Checklist For Choosing The Right Agile Partner

Finding the right service provider for your Agile journey is as essential as acknowledging the importance of being Agile. But change is hard to implement and that is why, you need to choose a vendor who will be your partner in this journey and not just a service provider. Whether as an organization you want to reduce Time-to-Market or an individual looking to thrive in a SAFe enterprise, I have compiled a checklist that I think will help both enterprises and individuals, find the ideal Agile partner for your transformation journey.

Realizing the vision for your organization/career

You need to understand the end goal of your transformation journey and why Lean-Agile is the right methodology for you. It is of utmost importance that the vision of your development teams, management and stakeholders are clearly aligned. When you have clarity of thought and the end goal mapped out, it becomes that much easier to find a learning partner who understands your vision and has the credentials to be a part of your Agile adoption journey.

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Subject matter expertise

A common trend for consultancy firms is to diversify their portfolio to cater to a large audience. In addition to organization development, vendors offer a wide range of services like digital marketing, app development etc, which doesn’t necessarily ensure subject matter expertise. You want a learning partner who specialises in, and has extensive experience in Enterprise Agility without being limited to a single Agile Framework. Knowledge of various Agile philosophies, like Scrum, XP, SAFe, will help you adopt a development methodology that works for you.

Individuals looking to enrol for certification courses, like SAFe SPC or SSM, will greatly benefit from Agile partners with B2B and B2C expertise as you will understand the practical applications of the Scaled Agile Framework and also learn from real-life examples. This will add depth to your understanding of Business and Technical Agility.

(Caption) It is important to visualize your career path to find the ideal Agile partner

Experience in facilitating digital and cultural transformations

More often than not, companies adopt Agile principles to enable digital or cultural transformation. If your organization is looking to adopt JIRA or a new testing software, you need to have a learning partner who is proficient in digital transformation. Look for Agile service providers who have taken on projects involving enterprise digitization, integration of offshore teams etc. and facilitated organization transformation.

Experience in working with various industry sectors

Each industry, whether you are talking about aviation, software or hospitality, has its own way of working. Bringing about a change in the very fabric of how companies function requires in-depth knowledge of the Agile philosophy and an understanding of how the industry sector functions. Agile service providers who have worked with various business sectors are able to offer unique insights on how the framework can be adopted to deliver value in different settings.

Dedicated after-care

Agile is a new way of thinking, a transformational approach to software development - a journey. Your Agile learning partner needs to be as committed to your journey as you are. Whether you need to be coached to implement the Scaled Agile Framework or create the right measuring system, vendors have to be willing to take the extra step. Agile transformation journey does not end with the training. Implementation of the framework requires the skills of a pragmatic Agile Coach with a clear pre-defined post-training plan.

From an individual perspective, Agile service providers who offer Meetups as part of the training and certification package should definitely make the cut as these gatherings will offer you the opportunity to interact with and gain insights from Agile Coaches, Practitioners and Facilitators.

Proven track record

Once you have gathered all the necessary information about vendors, you need to validate your findings. Read through success stories, student testimonials, client feedback and even social media pages of the service providers to see how they have delivered value to other customers. Weigh out the pros and cons with respect to your vision in order to make a clear choice. It will also help you to look at the kind of B2B projects undertaken by the vendor to understand their approach to organization transformation.

To further understand your role as an Agile Coach and Change Agent and what enterprise agility really means, visit Temenos+Agility. T+A is one of the leading organization development consulting firms specializing in Lean-Agile, Enterprise Agility, Change Agent Programs and Leadership Transformation. As a SAFe SPCT Gold Partner of Scaled Agile, the team at T+A has worked with organizations across all sectors, including banking, IT, consulting, healthcare, aviation and automation, to facilitate developmental and cultural transformation.

At Temenos+Agility, we bring forth a unique outlook to scaling agile with our in-depth understanding of the Lean-Agile principles and practices and Temenos Enterprise and Leadership Transformation models. We focus on empowering each individual to embrace and thrive in a Lean-Agile enterprise and this is reflected in our personalised approach to our SAFe certification courses. Our team of SPC4 trainers offer an enriching learning experience with real-life examples, thought-provoking questions, engaging exercises and regular meetups to facilitate practical and theoretical understanding of the Agile principles.

We offer SAFe certification courses across the world, including USA, Canada, South Africa and India. Register with us today to embark on your Agile journey.

If you are wondering which of the SAFe certification courses is right for you, please read through our blog post for more information.

I hope this information will help you with the legwork to identify the RIGHT learning partner for your Lean-Agile transformation journey.