Agile leadership culture enables business change

Organisations must be able to react to complex market requirements in order to remain sustainable through innovation. Self-organisation, assumption of responsibility and participation are necessary for successful agile change. With this premise in mind, the management of Industriebau Hoff und Partner from Gronau started an intensive process together with the change consultants from noventum consulting, which provides a strong impulse for the future management and leadership culture of the industrial construction and engineering company.

Innovative and turnkey construction concepts for customised commercial and industrial real estate have been the core competence of Hoff und Partner for over 50 years. In the three-step process of developing, planning and building, the company is a general contractor for its customers, delivering effective results at all levels. Three operative companies under one roof form the pillars of HOFF: planning, building or developing customised real estate.

Managing Director Ingo Hoff wants to continuously develop Industriebau HOFF und Partner GmbH and position it for the future. In particular, the framework conditions for cooperation are to be designed in such a way that overriding issues of corporate development are increasingly shaped by the closest management circle on their own responsibility. His clear commitment to flat hierarchies, also and especially in the management of his company, tipped the scales in favour of an agile approach as conveyed by the noventum change consultants.

In order to prepare the management of the group of companies for future challenges and changes, Managing Director Ingo Hoff initiated a workshop with the transformation heroes from noventum consulting to further develop the leadership culture.

Three phases to a successful transformation

The noventum concept "Hercules Transformation Project" is based on tried and tested tools from the agile world and combines organisational development with agile change management. Structured in three phases, it conveys the technical background of agile working on the one hand and is concretely project-oriented and delivers results on the other.

Phase I: Change Design ("well-founded preparation")

Analysis of the current target landscape
Target definition and communication

Change design is the task of a well-founded planning workshop in which the participants are attuned to the journey of the transformation project. The participants develop target images at eye level and without obstructive hierarchical hurdles, which are then implemented using agile methods in change management. Transparency and participation determine the process and lead the project step by step to sustainable success.

__________________________________

Phase II: Change Kickstart ("get going with motivation")

Powerful impulse workshop with the Eigenland® method
Development of a concrete action plan and task backlogs

The next stage begins with a Change Kickstart. In the phase of this kickstart workshop, which may involve an extended circle of employees, the stakeholders reflect on the desire for change, get to know the agile principles and practise them using a practical example. With the help of the Eigenland® method, they identify fields of action in the form of a task backlog and prioritise them. Using PULL, the participants take on concrete responsibility.

__________________________________

Phase III: Agile Change Management  ("implement efficiently")

• Application of agile working methods, including the Scrum and Kanban methodologies
• Regular review meetings, retrospectives and plannings to control progress

In agile change management, the tasks will be solved in the coming months. noventum supports its customers methodically and ensures a know-how transfer to an agile coach in the company. The project team follows the routines of the Scrum method and creates transparency through an electronic Kanban board. By tackling  concrete business problems, the team develops further and manifests agile ways of thinking and working, which are the tools for future challenges.

Challenges from Change Management to Leadership Development

In more than 25 years of work as IT management consultants, noventum consultants have accompanied a wide range of change processes and are familiar with the everyday life and challenges of their clients.

As culture change consultants, they keep an eye on the internal social dynamics of their clients and manage changes in organisation and leadership with them. And yet every project is new and every client is different. Jan Helmchen (noventum Management Consultant,) sums up the project at Hof und Partner: "Whatever helps is allowed... is an important credo when we are sparring partners for topics around organisational development and new work. Thank you, dear Hoff team, for new experiences and for exploring with each other how to maximise the contact times in the agile sprint rhythm.