile Tribe Lead for Business where he had go-to-market responsibility for all Business customers - a $1.7bn portfolio stretching from SME through Corporate, Enterprise and Government. The move to Agile had a fundamental impact on Mark's approach to team achievement and his leadership style. The empowerment it brought to his Squads was profound. One size does not fit all, but Agile is the future of work.
Agile In Action
It's not all roses. Transforming to an Agile way of working was tough: everyone faced a steep learning curve, deep-set behaviours needed to be undone, and the pace was relentless, Above all, it required a huge mindset-shift for everyone working in the new model. But when it started to come together, it delivered a material step-change in the attitude of the people, and significant benefits in productivity.
20% MORE EFFICIENT
An Agile operating model can release 20-30% of efficiency from your Teams
3x FASTER
Working in x-functional, end-to-end squads can really speed-up outcomes: up to 3x faster to get work out the door
4x CADENCE
Agile requires a move from 'rigid' annual planning to 'flexible' quarterly cycles. Excellent, but hard.
+20pts eNPS
Teams operating in Agile experience on average a 20pt increase in employee NPS. Some Tribes run at +70 or more