The physical structure of the system is essential, but they are rarely leverage point, because of changes in the physical structure is usually not easy and slow effect. Appropriate leverage points, need to be designed from the outset good. Once the structure of the entity established, in order to find the leverage points, we need to understand the limitations and bottlenecks of the system, in as much as possible to their maximum efficiency while avoiding large fluctuations or expand beyond their affordability.
-? De Neila "US system of" Meadows
I believe that Agile transformation is a systematic improvement project, with a complexity of time and space dimensions, so use a dynamic way of looking. As an improvement of worker participation in the organization of global optimization, vision can not be limited to research and development process, but also to avoid mired in processes such as "The implementation of three thousand three hundred fifty-five within a small technical team" like a mere formality in.
Promote the transformation and agile as do other improvements designed to help organizations succeed, it is not overnight. Not to mention the organization's mission is to achieve business goals, rather than a quick transition is successful, not forest for the trees. If forced to import, like the Great Leap Forward reach communism by the way, with predictable results. Even the transition is not successful, the company has already closed down during the brutal competition in the market may be the case, and "help the organization succeed" runs counter to the goal.
Enterprise growth stage determines the current organizational structure. So, since the organization's mission is to achieve business goals, more reasonable transition leverage point, is to focus on the universe of large-scale, based on the structure and tissue organization at different stages of the project manager (hereinafter: PM) is positioned to address the organization "difficult to achieve business objectives," the pain points, and then gradually expanding the system boundary and enhance the scope of the PM's responsibility, continue to carry out global agility.
Stage ○: small workshop
at this stage, the organization is not too high for the PM role demands, since the start-up team is really agile. There Chan CTO Cuiyu Song often lament the days of the early years of struggle: small teams and low communication costs. Which need any project management ah, roar of a voice thing in the morning with the students responsible for product and business discussion is finished, get the afternoon fiddle fiddle on the line.
But this model is not sustainable, there are two forces pushing organizations to evolve in different directions: business and technology (as shown below). In which:
1) In general, the complexity of the technical side of risk exposure sooner than the business side, the side of the managers involved in technology and management methods in the precipitate is greater, technical team management maturity increased gradually.
2) learning techniques side is higher than the threshold of the service side, so the demand for technical personnel than the depth of breadth.
3) start-ups need as much staff to support all business, business breadth-first to depth.
Phase I: Functional Structure
That time, there is praise main business revolves around micro mall SaaS, organizational structure is relatively simple, the transition from the artisanal division to form a functional structure. To enhance the management of technical maturity, there is praise introduced at this stage the PM role, it is the stage of PM, the most important mission is to focus on research and development of life-cycle management, the establishment of R & D project management system, with this form of "project" cooperation to establish R & D personnel, the purpose is to make the organization from disorder to order, and to develop community awareness of the rules, improve management maturity research and development team.
Like in the process has set up R & D project management system, the appropriate import some elements of agility, on the one hand to make rules based on the current R & D personnel familiar workflow, but not so heavy on the other hand, give the impression waterfall branding project type model for future adjustments to make room. With the enhancement of organizational maturity, you can add more agile elements.
Agile transformation process, is constantly tempted gradually reduce investment management and strengthen the process of self-organization capability.
Phase II: Structure Division
has started like a cloud business, the ability to abstract the underlying, grafting and more vertical areas on this basis (for example: the United States, retail chains, education, etc.), no one can grasp such a broad global professional knowledge, service complexity becomes a very abrupt (as shown below). As a result, a new round of organizational restructuring driven by business objectives, characteristics Division slowly formed. Drucker division system that is respected "federal decentralization", in this mode, all functions are disassembled, staff restructuring to each individual business areas to achieve specific business value for the target group of units to form .
From a macro point of view, this model like most agile team, the role is complete, the only goal. But observers within the division, then each character is not a single person, but a group managed by the TL, the functional or microscopic structure (some even offer the ability to share the role only exists in the form of a dotted line division, a solid line functions more features). But in general, business objectives so that the wall of the original structure during the department's functions are breaking down.
At this point, PM may be room for maneuver starts to increase. Compared with the original single large organizations in business, after the division of the size of the teams is smaller (but still have hundreds of people), the business line's butt PM can consolidate most of the points of improvement in stage one, and based on a small team do more in-depth optimization. Which is a particularly effective means of demand is based on the underlying cause of life-cycle management of each two lines of business.
With the PM to play in the development life cycle of action, we find that the bottleneck flow efficiency, from the technical side moved to the left side represents the demand for products, so the terms of reference of the PM is no longer just research and development side, but from requirements to production R & D needs of the entire life cycle of on-line project management. Boundaries of the system becomes: business objectives floor to business needs, the driving force is external to the system. Also, because there is sufficient precipitation in the R & D side and empowerment, management of the development process can be gradually transferred to the technical team yourself.
On the one hand, PM can be reduced, where appropriate, details of R & D management attention, and efforts should be concentrated focus on process management product side (for example: Set APO and PO, milestone product side, demand value tracking, etc.), as well as from the demand side to the product interface technology side (for example: a unified pool of demand, demand forecast, resource conflict handling). On the other hand, PM gradually cause the guide portion, without changing the organization of the premise, the broken line is further divided into a plurality of characteristics of commercial team goal-oriented, and try decoupling.
Hide the details, is essentially a necessary means to stop to do a more comprehensive thinking on a higher level system.
Stage Three: a matrix structure
in order to enhance market competitiveness, there is a need to provide solutions like more vertical industries. And Division mode compared to, which is a more flexible form of organization, it is a series of attempts for new business models. It does not change the existing organizational structure and reporting relationships to link the whole project set up temporary way to pull the entire organization on the downstream resources, a comprehensive action around the conduct of short-term business objectives. It is characterized by short-frequency fast, winning the war hit, win the run.
PM at this stage need to focus on the full link project management, including a number of aspects of sales, marketing, product, technology, operations, services, etc., and each link will have a series of action items, each item requires action sub project management of the process. Phase two focus on product development project, where just one action item only. Standing more global perspective, further details are hidden.
The stage was back at the "temporary formation project" works, and details the operational level may be scattered throughout. But in fact, all resources such projects more cohesive in the macro, because each functional role will have a core staff involved in the core team practice "335 Five" have actually easier and more effective (similar to Scrum of Scrums, but will do heavier), organizations are typically characterized by: target more focused, market feedback earlier, the demand for faster iteration. Of course, because of the action items shall be brought back to their core staff to implement the functional units, it is still vested in the framework of a unified demand pool.
Compared with the product development side, it is more difficult to coordinate the various functional roles. Therefore, the PM needs to product development has been precipitated management capabilities assigned to give other functional units, each functional role helps align the goals and ways of doing things, to avoid PM both to the overall situation, but also because the organization of the functional units and not enough maturity not fire everywhere.
Phase IV: strategic business unit structure
, the organization will operate in a variety of large-scale diversification of products in the market at this stage, not to provide related products and services. Chan has not yet come to the stage, so I No experience can be shared. But can be expected to be, with the growth of the organization, a single PM can touch up the organization is limited in scope, and therefore need to rely on the power of the organization, it is attributable to the PMO or division, depending on the project management expertise and improved object the complexity of the business impact of the role of who is currently dominant (Fig team characteristics and components of the team's decision on the reference model), agile direction and pace of transformation will be affected. This will also be an interesting topic, but space is limited, not in this expansion.
The evolution of the organization is a process that is reasonable existence, from the perspective of systems thinking, the introduction of agile thinking only act on one of the pendulum numerous systems. And at different stages (temporal or spatial) organization, will produce different delay effect, and may even violate the original intention of the parties. As the importer organization Agile transformation, we have to do to face the situation of the organizations systems thinking, and import local conditions conducive to the organization agile elements of growth, it must also be observed in the feedback effect of the system, analysis of each loop and changes in primary and secondary switching reasonable to make adjustments.
I was horrified to realize that I urgently want to re-establish democracy, some practices are almost the same as the idealists. I always wanted to promote faster development of history, but guilty of "Destructive Enthusiasm" error. I realized that when we try to create a new thing, we have to learn to wait. We must patiently sowing full, well-watered land, so that their own seeds germinate, grow, it takes time. You can not fool a plant, you can not fool even more history.
- Wenceslas Havel (first president of the Czech Republic, playwright)?
(This article Source: Chan has technical)
