Every day, I watch in shock the tragic consequences of the war in Ukraine.
I can’t help but think about my regular trips to Kyiv and Ukrainian encounters. It was back in the early 2010s while working at Avid.
Most of our teams were still stuck with a traditional waterfall software development approach. We hit the wall and needed an Agile transformation.
We had started outsourcing some of our software engineering capabilities to GlobalLogic – a digital product engineering managed services company with a center of expertise in Ukraine.
On paper, our plan with them was straightforward. Boost our Agile transformation through a partner with expertise in that development practice. It should help do it faster and more economically than with our sole internal resources.
My team was among the first ones to engage with GlobalLogic. After testing their expertise on simple tasks, we expanded their role. So, we integrated them into developing a new version of our consumer video editing software, and some of our audio software.
Our Ukrainian teams were growing fast. They seemed to have a never-ending talent pool. Their expertise was solid, too, and our assigned engineers excelled at algorithms. Quite probably helped by their education inherited from the Soviet era, which significantly promoted engineering.
We now had software development expertise in Kyiv we could count on in addition to our teams in Mountain View, Bremen, and Munich.
It didn’t go without obstacles, however. Some were easily manageable, like improving English language skills. Others were profound challenges, and observing which teams were making the best out of this situation was fascinating.
Here’s an extreme summary of what I learned from this Agile transformation coupled with some talent outsourcing:
1. Proactively address internal resistance to change
One of our internal engineers’ biggest fears was their future.
Would we let them transfer their hard-earned knowledge to total strangers? Were they to lose control of the processes? And would we eventually eliminate their jobs, only keeping the lower-cost outsourced talent?
To counter such – legitimate – fear, we had to hit the “reset” button on everyone’s contribution. It was a unique opportunity for our internal talent to focus on our core competencies and leverage the outside help. But we had to establish a common language across the board.
So, we spent much time and energy training everyone on the Agile methodology. We redefined roles and kept no “sacred cows,” using zero-based budgeting, for instance.
2. Pay specific attention to processes and technology
Adopting Agile methodology while, at the same time, integrating GlobalLogic talent in our development effort was bold. It had a significant impact on how we were doing things. We had to rethink every technology tool, IT system, and infrastructure we used.
GlobalLogic helped with some of these. But with hindsight, I wish we could have been further in our tech transformation to make day-to-day collaboration smoother.
Yet, I was impressed by how quickly our teams adopted new tools and processes. Think of how to effectively conduct daily standup (scrum) meetings when team members are in 10-hour-difference time zones. And all of that was in the pre-Zoom days of 2010!
3 – Keep educating on strategic goals and help remove obstacles
The daily grind can make you lose sight of the bigger picture and the desired destination. It can happen scarily fast.
That’s where our role as a management team was so crucial. We had to help keep things in perspective and become chief obstacle removers for our teams.
It meant hammering down on why we had chosen such a construct, what benefits for all, and what vision we were trying to accomplish.
But it also involved tracking whatever was slowing us down. Understanding the root causes of slow or-no decisions. What duplicate efforts, governance issues, or any other source of friction did we have, and how to address them?
Change is tough. Transformation is even more challenging.
After several quarters and many sprints, it became apparent that not all teams succeeded with our new approach.
Yet, the winning teams had a few things in common. They had found one or more trusted internal champions – not always the team leader. They helped address initial fears, ensured we’d operate like clockwork, and reminded everyone of our vision and strategic goals.
It was a period of major transformation for our teams with a lot of pressure and uncertainty. But it was well worth it and I don’t regret the experience.
We all grew from it, and I sincerely hope I’ll have the opportunity to work with talented Ukrainian engineers in the future.