The Problem

# Lack of Communication and Ownership

At a global retailer, the unexpected departure of two product owners resulted in two teams operating in isolation. Stakeholders were frustrated due to a lack of visibility on where their requests were in the queue and there was no communication on expected delivery timelines. Further, communication and coordination between the two teams deteriorated and became less structured and inconsistent. Due to the lack of structure, work delivery timeframes were slowing as individual team members were receiving requests instead of entering a queue system.

Young business people of various races and genders are gathered around a coworking table with laptops. They appear to be having a fun and lively conversation.
Two young businesswomen collaborate together on an Agile kanban board.

The Approach

# Infuse Agile Principles to Level Up

Propeller sought to stabilize the teams and infuse Agile principles and methods into the organization by serving as a hybrid product owner and Agile coach. By embedding within the Agile process, we were able to simultaneously fill a critical gap and identify opportunities to level up the organization’s Agile delivery capabilities. Propeller clarified core objectives, prioritized known and in-process work, set up a two-week sprint model, established two-a-month stakeholder alignment meetings, invited stakeholders to the end-of-sprint demos, condensed the myriad of status meetings into singular daily stand-up, and celebrated key milestones and deliveries with the teams and stakeholders to generate momentum and build excitement, awareness, and engagement.

# Services Provided

  • Agile Coaching  + Leadership
  • Team Leadership + Development
  • Agile Methodology
  • Change Management

Value Delivered

# Transformation Today and a Roadmap for the Future

Propeller was ultimately successful in transforming the teams. The teams were able to complete their work within the two-week sprint window which increased stakeholder trust and satisfaction. With stakeholder input, Propeller was able to build roadmaps of future work based on priorities and business value. Eventually, Propeller was able to stabilize and transition the work by bringing in two new product owners with domain expertise to take over the long-term role with the teams.