Today, we have wide range of “Agile scaling frameworks” to choose from. It seems a new framework appears almost every day!

Yet the facts are these:  almost none of the Agile scaling frameworks actually address the pivotal issue of employee engagement.

These frameworks assume that every employee already supports the framework, the transformation, and the transformation plan.

Except they don’t.

This huge and gaping hole, found in most of the modern Agile scaling frameworks, is a very serious problem.

It is a primary problem. A primary impediment to progress in every Agile initiative.

Real resistance comes from a very substantial number of employees, some of whom occupy roles with very substantial authority.

And they resist the change. They do not support. They do not engage.

But: If we can convert this real resistance into real support and real engagement, we can be successful.

What’s needed is an engagement model.
And what exactly is an engagement model?

Here is the definition:

Engagement Model (noun) : Any pattern, or set of patterns, reducible to practice, which result in more employee engagement, during the implementation of an organizational-change initiative.

 
OpenSpace Agility is one such engagement model.
 

OpenSpace Agility is designed to fill this gap in your Agile framework. It is designed to reduce resistance to change, by bringing in as many employees as possible, into the process of changing. It reduces the risk of failure and increases the chances of success with your chosen framework.

It does this by actually engaging your workforce in your overall change program.

 
Until the issue of employee engagement is addressed, your chosen framework is at very real risk of failure.

Without a plan to engage employees, all of your good intentions, all of your good plans, and all of that time, money and effort spent on “transformation” are at a serious risk of loss.

Why?

Because employee engagement in the change process is what actually scales, not your “Agile scaling framework.”

And so in summary: if you are embarking on a digital transformation, if you are embarking on an “Agile transformation,”  if you are getting ready to change your entire organization, getting ready to “transform” it… here is a word to the wise:

If you cannot name your Engagement Model, you don’t have one.

And you are therefore very exposed to a very real risk of loss, or even complete failure.

This failure is completely avoidable. To avoid it, you must address the employee engagement problem, as an essential part of your overall transformation plan.