Navigating Change: Agile Consultancy Services

Navigating Change: Agile Consultancy Services from McKenna Agile Consultants

The pace of change in today’s business landscape means organisations need to be agile and adaptive. Implementing agile methodologies is a powerful way to navigate change successfully. However, organisations often face challenges when transitioning to agile practices. 

We recently attended the Business Agility Conference where the key theme throughout was focused on sustainable change and the cultural shift required to successfully embed agile in organisations. This has inspired us to create this post, where we will explore the role of agile consultancy services in helping businesses navigate change effectively and achieve successful agile transformations.

Understanding the Need for Agile Consultancy

Organisations across industries are increasingly adopting agile methodologies to navigate the ever-changing business landscape and deliver value to their customers more efficiently. However, embracing agile practices and achieving successful transformations can be a challenging endeavour. 

This is where the need for agile consultancy arises. Agile consultants bring invaluable expertise, experience, and guidance to help organisations overcome obstacles and maximise the benefits of adopting agile methodologies.

One of the primary challenges organisations face when adopting agile methodologies is a lack of understanding and experience in implementing agile practices. Agile methodologies require a shift in mindset, culture, and processes, which can be overwhelming for teams. Without proper guidance and support, organisations may struggle to effectively implement agile practices and realise the full potential of their agile transformations.

Engaging agile consultancy services provides organisations with numerous benefits. 

Take a look at our case studies for some real-life agile success stories >

Agile Consultants Have a Deep Understanding of Agile Methodologies and Change Management

Firstly, agile consultants possess a deep understanding of agile methodologies and change management best practices. Through their expertise, they guide organisations in adopting agile practices in a way that suits their specific context, enabling smoother transitions and reducing resistance to change.

Resistance to change is a common concern amongst our clients. Here are our top 10 tips for managing resistance to change:

  1. Listen to and seek to understand their concerns and objections to the change
  2. Inspire a greater purpose for the change – focusing on the “why” and not the “how”
  3. Remove barriers and obstacles to the change
  4. Make the change simple by providing clear options
  5. Create hope and excitement for the future state
  6. Focus on the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) to show the benefits in a tangible, realistic way
  7. Focus on the human side of the change and make it personal, as opposed to starting with the processes and mechanisms
  8. Address the needs of the strongest dissenters first
  9. Be transparent about the consequences of not being successful in the change
  10. Provide recognition and incentives

Agile Consultants Can Be Catalysts for Change

Agile consultants act as catalysts for cultural change within organisations. They help leaders and teams embrace an agile mindset and create an environment that fosters collaboration, continuous learning, and innovation. Agile consultancy services provide ongoing support and mentorship, empowering teams to navigate challenges, resolve conflicts, and optimise their performance.

Agile Consultants Have a Wealth of Experience

The expertise and experience that agile coaching consultants bring to the table are invaluable. They have witnessed and addressed various challenges that organisations commonly face during agile transformations. This enables them to provide practical guidance, share best practices, and equip teams with the necessary skills to succeed in their agile journeys.

The Role of Agile Consultants

Agile consultants play a pivotal role in driving organisational change and guiding businesses on their agile transformation journeys. They bring a wealth of expertise and experience that enables them to facilitate the adoption of agile methodologies effectively.

Assessing the Organisation’s Current State

One of the key responsibilities of agile coaching consultants is to assess the organisation’s current state and identify areas for improvement. Through a thorough evaluation, they analyse the existing processes, culture, and practices to determine the organisation’s readiness for agile transformation. This assessment helps them identify bottlenecks, challenges, and areas where agile practices can be implemented to drive positive change.

We like to use the Business Agility Institute’s 5 Domains of Business Agility to assess where an organisation is at. The 5 domains are:

  • Engaged Culture
  • People-First Leadership
  • Responsive Customer Centricity
  • Value Based Delivery
  • Flexible Operations

We have intentionally listed them in that order as this is the order in which we recommend organisations start when looking at change. Without a culture of transparency, trust and collaboration, it is unlikely that your leaders will be truly people focused. 

If leaders can focus on their people, this allows their people to collaborate with and understand their customers, leading them to deliver the right value. Once this is in place, we can look at how we deliver the value and establish flexible, agile operations. 

All too often we see agile transformations start with the processes and practices and neglecting the human, behavioural side, to negative consequences.

Coaching and mentoring

Coaching and mentoring are essential components of the agile coaching consultant’s role. They work closely with teams, leaders, and stakeholders, providing guidance, support, and feedback throughout the transformation process. 

Agile consultants foster a culture of continuous learning and growth, empowering teams to embrace agile principles, practices, and values. Through coaching and mentoring, they develop the skills and capabilities of individuals, helping them become self-organising, collaborative, and adaptive.

Developing agile leaders

Agile consultants play a vital role in developing agile leaders. They work closely with organisational leaders, coaching them on their roles and responsibilities in an agile environment. They help leaders understand their role as servant leaders, empowering teams and facilitating a culture of trust, transparency, and innovation.

Typical Services Offered by an Agile Consultancy

Agile consultancy firms offer a range of specialised services to support organisations in their agile transformations. These services are tailored to meet the unique needs and context of each organisation, ensuring a customised approach to agile adoption and implementation

Agile Training

Education is often the first step on your Agile transformation journey so agile training is a great start . This could be to gain a shared understanding, build on existing knowledge, or start to build the knowledge from the beginning. Training can be provided for teams, programmes and projects.

Agile Coaching

Agile coaching will help your people, your teams and your programs adopt an Agile mindset through the implementation of practices and methods in their day to day work. Agile coaching is a great solution to embed learnings from training into the team with someone who has experienced Agile adoptions first hand.

Agile Assessments

Get a professional agile assessment to inspire continuous improvement and take your agility to the next level. This health check can stop any future challenges before they develop into a problem.

Outcomes of Agile Coaching Consultancy

Engaging agile consultancy services brings numerous tangible benefits and outcomes for organisations embarking on agile transformations. Agile coaching consultancy can enhance team performance, increase productivity, and improve project success rates.

  • Enhanced team performance as individuals embrace agile principles, work more efficiently, and deliver higher-quality outcomes.
  • Increased productivity as teams streamline their processes, eliminate waste, and improve workflow efficiency. 
  • Improved project success rates as teams, project managers and product managers are provided with the tools and techniques to effectively manage their work in an agile environment.

Choosing the Right Agile Consultancy

Selecting the right agile consultancy is crucial for organisations seeking guidance and support in their agile transformations. To make an informed decision, several key factors should be considered.

  1. Evaluate Their Experience and Expertise

Evaluating the experience and expertise of the agile coaching consultancy is essential. Look for a consultancy with a proven track record of successful agile transformations and experience working with organisations in your industry. Assess their knowledge of agile methodologies, frameworks, and tools, as well as their ability to tailor solutions to your specific needs.

  1. Review Client Testimonial and Case Studies

Client testimonials and case studies provide valuable insights into the consultancy’s effectiveness. Review feedback from past clients to gauge their satisfaction and the outcomes achieved through the consultancy’s services.

  1. Review Their Proposed Approach

When evaluating agile coaching consultancy proposals, pay attention to their proposed approach, methodology, and the specific services they offer. Assess whether their approach aligns with your organisational goals and values. Request details on their coaching process, how they measure success, and how they address challenges.

Help to Navigate Change Successfully In Your Organisation

Navigating change successfully requires the expertise of agile consultants. By partnering with agile consultants, organisations can overcome challenges, accelerate their agile transformation, and achieve long-term success. Whether it’s coaching agile teams, developing agile leaders, or driving organisational change, agile consultants play a vital role in helping businesses thrive in an ever-changing business landscape.


Get in touch today to learn how our agile consultants can help you and your business.

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