Agile way of working at ING Belgium

Summary

The video explains how modern organizations, driven by technology, are adopting agile methodologies to stay responsive to changing client needs. It introduces ING's future head office structure, where autonomous 'squads' work on specific customer-related missions, coordinated within larger 'tribes' led by tribe leads. Product owners manage each squad’s priorities, while agile coaches help teams grow. Chapters ensure coordination among professionals in similar roles. This flexible, agile approach aims to enhance efficiency, adaptability, and customer service, though it requires some trial and error to find the best fit for different business functions.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The world is rapidly changing due to technology, and businesses must adapt to stay competitive.
• 📞 Clients have more options for contacting businesses, which need to provide 24/7, personalized service.
• 🎧 Digital innovators like Spotify and Netflix lead the way in tailoring services to meet customer needs through agile methodologies.
• 🧠 Agile squads are small, self-steering teams responsible for specific customer-related missions, allowing faster and more efficient service delivery.
• 🔄 Squads consist of people from different disciplines, working together to achieve end-to-end solutions for their assigned tasks.
• 🔑 Each squad has a product owner responsible for managing priorities and the squad's to-do list, but they are not the team leader.
• 📊 Coordination within a discipline happens in chapters, where the chapter lead oversees development, coaching, and performance management.
• 🧩 Tribes are collections of interconnected squads, and tribe leads ensure knowledge sharing, priority setting, and resource allocation.
• 🎯 Agile coaches guide squads and individuals, helping them grow and succeed in an agile environment.
• ⚖️ The agile approach is flexible and tailored to specific business needs, allowing adaptation through trial and error to see what works best.

Q & A

What is driving the rapid change in the business world?

The change is driven by technology, which is providing clients with more options in how they can interact with businesses.

What are some examples of digital innovators mentioned in the transcript?

Spotify and Netflix are mentioned as digital innovators that tailor their services to client needs.

What methodology do these digital innovators believe in?

They believe in the Agile methodology for fostering collaboration and driving their processes.

What is the new way of working in this context?

The new way of working involves quicker reactions to client needs, fewer interdepartmental delays, fewer coordination meetings, more initiative, and greater individual and team responsibility.

What is the fundamental unit in the future head office organization?

The fundamental unit is the 'squad,' which is a self-steering, autonomous team responsible for a specific customer-related mission.

How are squads composed and what is their mission?

Squads are made up of people from different disciplines and areas of expertise. Each squad has a mission related to a specific aspect of customer service, such as mortgage applications or search engine development.

What is the role of the product owner in a squad?

The product owner is responsible for managing the squad’s backlog, setting priorities, and ensuring the squad accomplishes its mission, though they are not considered the boss.

How do people from the same discipline coordinate within this structure?

Coordination within the same discipline happens in 'chapters,' where professionals with similar expertise collaborate and share best practices.

What are tribes, and how do they function?

A tribe is a collection of interconnected squads with similar missions. Each tribe has fewer than 150 people, and the tribe lead ensures knowledge sharing, sets priorities, and manages the tribe’s budget.

What is the role of the agile coach in this framework?

The agile coach helps squads and individuals grow and improve by providing guidance and fostering a collaborative, agile work environment.