Continuous Improvement The Agile Way

Continuous improvement is the process of constantly looking for ways to further develop the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of products, services, processes and procedures. The process is based on the idea that there is always room for improvement, no matter how good you already are.

The agile strategy of continuous improvement is a way of thinking and a method that applies the principles of “agile software development” to the continuous improvement process. Agile software development is an approach where collaboration with customers and responding to change are more important than following a fixed plan.

However, the strategies of agile software development are now also used outside of software development to improve a wide variety of teams in companies.

The agile continuous improvement strategy includes:

• Break down large improvement goals into small, manageable, and measurable tasks
• Prioritize the most valuable and urgent improvement tasks based on customer feedback and business needs
• Provision of improvement tasks in short iterations or “sprints,” which usually last between one and four weeks
• Test and validate the results of each improvement task with customers and other stakeholders
• Review and adjust the improvement process based on feedback and findings from each iteration
• Empower and engage team members to take ownership of the improvement process and collaborate with each other and customers

One of the key benefits of the agile continuous improvement strategy is that you leverage the collective wisdom and creativity of your team members. Your team members are the ones who know your products, services, processes, and procedures best. They are also the ones who interact most frequently with customers and stakeholders. Therefore, they are in the best position to identify improvement opportunities and develop improvement ideas.

To foster a culture of continuous improvement on your team, here are some things you can do:

• Encourage your team members to share their feedback, suggestions and insights regularly.
• Create a safe and supportive environment where team members can voice their opinions and concerns without fear of judgment or criticism
• Recognize and reward team members who contribute to the improvement process
• Provide your team members with the time, resources and support they need to implement their improvement ideas.
• Involve your team members in the decision-making process regarding improvement priorities and plans.

Tools and techniques for continuous improvement

There are many tools and techniques that can help you implement the agile continuous improvement strategy. Some of the most common are:

• The PDCA cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act): A four-step method for implementing change. The method includes planning the change, implementing the change, reviewing the results, and acting on the lessons learned.
• The 5 reasons (Whys): A technique to find the cause of a problem by asking “Why” five times until you get to the heart of the problem.
• The Fishbone Diagram: A visual tool for identifying and analyzing the possible causes of a problem. It resembles a fish skeleton with a problem statement as the head and various categories of causes as the bones.
• The Pareto diagram: A graphical tool to show the frequency or impact of various factors or problems. It helps you identify the 20% of factors or problems that cause 80% of impacts or problems.
• The SMART criteria: A set of criteria for establishing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives.
• The Kanban board: A visual tool for managing workflows. It consists of a panel with columns representing different work stages and cards representing individual tasks. It helps you track progress, identify bottlenecks and limit the work in progress.
• The retrospective: A meeting at the end of each iteration or sprint where team members reflect on what went well, what went wrong, and what can be improved.

The continuous improvement feedback loop is a cycle of collecting, analyzing, and acting on feedback from customers, stakeholders, and team members. This cycle is important to ensure that your improvement efforts are aligned with customer needs and expectations, as well as business goals and strategies.

The continuous improvement feedback loop includes the following:

• Obtaining feedback From customers, stakeholders, and team members through various channels such as surveys, interviews, ratings, comments, complaints, suggestions, etc.
• Analysis of the feedback data with quantitative and qualitative methods such as statistics, sentiment analysis, text mining, etc.
• Pattern identification, trends, gaps, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and insights from feedback data.
• Prioritization of feedback-elements based on their value and urgency
• Communication of feedback results to customers, stakeholders and team members
• Feedback implementation-elements as improvement tasks in iterations or sprints
• Impact measurement of feedback elements on customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention as well as on business performance, growth and profitability

Continuous improvement exercises

Continuous improvement exercises are activities that help you practice and improve your skills in applying the agile continuous improvement strategy. You can do them individually or in groups, online or offline, formally or informally.
We ourselves use two-week retrospectives to do most of these exercises, together as a team.

Some examples of continuous improvement exercises include:

• The Stop-Start-Continue-Retro: A simple and effective way to figure out what you and your team should stop, start, and continue to improve your work. You can use this exercise at the end of each iteration or sprint.
• The SWOT analysis: A strategic tool to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your products, services, processes, or procedures. You can use this exercise to identify areas for improvement and action plans.
• The brainstorming sessionA creative technique to develop a large number of ideas in a short time. You can use this exercise to find ideas for improvement or solutions to problems. You can use different methods such as mind mapping, word association, random input, etc. to stimulate your creativity.
• The technique of point tuning: A simple and democratic way to prioritize ideas or tasks. You can use this exercise to select the most valuable and urgent improvement actions from a list of options. Each participant is given a number of points (usually three) to distribute among the options according to their preference.

We use many of these methods in our retrospective. If you want to learn more about our retrospective agenda, you can do so here: Our Retrospective Templates

Continuous improvement review is a process for evaluating the results and outcomes of your improvement efforts. This is important to measure your progress, learn from your successes and failures, and celebrate your successes.

Continuous improvement review includes:

• Comparison of actual results with expected results
• Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure the effectiveness and efficiency of your improvement efforts
• Calculate the return on investment (ROI or ROTI) of your improvement efforts.
• Analyze the factors that have contributed to or hindered your improvement efforts
• Document lessons learned and best practices from your improvement efforts
• Sharing results and outcomes with customers, stakeholders, and team members
• Recognize and reward team members who have contributed to improvement efforts
• Celebrating the milestones and achievements of your improvement efforts

Continuous Improvement The Agile Way

Continuous improvement implementation plan The continuous improvement implementation plan is a plan that describes the steps and actions you need to take to carry out your improvement tasks. It is a roadmap that takes you from your current state to your goals. The continuous improvement implementation plan should include the following

• The improvement goals and targets
• The improvement tasks and subtasks
• The roles and responsibilities of team members
• The resources and tools needed for each task
• The schedule and milestones for each task
• The risks and challenges for each task
• The contingency plans for each task

Continuous improvement goals

The goals of continuous improvement are the desired results of your improvement efforts. They are what your team wants to achieve by improving your products, services, processes, or procedures. Ideally, the goals of continuous improvement are:

• aligned with the needs and expectations of customers and with corporate goals and strategies
• Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART).
• challenging but realistic (110% principle)
• Motivating and stimulating
• Clearly communicated to all stakeholders (customers, stakeholders, and team members)

Conclusion

Continuous improvement is not an end goal. It is an ongoing journey that requires your constant attention, effort, and adjustments. If you adopt the agile continuous improvement strategy, you can make continuous improvement a part of your daily work. You can also reap the benefits of continuous improvement, such as increased customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention, and improved team performance.