Coordination and Process

Area Description

The digital team has been executing its objectives since its earliest existence. Execution is whenever we meet demand with supply. An idea for a new feature, to deliver some digital value, is demand. The time spent implementing the feature is supply. The two combined is execution. Sometimes it goes well; sometimes it does not. Maintaining a tight feedback loop to continually assess execution is essential.

As the organization grows into multiple teams and multiple products, it has more complex execution problems, requiring coordination. The fundamental problem is the “D-word”: dependency. Dependencies are why the organization must coordinate (work with no dependencies can scale nicely along the AKF x-axis). But when there are dependencies (and there are various kinds) the organization needs a wider range of techniques. One Kanban board is not sufficient to the task.

The practitioner must consider the delivery models, as well as the “three Ps”: product, project, and process, to which we have now added program management. Decades of industry practice mean that people will tend to think in terms of these models and unless there is clarity about the nature of our work the organization can easily get pulled into non-value-adding arguments. To help understanding, this Competency Area will take a deeper look at process management, continuous improvement, and their challenges.