SUCCESS STORIES

Building a Product Management Framework

featured customer

“IncrementOne will be able to accelerate the adoption of agile because the team will quickly have a solid understanding of any business context in which they are operating.“

Mitacs is a nonprofit national research organization that, in partnerships with Canadian academia, private industry and government, operates research and training programs in fields related to industrial and social innovation.

The Challenge

The organization was undergoing an organic transformation towards Agile adoption over the prior year.
While the team had a thorough understanding of the benefits Agile provides to product delivery, the realization of these benefits had languished.
There was a need for corporate-wide adoption. Adoption had been on a departmental basis: only specific teams had transitioned to Agile.
There was a need for increased governance and leadership structure in IT.
There was a lack of assessments to properly gauge the impact of existing processes for capital intake and planning.

What have you been able to achieve since engaging IncrementOne ?

With the assessment report, leadership has been able to align on how to use agile frameworks in developing a strategy. This in turn, allowed for IncrementOne to amplify leadership commitment at our retreat, and demonstrate the value of adopting agile across IT value streams. Teams are now consistently evaluating their processes and looking for ways to optimize and streamline their work, driving increased efficiency and quality in delivery. We’re continuously learning to inform our strategy to implement Agile.

The Solution

IncrementOne developed a product management framework to promote a unified vision of the product management role, clarify scope and define clear responsibilities.

The following measures of success were defined for Mitacs' agile adoption:

Empowered Product Managers: A clearly defined role with strong rigor and governance around how products are developed.
Product Mindset: Adopt a product approach to planning and delivery that embraces a customer-first mentality.

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What issues were you trying to solve when engaging IncrementOne?

We needed to better implement Agile practices in IT, and create a shared understanding on what a successful adoption looks like in our organization.

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What has exceeded your expectations since working with IncrementOne?

That the team is highly capable and adaptable to work in any organization culture from corporations and governments to our not-for-profit. They draw from their own vast experience to understand organizational challenges and map them to best practices. It shows in their generosity to share observations on culture, processes, and challenges of other organizations they’ve worked with and yet tailor solutions to fit Mitacs' needs.

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What would you tell someone who’s considering our business?

IncrementOne will be able to accelerate the adoption of Agile because the team will quickly have a solid understanding of any business context in which they are operating. They will be able to articulate the business value of Agile methodologies and help organizations align their Agile practices with their strategic goals.

What made IncrementOne solutions stand out from other options?

With the assessment report, leadership has been able to align on how to use agile frameworks in developing a strategy. This in turn, allowed for IncrementOne to amplify leadership commitment at our retreat, and demonstrate the value of adopting agile across IT value streams. Teams are now consistently evaluating their processes and looking for ways to optimize and streamline their work, driving increased efficiency and quality in delivery. We’re continuously learning to inform our strategy to implement Agile.