Anmol Benjamin is the head of the technical center for a high technology Telecom company. There are more than 1000 engineers working in this center. They work on a variety of projects and products. Anmol has been working as the head for more than 5 years. He is proud of what they have been able to accomplish so far. The parent company is known for its innovation culture and a long heritage. They have been in the fore-front of communication technology over several decades.
Anmol and his leadership team have worked closely with global internal communications team to create an impressive workplace. The interiors are splashed with brand signage, product pictures, huge pictures of the founders in several meeting rooms. Anmol keeps telling his managers that they have to have a visually impactful workplace for anybody who walks in be it visitors or new joinees. He believes that a lot about their company culture can be communicated through this.
About 2 years ago, they launched a Lean Agile transformation initiative in the center. They have now several hundred Scrum teams operational as of today. There has been continuous training to team members and managers. Anmol thinks the adoption is still slow. He sees many of the people strongly believe in the parent company’s strong legacy but not able to drive the same belief in Lean Agile culture.
How do you think Anmol and his leaders can use some compelling Visual Elements to reinforce the culture they are trying to newly put in place?
Hint: You might also find it interesting to read our article on “Lean Agile Culture – Visual Elements: Part 1”
Solution:
One of the core principles of Lean Agile thinking is transparency and powerful visuals to guide decision making and highlighting issues or impediments.
- One such visual element could be a Metrics Dashboard in the proximity of teams which highlights status and call to action on impediments. The Dashboard design should be in such a way that the most Important Metrics are so easy to understand that should prompt action
- Another visual could be a Kanban Board depicting flow of value from the team from Input to Output. If Work in Progress is clearly visible, it would discourage teams to open many work items to work upon before bringing to closure the earlier ones
- Yet another highlight could be a large Dependency Board which clearly visualizes the dependency on the work being done within the teams. This makes it easier for the managers to address resolving the dependency needing intervention outside the teams
What would you like to share with us on the above topic?
written by K Prasad
4 Responses
Hi Shiv, I can relate to this, it is a real different world.
I was invited a few times to address students appearing for CET exams as an industry person and found it challenging to connect with them. I was able to connect somewhat as one of their concern was what if they do not get into a good college, which I was able to address by sharing real life examples.
Thanks Vasu. College “brand” no doubt helps early on in work life – corporate doors open more easily. But down the line, it is people’s motivation and track record that helps build careers. I am sure we have all seen examples affirming this. I have stressed with the mentees that I work with. An aside, the mentorship program I am involved in spans 4-5 months and so, I have had time to work on the “connect”! Yes – takes time and effort.
Hi Shiv – very well written – thanks for the write-up.
Many years ago I was a volunteer mentor for a couple of youth as part of Dream A Dream’s life skills mentoring program. This was in person mentoring where the mentee and I would meet periodically (usually on a weekend) and discuss general topics. There was no prescribed structure though all mentors did go thru a few hours of in person training. Based on that experience I can corroborate that it takes time for the mentee to open up, especially in that case given their lack of confidence in expressing in English which was the recommended language for communication. Switching to Tamil (in one case where the mentee was from Tamil Nadu) helped.
Can also relate well to your point on swings in mood and engagement level of the mentee and the need for mentor to shift gears accordingly.
I am sure the mentees are benefiting a lot from your vast and varied experience – hope you will come back to mentor more such students after you complete the current mentorships and possibly take a break!
Thank you, Bhasker!