Taking agile beyond software development

In the two decades that agile has been a part of business operations, it has become the default way of working – if not a way of life – for several enterprise functions beyond software development. From business process support and human resources to administration, finance, and marketing, the agile way of working finds application in almost all aspects of the enterprise. 

Like with any other business framework, we’re always looking at the potential for scale through agile. And we’re happy to report that TCS has successfully applied agile to roll out complex enterprise-level strategic initiatives. These initiatives typically require business, software, and non-software departments and other enterprise functions to come together and deliver strategic goals.

However, this journey was not without speedbumps. Two broad categories of challenges emerged:

• Defining agile for non-software teams: To ensure a successful collaboration between software and non-software teams, the concept and application of agility needs to be clearly defined at the outset. 
• Embracing agile: The inability of leaders to walk the talk, absence of employee buy-in, low collaboration between departments, and a lack of clarity in accountability can all prove to be obstacles in the path to true agility and impact the roll-out of enterprise-level strategic initiatives. 

Gone are the days when organizational changes were enforced through drastic action, often by the top management. Today, change takes place gently and incrementally, thereby producing lasting impact with less upheaval. Which is why TCS followed the agile way to work through the challenges listed above.

Our considered approach to successful large-scale enterprise initiatives can be condensed into the following seven-point matrix as illustrated below.

The benefits of such an approach have been manifold. The agile way helps with:

• Evolution and crystallization of initiative vision: Enabled through a continuous cycle of inspection and adaptation.
• Risk mitigation: Early course-correction by following a minimum viable product approach versus big-bang deliveries.
• Deeper stakeholder engagement: Enabled through regular feedback and an established, synchronized cadence.
• Minimum governance overhead: Continuous coaching to enable self-organization and creation of network change agents.

Using the agile way to enforce large-scale organizational strategic initiatives helped us drive change rapidly, and at scale. From capturing over 50,000 stories of contextual mastery to rapidly shifting 96% of TCS’ half-a-million-strong workforce to remote working during COVID-19 lockdowns, we have leveraged agile transformation for multiple massive undertakings. Which is why we are well-placed to deliver enterprise agility – at scale – for TCS’ clients worldwide.