News and opinion | Georgina | 22 September 2021
What does ‘One Team’ mean within the Agile Methodology?
One Team is part of the Agile methodology that we at Endava use every day. One Team primarily applies to Scrum, where all key roles for a project/product are met – such as product owner, analysts, developers and more. For One Team to work effectively, everyone must be always aware of their role in a project and have the same level of understanding of expectations and requirements.
Digital transformation is inherently complex. Particularly in insurance. There is lots of sprint planning, tests and changes being made. The work being undertaken needs to be fully recognised by everyone on the team and the objectives must be clear. Concise and frequent communication goes towards achieving this, however, the One Team way of working must always be internally managed correctly and consistently. Changes to large scale projects can have a huge ripple effect on resources and finance – each decision must be assessed by those across all roles.
‘Collaboration’ is a vital word when adopting the One Team methodology within Agile. Firstly to establish expectations, responsibilities and outcomes. Secondly, collaboration is used to develop the delivery itself. ‘One Team’, is a mixture of setting the right culture and tone for the project as well as delivering the work in an efficient and time-conscious manner.
Why does ‘One Team’ work so well within Agile?
The Agile methodology relies on constant communication, adapting to change and frequent product updates. The One Team way of working works so well within this methodology because it prioritises the people, rather than just the project at hand or facts and figures. When you have One Team working diligently on a project, those other aspects are looked after almost by default, because everybody understands everyone’s role and purpose on a project.
One Team encourages great customer service and reduced spend on unnecessary parts of a project. It also encourages staff morale and superior teamwork.
Endava: One Team
The biggest compliment we get is when a client cannot distinguish between our people and their own. By embodying the key principle of Agile: One Team, we ensure that collaboration, understanding and a true common objective is at the heart of everything we do, when delivering mission-critical transformation programmes.
We at Endava have delivered transformative solutions to some of the world’s largest insurance companies. We work hard to be easy to do business with and, during a selection process, future clients quickly realise why we have been so successful over the years. It isn’t just because of our obvious capability, domain knowledge and experience. It is because of what we are not. We are not there to take ownership; we are not there to ‘land and expand’ and we do not hold our clients to ransom.
Our clients are our partners. We want them to succeed and to be self-sufficient, which is why structured knowledge transfer is ‘baked-in’ to our programme delivery – empowering our clients with Agile training and understanding all critical success factors. With a sense of urgency, the team rolls up its shirt sleeves and gets to work immediately.
From implementation expertise to solution assurance
Beyond implementation services, our comprehensive Solution Assurance service was borne from our deep skills and experience. This is not just a certified and qualified pair of eyes and ears, shadowing and thoroughly checking all aspects of delivery, but also a very real on-site presence, ensuring our clients are protected from unnecessary risks, poor-practice, poor quality and high customisation, all of which can have a material impact on velocity and costs. This participation has proved essential in the early and proactive identification of potential problems, as well as ensuring their escalation and resolution. Prevention is better than cure.
We are flexible and pride ourselves on going that extra mile. Professionalism, collaboration, transparency and integrity are imbued into and demonstrated by every one of our expert, qualified team members.
Our approach, attitude and appetite ensure we deliver in line with our mantra of ‘getting it right first time’.
“Endava has always been an enthusiastic proponent of the Agile methodology; so much so, that it even runs its business in accordance with many of Agile’s core principles.
One of the most valued of those principles is ‘One Team’, an ethos that colours everything we do, both internally as well as with our lovely clients. One Team is all about the seamless integration of all members in the programme team, no matter which organisation they represent, collaborating intimately to convert a joint vision into an innovative and successful outcome.”
Roy Murphy, CEO, Endava
