Serge Lucio is the GM of Agile Operations Division, Broadcom Software.
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Over the course of 2020 and 2021, the fabric of our work lives was radically altered, ushering in a world in which hybrid models were the norm. In 2022, these changes will be solidified and entrenched. Because of this, it is now more critical than ever to address continued demands for agility, while establishing methodologies, tools and technologies that unite hybrid teams and facilitate new, and better, ways of working.
Meeting these objectives and adapting to new realities simply won’t happen by working in the same way. That’s why the adoption of approaches like value stream management (VSM) has continued to accelerate. For example, according to my company's recent survey of business and IT executives to better understand how they are adapting to the new realities by utilizing value stream management, they are adopting VSM to focus on increasing efficiency (70%), improving product quality (67%) and increasing customer value (63%).
Value Stream Management: A Brief Introduction
VSM is a framework that enables new ways of working by helping organizations focus on optimizing the delivery of value to customers.
In the early days, VSM was used across DevOps teams to boost product delivery efficiency by identifying and eliminating waste. Today, top organizations are expanding from their laser focus on efficiency to also include maximizing effectiveness across the enterprise by establishing end-to-end project visibility and funding the initiatives that matter most.
Through the effective adoption of VSM, teams can realize a number of key advantages:
Get to market faster. VSM helps optimize product lifecycles and enables teams to get releases out the door on an agile cadence and make enhancements iteratively so they remain better aligned with evolving customer priorities. Further, teams can deliver value faster than the competition and get revenue sooner.
Build high-quality products that customers value. VSM promotes a user-centric approach, enabling teams to deliver value in short cycles. VSM also promotes the effective integration of customer feedback into the value stream, so teams can effectively align strategy and development work around building what customers want most.
Reduce risk and waste. Teams are contending with significant product development challenges that are stifling their ability to meet key objectives. Teams lack visibility throughout the product lifecycle and struggle with inefficient processes. Through VSM, they can gain a clearer picture of resources, work and customer requirements, enabling them to make more informed trade-off decisions. By aligning with customer feedback and iterating more quickly, teams can respond more effectively and reduce the risk of expensive market misses.
Collaborate more effectively. Silos continue to represent a persistent challenge for organizations in 2022 and with the expansion of work from anywhere, these challenges aren’t going away. Through VSM, teams can be more fully empowered to build better products and increase productivity. VSM supports alignment between teams through transparency to reduce inefficiencies and improve ROI and business outcomes.
How To Get Started With VSM
The first step is the creation of a value stream map. Your map will provide details on how work flows through your organization, from idea to customer value. Every step throughout the process needs to be documented to achieve transparency throughout the organization.
As teams are often focused on their own projects and tasks, it becomes helpful for everyone to see the broader picture to understand what is happening in other areas of the business and how things get done. Understanding how critical your contribution is in the value stream helps make better decisions because they understand the impact those decisions have.
Also, VSM technologies can provide transparency and consistency across stakeholders, no matter what their discipline, role or location. Ultimately, this empowers organizations to realize the true value of VSM and helps them maximize the value they deliver to their customers.
Conclusion
VSM is the framework that enables the new ways of working that are required to succeed now. Through well-executed VSM initiatives, organizations can accelerate digital transformation and boost agility, which can, in turn, increase the ROI of products and thus company profitability.
VSM can help establish value-focused teams and align people around customer value. Ultimately, this sets the groundwork for building responsiveness into an organization’s DNA, enabling it to become a market disruptor rather than being the victim of disruption.
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