The GROW model
In manufacturing companies, some aspects of the GROW model and the related coaching process can be very effective in raising awareness and motivating management to support agile change management paths .
Without this pathway, people on product development teams, may spend very little time on agile experimentation because they are too busy with everyday tasks
The awareness that the company front lines (management), gained during the agile training workshops, is not accompanied by a strong will for action.
With a coaching approach, the client’s management fully feels it is their choice to pursue agile change management.
In manufacturing companies, some aspects of the GROW process of coaching can be very effective in raising awareness and motivating management to support Agile change management paths.
Without this pathway, people on product development teams, may spend very little time on agile experimentation because they are too busy with everyday tasks
The awareness that the company front lines (management), gained during the agile training workshops, is not accompanied by a strong will for action.
With a coaching approach, the client’s management fully feels it is their choice to pursue agile change management. When I begin agile transition projects, I aim to first bring to the company’s front lines and middle managers an awareness of what agility means.
To do this I agree an experiential workshop dedicated the front lines of companies, interested in the agile transition, during which they experience the change in approach that agility involves.
With a second experiential workshop the middle managers achieve the same awareness on agility.
I then invite the group of front-line business leaders (management) to meet with the group of middle managers to assess what they have learned and decide how to proceed.
If both groups agree on the need for experimentation with Agile methodology we proceed to get pilot projects going.
I have verified that very often these pilot projects have a difficult path.
This occurs particularly in manufacturing companies because, conditions initially agreed upon with management and middle managers are challenged by other business needs.
The prevailing reason is the need to develop customer orders, employing the same people involved in agile experiments.
The awareness that people in the company’s front lines have acquired is not accompanied by a strong will and constancy of action.
Agile change management and determination toward the goal
Even after the necessary clarifications with management, the turn toward true commitment in the direction toward the goal of agility is difficult.
It’s as if people have been persuaded of the importance of agility exploration, but they are not really motivated to take action.
At the first obstacle, beliefs gained over the years and traditional attitudes take over.
To overcome these obstacles, persuasion is not enough, and it requires management to mature a deep conviction and willingness to act, even in the face of difficulties that arise.
In this sense, coaching can come to our aid.
Change management and coaching
Coaching is a partnership between the coach and the client, who is stimulated to bring his or her personal and professional potential to its maximum.
This occurs because the coach, through a creative pathway, evokes a greater awareness of the client and encourages his or her activation to action.
Fascinated by this potential, I am completing the path to become an ICF-certified coach.
The course was very interesting because it helped me to place myself with people, in an egoless mode that leads to active listening. A way that I really enjoyed and was completely new to me.
The thing I learned during this course is that, some aspects of the coaching process, can also be employed during consulting.
In particular, the GROW method, as stated in a reference text “Coaching” by John Whitmore, can be very effective.
Indeed, it fosters greater awareness and deeper motivation for the client to take action.
The GROW Method process at a glance consists of 4 steps
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G – Goal or Target
(where do you want to go?)
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R – Reality or Actual Reality
(how are things now?)
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O – Option
(What alternatives are you considering?)
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W – Will – What do you want to do
(What are you planning to do?)
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In one company, which I am following with other agile coach colleagues, I have employed the GROW model mode.
We selected with management the small group of people interested in supporting the agile transition.
Below is a summary of the four steps in the direction of agility that the client has taken:
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Goal
– Agile experimentation has been limited to new product development by involving, in addition to the R&D department, other interested departments or business functions.
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Reality
– Analysis of the current business situation and reflections on actions already taken were important elements. In particular, they brought out corporate beliefs and obstacles to overcome.
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Options
– Several possible options were evaluated. For example, the evolutions of certain business roles, the more detailed scope of the scope, possible obstacles and attitudes.
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Will
– The first actions to be taken, the first checks to be made, have been identified. We agreed that this process is itself agile by small steps with increments and modifications.
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It involves applying some methodologies taken from coaching, which was very helpful for the client to fully feel it was his choice to continue.
