AGILITY IN

LATIN AMERICA
2021
A CORE COMPETENCY OF
FLEXIBLE ORGANIZATIONS
contents
Summary 3

01 Introduction 4

02 Study Methodology 5

03 Executive Summary 7

04 Main Conclusions 15

4.1 Agility Adoption Level 16

a) Agility's transversal impact on organizations 16
b) From Technology to HR: areas involved in the transformation 18
c) Benefits and challenges on the agile journey 21
d) New mindset profile 24

4.2 Governance for agility 26

a) Transformation committees, a converging space for leaders on the 26
journey to agility
b) Agility at scale: coordination between teams, programs and 29
portfolios
c) The combination of OKR with QBR, a growing practice of 31
alignment and coordination between agile teams
d) Team characteristics, a decisive factor in defining agile 35
frameworks

4.3 Agile Talent and Culture 36

a) Agile career paths and skill building 36
b) Agile knowledge dissemination in organizations 38
c) The agile professional’s point of view 39

05 Challenges and Trends 41

a) Pending issues for a successful change 42

b) Bound for an agile future: trends 44
Summary

Agility in organizations is a prac- However, 53% of respondents still

tice that has gained increasing see some resistance to change,
relevance over the years. Although which needs to be addressed by
technology-related areas are leaders and decision-makers.
among those that most use this
methodology, adopting agile prac- The coronavirus health crisis
tices in commercial and operational (COVID-19) showed agility's value
areas, as well as in some teams on resilience of Latin American
seeking to improve their processes companies since the beginning
and needing to adapt to changes, of the crisis in March 2020. The
is a mindset that has been applied increase in remote work numbers
more frequently in companies. (75% of the surveyed companies
The visibility of these initiatives have adopted this system) has led
improves with agility, and this ad- many companies that have not yet
vantage is recognized by around gone through the transformation
67% of respondents. In addition, a process to consider agility as a
relevant factor is the improvement factor in optimizing performance
in product delivery times, according and the ability to work remotely.
to 61% of the companies surveyed. In this sense, it is noteworthy
that the HR areas associate their
Although cultural issues have participation in the adoption
traditionally been a barrier to the of agile practices with cross-
adoption of new processes in functional teams defined to work in
work, this reluctance to change has a transversal strategy.
diminished in recent years.
 Introduction
01

Agility is a trend that has followed its potential to develop more

organizations for two decades. efficient processes and to involve
Since its inception with the Ag- individuals working remotely. The
ile Manifest in 2001, agility has benefits of continuous validation
evolved from a technology product and adaptation of agility prove
development methodology to be to be a good tool for developing
the core competency of orga- teams with greater involvement
nizations seeking to adapt to and greater efficiency in work
market changes, in what we call performance, even remotely.
the core competency of flexible
organizations. Faced with a scenario of uncer-
tainty and constant change, with
Even though organizations face situations that change at an un-
many challenges to adopting agility precedented speed, agility has be-
(such as resistance to change or come a contingency mechanism, a
talent management) more compa- resilience formula and a crisis man-
nies value its benefits and decide to agement component. Agility is a
adopt agility as a work philosophy. mindset based on values and prin-
Agility optimizes delivery times, ciples, whose purpose is to build
makes teams more efficient and skills aimed to adapting to complex
allows professionals to be better contexts. Therefore, organizations
aligned with corporate strategy. that have effectively integrated
agility into their way of working will
While agility was a growing have more resources to adapt to a
trend over the last decade, the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex
digitization imposed as a result of and Ambiguous) context and lead
the coronavirus (COVID-19) has the market.
made many organizations realize
Study
Methodology
 6

Study
02
Methodology
The study focused on six countries: Mexico
Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Brazil,
Chile and Argentina. A total of 198
respondents were interviewed,
including 82 leaders of agile trans-
formation in Latin American compa- Colombia
Brazil
nies. This edition has also incorporat-
ed a new view by including the opinion
of 116 agility experts (agile coach, Peru

scrum master, CoE leader, etc.).

Seventy percent of companies sur-

veyed belonged to the banking,
telecommunications, energy and Chile

consulting sectors. After conducting

the survey, at least two leaders from
Argentina
each participating country were in-
Study Methodology

terviewed. These interviews aimed at

deepening the qualitative knowledge
and demonstrating its conclusions
with practical cases.

Study sectors
Banking 34%
Consulting 25%
Telecommunications 13%
Professional services 5%
Public utility (energy and utilities) 4%
Mining and quarrying 3.5%
Health (public or private) 3.5%
IT 3%
Automotive 1.5%
Packaged Consumer Goods 1.5%
Retail 1.5%
Insurance 1.5%
Public sector 1%
Transport (air, land, and sea) 1%
Other 0.5%

In this study, the maturity of organizations in applying agility was categorized

according to their time of adoption: 63% have adopted agility for more than
three years now, 70% have transformation offices, and 49% have more than
one quarter of their teams using agile methodologies.
Executive
Summary

03
 8

Executive
03
Summary

In recent years, agility has evolved from a

technology product development meth-
odology to being the core competency of
organizations as it reduces delivery times,
makes teams more efficient and ensures
that professionals are better aligned with
corporate strategy. During the corona-
virus pandemic (COVID-19), agility also
emerged as a resilience mechanism, a
contingency formula, and an element
for crisis management.

To map the degree of agility maturity in

Latin American companies, NTT DATA
and MIT Technology Review, in Spanish,
Executive Summary

released a new edition of the study “Agility

in Latin America." A total of 198 respon-
dents from Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Bra-
zil, Chile and Argentina participated in the
survey, including 82 agile transformation
leaders and 116 agile experts.

The number of respondents significantly

increased compared to last year, as in
this edition we chose to show the point
of views not only from agile transforma-
tion leaders, but also from agility experts,
who have a real perception of agile per-
formance in the daily routine of the com-
panies. This increase in the number of re-
spondents shows that more organizations
are interested in discussing agility issues.
 9

A growing philosophy

In general, organizations are beginning to

adopt the agile philosophy through pro-
fessionals in the technological areas. In
fact, 90% of the companies interviewed
stated that their IT and/or Software Devel-
opment departments had already adopted
this new way of working.

However, they are no longer the only ones,

as other areas are also adopting agility.
That is, more than one in three human
resources departments, nearly one in
four marketing departments, and about

Executive Summary
one in ten in departments such as fi-
nance, auditing, sales and supply chain
have implemented agile practices.

The study shows that 51% of organiza-

tions have adopted agile practices in one-
fourth of their areas, and one out of four
companies claim that between 26% and
50% of the organization uses agile prac-
tices. These data indicate that compared
to the previous edition, agility permeates
more areas within companies, and it
shows an increase in the agile maturity of
Latin American companies.
 10

Benefits and challenges

on the agile journey

Agility has provided companies with the

necessary flexibility to face the chang-
es in a scenario affected by the health
crisis. Thus, adaptability to the environ-
ment is the main benefit that companies
perceive: 39% of organizations rate this
advantage as 'excellent' and 35% as
'very good'. Other benefits valued by
companies include the improvement in
time-to-market, workplace atmosphere
and customer experience.

Despite these benefits, companies still

face some obstacles to complete their
transformation, mainly related to the
Executive Summary

need for encouragement from leaders.

More than six in ten respondents say that
leadership style is the biggest challenge,
and three in ten say that there is a lack
of involvement from leaders. This lack of
involvement is particularly noticeable in
mid-level positions, which are generally
evaluated with corporate metrics that
consider other indicators related to agil-
ity, which are more difficult to quantify, to
be less important.

The current business culture, the exis-

tence of silos between areas and the re-
sistance to change are other challenges
to be faced, according to about six in
ten organizations. To a lesser degree, the
lack of agile experience or skills and the
lack of training or education on agility are
also obstacles for companies. However,
most companies do not see technology
as an obstacle to adopting agility, but
rather as a spur to change.
 11

Transformation committees, the It is essential to

solution for controlling agility establish criteria
that determine
For establishing the agile strategy, three in
four companies have a centralized trans- the union of
formation office that is responsible for teams to ensure
driving orderly, comprehensive change, organizational agility
focusing on the established goals. Nine-
and optimization
ty one percent of the companies having
centralized offices also have corporate of value streams.
transformation plans to align the entire
organization, ensuring that everyone is
moving in the same direction.

These transformation offices have adopt-

ed a much more strategic role compared
to the last edition of the study, which again
indicates a step towards agile maturity.

Executive Summary
Whereas the focus was once on cultural
change regarding the way of working,
these offices are now directly involved
in business strategy, prioritization and
management.

Coordination between teams

for agile scalability

It is essential to establish some criteria that

determine the union of teams to ensure
organizational agility and optimization of
value streams. The impact of scaling up
agility on business processes is evident,
as it contributes to improving governance
and alignment procedures.

The main criterion used for grouping is

the product or service offered to cus-
tomers, which is used by more than
half of the organizations surveyed. This
represents an increase compared to the
previous edition, when only one in four
companies used this criterion.
 12

Objectives and Key Results &

Quarterly Business Reviews,
a successful combination

In addition to establishing some criteria

for coordinating the teams, two other
tools are essential for scaling up agility:
OKRs and QBRs.

Six in ten companies use OKRs and iden-

tify two main benefits in doing so: better
business alignment and better commu-
nication. The use of these indicators is
widespread among more mature organi-
zations and it is the basis for the journey
towards agility.
Budget allocation overhaul,
One in four companies is already imple- an unresolved issue
Executive Summary

menting QBRs and has seen a significant

increase in its application over the last Overhauling budget allocation based
year. The report also proves that the on objectives is one of the practices
correct preparation of OKRs is the key to that companies should adopt once they
the success of QBRs: if these two do not start the Agile journey. Indeed, the very
go hand in hand, the expected alignment adoption of agility implies changing the
goals will not be achieved. budget allocation model. For this reason,
in general, it is noted that mature organi-
zations promote this change. Due to this
new model, organizations can optimize
their financial management, prioritize
their spending decisions and consider
factors related to talent management and
the use of technological enablers in their
planning. In order to carry out this over-
haul, agile structures such as the Lean
Portfolio Management are used.

Despite the usefulness of these tools, ac-

cording to the survey results, nearly half
of respondents still have not changed the
way they allocate budgets to agile initia-
tives. Therefore, changing this allocation
model is one of the main tasks that need
to be addressed so that companies can
advance their agile maturity.
 13

Upcoming trends towards an increasingly agile future

Agility made it possible for many companies to adapt to the Volatility,

Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity (VUCA) context. In this context,
the agile trajectory of Latin American companies will be characterized
by five trends:

Scale Strategic
Alignment
Applying the agile philosophy
to other areas of the organi- The pandemic forced compa-
zation helps teams to better nies to simplify their processes
manage their priorities, work and operations. Thus, devel-
progressively and iterative- oping the competencies of a
ly, and adopt a continuous flexible organization, by apply-
improvement mindset so that ing the commercial portfolio
agility will continue to scale. management principles that
characterize the agile model,
will be very useful.

Executive Summary
Adoption
Cultural Change
Three in five companies now
have more than 75% of their
teams working remotely, and It is essential to prevent leaders
more than half of them plan to from acting like a brake and
continue adopting the remote help them increase the employ-
work strategy. Considering ees' confidence, making them
that agility helps improving the more autonomous and capable
organization of remote teams of self-organizing themselves
to achieve business goals, it is in an agile company. Moreover,
expected that companies will companies will need to adapt
continue to adopt agility. agile cultural values and prac-
tices to remote work.

Talent Management

Organizations need to make three changes in this regard: attract-

ing professionals with agile skills, finding balance between talent
recruitment and upskilling and reskilling the current workforce, and
providing agile tools specifically tailored for hybrid work.
 14

Study Reflection

Victor Leon, Executive Director of the Agile Center of Excellence -

NTT DATA Latam
Executive Summary

When we started working on this new By completing this study, we can say
edition of the study on agility in Latin with great satisfaction that the advance
America, one year had passed since the in agility promoted by many companies
beginning of the biggest health crisis was one of the crucial factors in facing
in recent times. A crisis that not only such a great transformation. The crisis
affected our health, but also many other tested and proved that ensuring agility
aspects of our lives. is the best way to adapt in a dynamic
world.
In the workplace environment, the
adaptability showed by organizations Therefore, the title of the second
and professionals was remarkable. We, edition of the study is “Agility, a core
who lead agile teams, had to respond competency of flexible organizations,"
to multiple challenges in a short peri- an expression in which we fully believe
od. How do we transfer something we and which is supported by the opinion
have been doing on-site for years to a of leaders and experts: agility has
remote environment in an unpredict- become one of the core competencies
able situation? What would the new that modern organizations must drive
onboarding process and events look to progress in this new context. We
like for the teams, and what would agile invite you to analyze the insights and
structures look like? How would budget conclusions that the NTT DATA and
constraints be affected? How would Opinno teams have prepared.
business priorities change?
Main
Conclusions

04
 16

Main Conclusions
04

4.1. Agility adoption level

a) Agility's transversal
impact on organizations
The adoption of an agile mindset
continues to have a great impact on
Latin American companies, especially
in terms of the visibility of initiatives.

As noted in the previous edition of the

study, companies notice the impact of
Main Conclusions

agile adoption in many areas. Among

them, the visibility of corporate initia-
tives stands out, as 67% of the organiza-
tions surveyed acknowledged an improve-
ment. Agility also had a significant impact
on the behavior and results of profession-
als: 64% acknowledged an improvement
in the alignment between business and
IT, 63% say that staff trust has increased,
62% say that the ability to manage priori-
ties has improved, and 61% say that there
has been an increase in staff productivity.

Currently, only one in three organizations

(34%) believes that agility has been able
to reduce risks, and 27% believes it
improved cost reduction. This is due
to the fact that transformation in an
agile organization implies an investment
effort to develop employees’ skills and
to acquire tools that enable a change in
their way of working. In this context, it is
noted that trends such as the Lean Port-
folio Management and a good definition of
previous objectives allow visualizing short-
term benefits.
 17

In general, companies consider the This happens because organizations

impact of all these benefits to be inferior have reached a greater degree of matu-
in comparison with the previous edition. rity in adopting agile practices, so they
For example, the alignment between better understand the efforts involved
business and IT, despite being one in transformation and disseminate
of the concepts where organizations the needs for change throughout the
identified a greater degree of impact company. This broader understanding
(64%), dropped 30 percentage points of the implications of agility raises
compared to last year. expectations about the results the
organizations will achieve.

Main Conclusions
 18

b) From Technology to HR:

areas involved in the
transformation
Main Conclusions

Technology-related areas continue to Meanwhile, 35% of Human Resources

lead the adoption of agility, but the (HR) departments have adopted agility.
philosophy appears in many other This area plays a key role in agile trans-
areas of the organizations. formation, as it is responsible for devel-
oping talents and is the meeting point for
In general, organizations are beginning professionals from different areas. Thus,
to adopt the agile philosophy through despite being fundamental enablers of
professionals in the technological areas. digital transformation, the technology-re-
Indeed, 90% of the companies inter- lated areas are the ones that actually lead
viewed stated that their IT and/or Soft- the transformation.
ware Development departments had
already adopted this new way of working. Almost one in four Marketing depart-
In general, organizations are beginning to ments of the organizations surveyed have
adopt the agile philosophy through their adopted agility, and about one in ten
technology professionals. Thus, 43% of organizations implemented it in areas
the Innovation areas and 39% of the Data such as Finance, Auditing, Sales and
& Analysis areas have adopted a new Supply Chain. These more traditional
mindset. areas are beginning to adopt the knowl-
edge that the more advanced areas have
acquired through experimentation and
validated learning.
 19

In general, the areas of Technology, the implementation of practices that

HR and Agile CoEs (Agile Centers of help them achieve their main objectives
Excellence), present in more mature and results. Although agility is becoming
companies, support their profession- increasingly popular in organizations, in
als with a more flexible work culture so fact, not all areas adopt agile practices
that they adopt agility as a way to achieve in their entirety, and less technology-re-
their goals and not as a means to do so: lated areas learn the general concept and
instead of guiding the rigorous adoption apply what is of interest to them accord-
of work structures, they should guide ing to their needs.

Main Conclusions
Emerging practices

To increase awareness of agility A leading bank in the Andean

and provide tools for all areas, region has two pillars to train its
teams and projects that wanted professionals in agility: the HR
to participate in this experience, a department and an Agile Center of
prominent Brazilian company has Excellence formed by specialists
adopted a specific communication from the technical areas with greater
strategy through cloud-based experience in agile frameworks,
platforms, whose main focus is practices and techniques. Each
the collaboration between teams. pillar performs different tasks. While
In general terms, a workgroup HR is responsible for basic training
created on this platform shares and training coordination, the
announcements about events, technical areas guide fellow workers
training and other specific contents in applying agile practices from the
on a certain topic to inform all its guidance of an agile coach.
users and motivate them to change.
 20

About 51% of organizations surveyed reported that companies are applying

agility in up to a quarter of their areas. Meanwhile, one in four organizations
states, regarding 26-50% of their structure, that they already work with agile
practices. This is a significant increase in comparison with the last edition of the
study, where only 16% applied agility. Thus, there was a notable increase in
the agile maturity of organizations.
Main Conclusions

0% - 25% 26% - 50% 51% - 75% 76% - 100%

Considering that companies focus, at an early stage, on adopting agility in their

Technology area, the degree of agile maturity is characterized by its imple-
mentation in other areas of the companies. In this regard, it is noted that orga-
nizations that have been applying agility for more than six years show a more
balanced adoption between the different non-technical areas. In other words,
once companies adhere to the agile trend, they progressively integrate it into
different departments.
 21

c) Benefits and challenges

on the agile journey

Main Conclusions
1. Main benefits

Agility was an organizations' best Emerging practices

ally during the pandemic: adaptabil-
ity, time-to-market acceleration and
improved customer experience. A large telecommunications
company was able to significantly
The coronavirus pandemic disrupted reduce its time-to-market in 2020
business reality and forced companies by adopting agility, which enabled
to adapt to a new scenario. Therefore, it to maintain customer satisfaction
adaptability to changes in the envi- despite the challenges of the
ronment, as in the case of the current pandemic in this area.
health crisis, is the main agility benefit for
companies. So much so that 39% of the
organizations surveyed rate adaptabili-
ty as 'excellent' and another 35% rate it
as 'very good'.
A leading Brazilian bank decided
Within the banking sector, the percep- to train 6,000 of its professionals
tion of this benefit has been increasing, on the agile philosophy, due to the
with almost half of respondents rating pandemic, to allow the company
this skill as 'excellent' and 30% as 'very to adapt more quickly to the new
good'. The current health crisis has there- scenario.
fore led organizations to value flexibility
over other benefits.
 22

Following adaptability, the second benefit ment in the professional environment has
that companies perceive as relevant is the an impact on team productivity, which
improvement in time-to-market, since is why companies are already improving
agility makes it possible to accelerate their internal processes thanks to agility.
the launch of products or services. About
21% of companies rated this factor as Finally, the fourth most valued benefit is
'excellent' and 40% as 'very good'. This improved customer experience, with
was precisely one of the main benefits 16% of companies rating it as 'excellent'
noted in the previous edition of the study. and 44% as 'very good'. This shows that
organizations have reached an advanced
Agility also provides a better working level of maturity, which allows them to
atmosphere for employees, a factor place the customer at the core of their
rated as 'excellent', which is the highest activities.
rating, by 20% of organizations, while
39% rated it as 'very good'. This improve-
Main Conclusions
 23

2. Main challenges

Leadership style and lack of involve-

ment from business leaders, the main
obstacle to an agile transformation.

Despite all these benefits, companies The lack of experience or skills in agility
continue to face challenges to complete and lack of training or education on this
their transformation, mainly due to lack philosophy are other challenges iden-
of buy-in from senior management. More tified by companies, although of lesser
than six in ten respondents said that importance. As a result, it is often the
leadership style is the biggest obstacle teams that take the initiative and begin
to completing the transformation. In addi- to implement their practices, although
tion, three in ten respondents believe a this does not allow for the internalization
lack of leadership buy-in, which results and application of all the principles of this
in a lack of incentive for change in the philosophy.
organization.
To conclude, it is noteworthy that only
In general, this lack of involvement was two in ten companies consider the lack
observed in the mid-level manage- of technological enablers as an obstacle,
ment, as they are evaluated by tradi- and this is precisely the obstacle identi-
tional metrics exclusively related to the fied by the fewest number of organiza-

Main Conclusions
business. Therefore, the tendency is to tions. In other words, most companies
give less importance to Agile methodol- realize that technology is not a barrier
ogy metrics; not so much because they to adopting agility. Just as agility can
do not address the business itself, but enable the adoption of up-to-date tech-
because of the difficulty (or novelty) in nological tools that ensure greater flexi-
quantifying the impact on the business: bility, it can also enable change. Orga-
customer added value, collaboration, nizations that are managing to enable
market learning based on customer feed- a catalog of technological services
back, continuous delivery, and so on. throughout the company, with tools that
complement each other, take advantage
On the other hand, corporate culture of the latest technologies to improve effi-
continues to be a major barrier to trans- ciency, such as the use of clouds. Estab-
formation, according to more than lishing a simplified, efficient, and up-to-
six in ten companies. This is because date technological base accelerates agile
companies with a hierarchical structure transformation.
and a more traditional corporate culture
have greater problems in adopting agility.
For example, in engineering companies,
it is more difficult to break organizational
structures and patterns. Such an obsta-
cle is related to two other barriers identi-
fied by about six in ten organizations: the
existence of silos between areas and
resistance to change.
Main Conclusions 24

d) New mindset profile

Self-organization, continuous improve-
ment and flexibility in changing priorities
are the keys to achieving a new mindset.

Adopting agility involves changing some

of the aspects that define the business
daily routine. On this topic, more than half
of respondents affirm to incorporating
both self-organization and the capacity
for continuous improvement. This is a
change from the previous study: while
last year the teams' ability to organize
themselves autonomously was an
opportunity, it is now one of the main
characteristics of agile teams.
 25

Flexibility in changing priorities is the Leadership and new ways of

third factor in which companies have working are both indicators of
made the most progress. This flexibility is agile maturity.
a consequence of the alignment between
top-down and bottom-up, which also The results of this study also show that
reflects the advance in the agile maturity organizations with the highest degree
of the companies. Shared responsibility, of agile maturity are those that have
regular product delivery, communication adopted the new ways of working and
and motivation are other characteristics assumed a Lean and Agile leadership.
where organizations are making prog- Leaders are ultimately responsible for
ress, albeit to a lesser degree. the success of adopting an agile philos-
ophy; therefore, companies are focusing
However, 46% of organizations show on empowering their leaders in new and
an intermediate-high level of maturity innovative ways of thinking, enabling not
in relation to individuals and culture, only the adoption of the agile philosophy,
while strengthening their teams with the but also its dissemination to other areas
information and tools necessary for deci- of the organization.

Main Conclusions
sion making. The culture of organizations
naturally changes with the results of agile To conclude, companies have also taken
practices. on the roles of an agile organization:
scrum master, agile coach, product
owner, development team, and CoE lead-
er are, in that order, the five most devel-
oped professional roles.
 26

4.2. Governance for agility

a) Transformation committees,
a converging space for leaders
on the journey to agility
Agile Governance, the most important
advantage in work organization during
the pandemic year.

Currently, more companies are opting

for agility as a work philosophy. For
this reason, they must have a transfor-
mation office that facilitates this adap-
tation. According to this study, three in
four companies have a transformation
office dedicated to agile strategy
and its execution. About 91% of these
companies have corporate transfor-
mation plans, that is, transversal plans
that promote alignment throughout the
Main Conclusions

company to move towards the common

purpose of transformation.
 27

Thus, as in the last edition, it is noted within the company. Currently, these
that companies have agility as a funda- offices have a much more strategic role,
mental pillar of their transformation as they are involved in defining busi-
plans, although this is not the only one. ness strategy, prioritization and gover-
The governance of these plans through nance, as well as creating structures to
transformation offices is one of the define which other areas should adopt
most successful emerging practices in the philosophy and how the adoption
driving more successful, far-reaching process should be.
and future-oriented changes by compa-
nies. It’s no surprise that these agile Companies with transformation offices
transformation offices serve as the are also the ones that have experienced
link between traditional businesses the greatest evolution. According to the
and agile operations, being critical to study results, the digital transformation
companies’ digital transformation plans. committee continues to lead the strate-
gy in 40% of companies. 75% of these
Compared to the last edition, there has companies have been adopting agility
also been significant evolution in agile for over three years. In other words, the
governance considering the role played creation of these committees show a
by these transformation offices. In higher maturity level in the adoption of
the past, their focus was on the cultural agility and represents a benchmark for
sphere: they promoted changes in the those that are taking their first steps.
way of working, enabling new agile skills

Main Conclusions
 28

Meanwhile, the Technology area is mentioned above (General Management,

becoming more important as a leader lines of business, HR, Technology and
for agile transformation in organizations, Digital Transformation Committees) or
according to 16% of all respondents. In through Centers of Excellence (CoEs),
addition, almost all companies that have which are increasingly used to align an
been adopting agility over the past five agile strategy in the organization.
years emphasize the leadership of this
department. This evolution was possible because the
participating companies moved from
The HR department, however, continues team agility to organizational agility.
to be a relevant driver in the agility trans- The need for delivery or execution to
formation and governance process, since understand the business, and for the
this area fosters talent and new skills in business itself to understand the pace of
the organization to ensure a correct agili- the teams in the organization’s day-to-
ty dissemination. day activities, led to a combination of
different practices. Latin American
In turn, the Business and Management companies have started to adopt more
areas are more involved in monitoring agile paces: they make decisions, prior-
the results of programs and projects itize and balance skills more often now.
Main Conclusions

that were adopted with the practice of Teams and programs also understand
agility. About 10% of the companies in the business better and can focus on
the study have a governance model that creating value.
reports directly to executive levels.

Two ways of designating governance

are also presented: the first one is through
a combination of areas including those
 29

b) Agility at scale: coordination between

teams, programs and portfolios
SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework), the preferred scheduling structure in
companies

In terms of agility at scale, the study indicates that 45% of respondents trust SAFe
(Scaled Agile Framework) as the basis for their transformation strategy, which
demonstrates a significant growth when compared to the data obtained in the
2020 study. Below is the tribe model, with 26% adoption, is less relevant now than
it was in the previous edition.

To achieve
agility at the
organizational
level and optimize
the value streams
of each company,
the main challenge

Main Conclusions
is to define how to
group the teams.
 30

To achieve agility at the organization- the product criterion for team alignment.
al level and optimize the value streams In the previous edition, about one in four
of each company, the main challenge companies used this same approach.
is to define how to group the teams. Thus, organizations are preparing to
Therefore, the grouping criterion that offer the greatest possible value to their
was chosen represents one of the most customers, so that they can remain rele-
important decisions on the path to orga- vant in the market.
nizational agility. The impact such group-
ing will have on business processes to In relation to scaling, it is also essential
achieve scale agility is enormous: it will to measure the business’ operating
help with the governance procedures and results. The OKRs (Objectives and Key
alignments needed to make this scale Results), which will be detailed in the next
possible and to overcome barriers and section, represent one of the paths that
imbalances. is most used by more mature companies
in Latin America and are an important
More than half of the organizations catalyst for continuous transformation
Main Conclusions

surveyed in this study use the product and expansion. To facilitate their defini-
or service offered to customers as a tion, well-structured value streams with
ranking criterion, followed by customer common criteria should be created.
journey and journey of technology
enablers. This represents greater use of
 31

c) The combination of OKR

and QBR, a growing practice
of alignment and coordination
between agile teams
The importance of OKRs in adopting Emerging practices
organizational agility has been a clear
trend over the last months.

OKRs are a regular process that has The topics discussed in the study
brought a different organizational dynam- interviews prove that the digital,
ic to companies seeking to develop technology or business areas that
agility as a core competency and have have adopted and matured in agil-
become a primary technique for busi- ity operate at a different pace
ness alignment. According to the study, compared to the rest of the orga-
six in ten companies surveyed use OKRs nization.
and 40% say that they need six months
to implement them.

The most notable benefits of its appli-

cation include the business alignment,

Main Conclusions
according to about half of companies
that affirm to use OKR, and improved
strategy communication, which is
an advantage according to four in ten
companies.

On the other hand, only half of the

companies that affirm to use OKRs do
so transversally, by involving the entire
company to establish metrics. The other
half uses it in specific groups, such as
tribes or communities within the orga-
nization.
 32

In terms of how OKRs work, they are OKRs are widely used by mature orga-
increasingly transparent(organizations nizations and provide a vital foundation
measure their skills, prioritize things for companies to take another step
clearly, and pinpoint the greatest value towards business agility. In this edition
to customers). Nevertheless, the positive of the study we can see how the QBRs
impact that the use of OKRs can have (Quarterly Business Reviews) are report-
across the organization may also be limit- ing successful cases among the more
ed. Considering that this methodology for mature companies and in a large scale.
defining objectives and key results must It is also noted that the use of OKRs is a
be promoted from the executive board necessary condition for activating QBRs:
or the management committee itself, its if they do not go hand in hand, the areas
qualities no longer have the expected will experience some lack of commitment
impact and its application loses its and the alignment goal they pursue will
planned value if it is isolated in certain not be achieved.
departments.
The QBR process, one of the
Finally, there is also a strong relationship most effective practices for
between the implementation of the alignment in organizations.
OKRs and the existence of a corporate
transformation plan. Nine in ten compa- Last year, the use of QBR was wide-
nies that use the OKR methodology spread among more mature organizations
already have a transversal transformation and became a key tool for coordinating
Main Conclusions

plan in which agility is an important pillar. efforts, aligning strategies and manag-
ing skill optimally across the companies.
One in four companies surveyed declares
to be implementing the practice of QBRs.
Emerging practices
QBR is a process including actions for
preparation, development and results
that usually differ from every organization.
The use of OKRs alone is proving to Despite the great benefits reported by
be a partial solution for those who the companies interviewed in this study,
have not yet managed to extend they will not achieve the expected results
some agile practices across the if the QBR is not applied correctly. The
organization. The impact of OKRs use of QBRs should involve the whole
is exponentially improved when business, otherwise they are not as
they are applied across the orga- effective in aligning strategies, metrics
nization. Nearly one in three survey and allocation of resources to deliver
respondents who use OKRs at customer value.
corporate level report benefits
such as greater strategic clarity,
easier disclosure of plans across
all areas and operating levels, and
alignment in decision making.
 33

In organizations where the QBR process Finally, and despite the growth of QBRs,
has been adopted, there is an almost Colombia, Argentina and Brazil stand
unanimous consensus that the biggest out as the countries where they are least
challenge is its preparation. It is applied.
common to carry out a good pre-work
involving all stakeholders, but not
Emerging practices
everyone prepares in the same way.
At this moment, additional challeng-
es appear, such as the fact that not all
areas are at the same level of maturity, or The analysis extracted from the
simply that different leaders understand study showed that the use of
their key results differently. OKRs in conjunction with QBRs
is an emerging practice. Sixty
As previously mentioned, the success of percent of organizations surveyed
the QBRs is directly contingent on the use OKRs and 37% of them also
correct development of OKRs, aligned use QBRs. Furthermore, this is
with the business strategy. This step strongly stressed in the banking
represents the other major challenge in sector, where 76% of respondents
preparing the QBRs, as it will depend use OKRs and 56% of them also
largely on the agile maturity of the differ- use QBRs.
ent areas, which is generally unbalanced.
Although this is a big challenge, several

Main Conclusions
organizations have already managed to
adapt their own preparation processes.

Use of OKR with QBR, and the point of view of the banking sector

OKR QBR

OKR Banking sector QBR Banking sector

(68 banks in total) (52 banks in total)
 34

Emerging practices However, one of the best practices of

organizations that are more advanced
in agility is replanning their budget
allocation based on objectives, which
In the Andean region, we found allows them to improve financial
both a leader in the banking management and prioritize decisions.
sector and a telecommunications Organizations that use agile structures
company that managed to get the to allocate budgets have other key
whole business to accelerate the components in their sights, such as talent
pace of execution of QBRs, and management and fostering technology
they state that the benefit begins enablers, which are critical to consolidate
to be perceived when the whole the scale model.
business shares the preparation
and the event systematically. In On the other hand, the benefits of agil-
addition, they confirm that the level ity diminish when compared to more
of understanding between the traditional management processes:
areas, the alignment of strategies issues such as administrative approvals
and the expected results have and budgeting dampen the motivation
improved. However, a leading and enthusiasm of teams that embrace
telecommunications company in agility. For all the reasons mentioned,
the Southern Cone region points budget allocation is a fundamental
out that they are still not getting the component to consolidate the scale
results they could expect from this
Main Conclusions

model in organizations and one of the

practice because not all areas are biggest challenges to be faced.
applying it. Regarding the previous
study, and despite the growth in the Considering these problems, there are
use of QBRs, Colombia, Argentina several successful cases around the
and Brazil are the least developed. world regarding the application of the
Beyond Budgeting philosophy, which
bets on flexibility in order to improve
Budget allocation is the biggest each process. In essence, it manages to
obstacle to agile escalation across improve the resource allocation policy,
which is more suited to the purpose than
the organization
to the forecast and allows for alignment
with the business and the autonomy of
During the agility escalation in large orga-
the teams. Although it is not one of the
nizations, one aspect they tend to post-
most widespread philosophies in Latin
pone is budget allocation. Specifically in
America, the Beyond Budgeting philos-
this study, almost half of respondents
ophy it is one of the most aligned with
have not changed the way they allo-
agility and can be expected to eliminate
cate budgets for agile initiatives in their
many of the issues we find today in orga-
organizations. It is noteworthy that 11%
nizations that are committed to scaling
of organizations surveyed use agile struc-
the agile model.
tures such as Lean Portfolio Management
to allocate budgets. In addition, 64% of
the surveyed organizations that use
Lean Portfolio Management for budget
allocation also use SAFe as a frame-
work to scale agility.
 35

d) Team characteristics, a resources, in addition to development

projects. When adopted in more proce-
decisive factor in defining
dural and continuous workflow manage-
agile frameworks ment areas, Kanban eased the adoption
of agile behaviors.
Greater maturity in company agility
thanks to the new balance between In relation to this extension of agile prac-
Scrum and Kanban. tices, models that complement different
frameworks such as Scrumban are posi-
Considering that the main decision vari- tioned as the most widely used solution
ables when choosing a work framework among teams.
are the team’s objective, the service it
offers to the organization and the level of Also notable is the evolution in the cata-
agreement with stakeholders, the team log of frameworks used among the
characteristics are an essential factor for companies participating in the study,
making this choice. since such companies have become
more mature regarding the way they
Eight in ten companies use Scrum, select frameworks. In addition, there
closely followed by Kanban. In the last has been an increase in the catalog of
edition, Scrum was already the domi- frameworks, each one being applicable
nant tool, which shows that its use has to a different type of activity and general-
become more balanced. ly meeting the teams' level of knowledge

Main Conclusions
about the problem and the solution.
As in the previous study, this continues
to indicate the implementation of agile
 36

4.3. Agile Talent and Culture

a) Agile career paths

and skill building
In this new edition of the study, the
need for clarity in career paths is also
one of the most notable symptoms of
increased maturity.

Creating career paths for agility roles

and taking them to the next level in the
organizational structure are solutions to
avoid the tension they stated to feel in the
previous study. This tension arises espe-
cially between internal worker profiles
that have been reskilled and are evaluat-
ed in the traditional way, while day-to-day
results point to other metrics.

On the other hand, there are also some

Main Conclusions

cases in which the organization solved

the problems and finally managed
to generate greater understanding
between agility professionals without
making any substantial changes in
structures, career paths, etc. Compa-
nies that shared the challenge and bene-
fits of agility with those involved have
achieved an acceptable level of comfort
for them. In this case, the benefits are
intangible, as we are talking about the
impact individuals have on their organi-
zation and the rewards related to respon-
sibility, involvement and motivation.

Emerging practices

A spokesperson for a leading company in the Southern Cone and Andean region
says that “our agile professionals have been able to see beyond their work, as they
can constantly see their impact on the organization and this results in new opportu-
nities to generate that impact with greater responsibility, bringing knowledge to other
individuals and areas. In addition to wanting to be clear about their position (what
they do), they understand the importance of their performance and this is no longer
a barrier (if it ever was).”
 37

The development of agile talents and skills

is still generally presented as a combi-
nation of internal upskilling and the
acquisition of external talents. However,
regardless of strategy, generally all orga-
nizations choose to outsource positions
such as scrum masters and agile coach-
es, aiming at incorporating knowledge
into the organization without making basic
mistakes. For outsourcing, the models
continue to be a combination of the
fixed-price and the time and materials
model, the most common in companies
with a corporate transformation plan.

Finally, in eight out of ten cases, the in-

volvement of external worker profiles
does not exceed 50% of the efforts
made in agile structures.

Main Conclusions
The need for more agile profes-
sional profiles: Latin America chal-
lenges

Transformation teams with lower budgets

have a limited ability to produce real trans-
formation impacts. Profiles trained within
the organization are increasingly sought
after abroad, which increases the need for
significant retention efforts.

The COVID-19 pandemic had an unex-

pected effect on organizations across
Latin America. Migration to remote work-
ing has made it easier for agile profession-
als to open up to the foreign market, which
is generally better paid, considering the
instability of this economy in recent years.
This represents an additional challenge for
organizations, which must take measures
to retain talent in an increasingly compet-
itive market.
 38

In this second way, the support of

b) Agile knowledge an agile coach, whether internal or
dissemination in organizations external, makes the difference to take
advantage of the knowledge generat-
Main Conclusions

Key elements to spread agility in ed within the organization.

organizations: inspiration, results and
efficient tools. In turn, the game manual, the onboard-
ing kit or the playbook continues to be
When it comes to inspiring the rest of the crucial elements to facilitate this unfold-
organization, it’s crucial to show results, ing of knowledge and is often particularly
even if they aren’t fully understood at first. useful in setting the team (roles, events
Once this is achieved, agility becomes and tools) wanting to adopt the agility.
a very attractive work philosophy for
many areas. Thus, several companies in In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic
this study are able to generate an impact promoted the creation of e-learning plat-
and implement agility in the Risk, Audit- forms within companies and self-train-
ing and Finance areas, which seek great- ing has been particularly encouraged to
er transparency and collaboration within unleash the agile professionals' skills in
their own verticals to improve their time areas of greater commercial value.
and deliver value to the organization.
In the case of international companies,
In terms of knowledge, each company the creation of global CoEs (Centers
manages to do this in one way or anoth- of Excellence) makes particular
er. Among the more mature companies, sense. Although its implementation is
corporate universities are beginning complicated in its more agile and mature
to gain momentum , as they already subsidiaries, there is a general expec-
have a defined structure and a catalog of tation of a positive impact on aligning
methodologies for each situation. In addi- practices and leveraging highly special-
tion, a frequently used solution is holding ized skills.
workshops combined with on-the-job
training.
 39

c) The agile professional’s With some differences, agile leaders

point of view and agile experts share a common
view about the impact of change on
Agile specialists with experience in the organization.
the company, required profile and with
their own needs.

Professionals who have been working To understand the

with the company for a long time and difference in the profiles
have also become agile specialists
thanks to the upskilling processes under-
involved in the study, it is
taken by the organization are a key link necessary to consider the
in the transformation of the organization action plans in which they
as a whole. On one hand, they know operate. Transformation
the company’s business, processes and
history, and on the other hand, they know
process leaders operate
the specific agile mindset that the organi- at executive board
zation has implemented. As a result, they (strategy) level while
are, together with external agile profes- agile practitioners
sionals, one of the profiles increasingly
sought after and valued by the market.
operate at team, training,
or execution level.

Main Conclusions
However, not everyone is satisfied with
their new roles: two out of five respon-
dents see restructuring, new job defini-
tions and power shifts as a major chal-
lenge for organizations. The shift from Agile leaders and experts share some
being a product manager or a manager to insights on how agile adoption has
being a product owner or a scrum master affected the organization. However, they
causes them to lose visibility in terms of focus on different aspects. For example,
their career paths, what is expected from the experts have a view that is more
them, or what metrics are used to eval- optimistic than that of the leaders on the
uate them. Therefore, it is essential that degree of empowerment they give their
companies address these concerns and teams. Leaders are closer to the teams,
make employees aware of the benefits of so they have a more realistic view.
their new path.
When comparing their opinions on flex-
ibility, continuous improvement and
frequent delivery, the view of the agile
experts is a little less optimistic than
that of the leaders. Knowledge of the
practice is, again, the reason we found
for such a difference: leaders may have
a global view, so they may be making the
real impact relative and, consequently,
valuing these three aspects more posi-
tively.
 40

Leaders are also a little more optimis- In turn, leaders see silos between areas
tic about the results achieved with as the main obstacle to the agile trans-
agility. It is not surprising that the latter formation process of their company and,
spend much of their time teaching others contrarily, agile specialists rank it fourth.
who are not familiar with this philosophy, These two points may be due to the fact
so they see less alignment between that, in general, leaders are more resis-
the goals they pursue and the results tant to change and do not feel the need
achieved by the organization. for transformation as strongly.

Leaders see organizational silos as the However, both agile professionals and
biggest obstacle, while agile experts leaders see the need to manage talent
see cultural change as the main chal- and consolidate scale models as two
lenge. other challenges. This shows that orga-
nizations need to address the restruc-
Both leaders and agile experts agree on turing of career paths and define new
the main challenges to change, such as governance models that will allow them
leadership style or the need for a new to continue their commitment to agility.
organizational culture. However, they
do not agree on the degree to which Finally, there are conflicting views on
they are concerned about this change other challenges. While the agile experts
in culture. For leaders, it ranks third, but attach great importance to fostering
agile experts see it as the main obstacle. culture, the leaders, who have a more
Main Conclusions

transversal view, choose to strength-

en technological enablers. Both views
are reconcilable, but they must coexist:
the involvement of teams is critical for
change and technologies are a funda-
mental tool for this change to materialize.
Challenges and
Trends

05
 42

Challenges
05
and Trends

a) Pending issues for

successful change
Talent management, consolidation of
the scale model, and cultural trans-
formation are the biggest challenges
for organizations in applying the agile
philosophy.

In the previous edition of the study, resis-

tance to change by its members was the
main challenge faced by organizations.
Challenges and Trends

However, this resistance is no longer

among the most relevant outstanding
challenges. In this study, 62% of the
companies considered talent manage-
ment, which includes the recruitment,
development and retention of profes-
sionals trained in the agile philosophy,
as the biggest challenge faced by their
organizations.

In second place there is the consolida-

tion of the scale model, a challenge
identified by 57% of companies. This
shows that organizations have matured
agility in certain teams, areas or projects
and are currently looking for new models
that better adapt to their needs.

In turn, 53% of companies continue to

face challenges related to corporate
culture. To address them, it is crucial
to overcome leadership resistance and
break the silos.
 43

Measurement to drive continuous

improvement and innovation,
the main obstacle to achieving

Challenges and Trends

maturity in the agile environment.

To adopt the agile mindset, it is essen- Only 11.4% of the organizations

tial to have a culture of experimentation consider that they are at the highest
based on validated learning, where the level of innovation maturity, that is, they
hypotheses, testing, metrics and learning have a regular flow of ideas and experi-
phases are followed to ensure continuous ments and errors are positively perceived.
improvement. However, only 11.4% of
companies consider that they are at the
highest level of maturity in this contin-
uous improvement. The biggest chal-
lenge for organizations is to measure
results: moving from measuring results
from an annual to a monthly basis implies
a shift in paradigm and a new composi-
tion of indicators.

In fact, more mature organizations

are establishing concrete metrics that
provide them with information about
how they can evolve externally, to help
improve the customer experience, and
internally, to increase employee motiva-
tion.
 44

b) Bound for an agile future: trends

Scale, agility adoption and strategic alignment will characterize the next
steps for organizations.

To face the obstacles and challenges analyzed throughout the study and continue
advancing along the agile path, the Latin American companies surveyed will follow
five trends that will define their next course:

1. Scale

Both agile professionals and leaders are aware that agility must
cover other areas of the organization in addition to the IT teams, and
it must be applied to other departments, projects and processes.
More areas such as HR, Marketing and Finance are adopting
some of the agile practices. Organizations have realized that
applying the agile philosophy to other areas helps teams better
manage their priorities, work incrementally and iteratively, and
have a mindset of continuous improvement that is open to change
Challenges and Trends

and innovation. Expanding the model across the organization will

therefore be one of the next steps.

2. Adopting Agility

Organizations that have been adopting agility for less than one
year value it as an engine for team communication, empowerment
and goal achievement. Another observation is that three in five
companies have more than 75% of their teams working
remotely today. More than half of these companies are considering
continuing this remote work strategy. Agility helps improve the
organization of remote teams to achieve business objectives,
therefore, companies are expected to increase their adoption
of agile practices and increasingly benefit from the improvements
that companies in an early stage of agile maturity are experiencing.
 45

3. Strategic Alignment

The pandemic forced organizations to simplify their processes and

operations. In this regard, developing the skills of an adaptable
organization allows companies to better adapt to the current
context: due to the application of the business portfolio management
principles that characterize the agile model, they will be able to
prioritize the initiatives with greater value contribution, maintain
efficiency and improve their adaptation. Tools like the Lean Portfolio
Management help address the growing need for balancing the
organizations’ portfolios of initiatives.

4. Cultural Change

As discussed, resistance from leaders is one of the main challenges

in spreading agility throughout the organization. This philosophy
provides all employees with autonomy to make decisions and the
ability to self-organize themselves. For this to happen, it is essential

Challenges and Trends

that leaders are confident that they are acting in the company’s
interests. Therefore, it is essential to make this change in mindset
happen.

An additional need resulted from the pandemic: preserving and

adapting agile practices, values and principles in remote work.
Organizations must therefore use agility to allow remote workers to
maximize their productivity.

5. Talent Management

Investing time and resources to attract talent with agile skills

is another need for companies, especially in this new scenario.
However, a balance between upskilling and reskilling of the current
workforce must be achieved, eliminating the silos between the
business units and the number of different activities performed
by the same professional, in addition to hiring external talents. In
addition, there is the task of providing agile tools and knowledge
specifically tailored to the new hybrid way of working.

In summary, scale, agility adoption, strategic alignment, cultural change and talent
management are the top five trends that will guide organizations in the near future as
they continue to move forward on the agile journey.
MIT Technology Review in Spanish

Miguel Ángel Foces Vivancos

Senior Project Manager - Opinno Latam
[email protected]

María de Lourdes Pérez Carvajal

Innovation and Strategy Consultant - Opinno Latam
[email protected]

Jorge Andrés Crespo

Innovation and Strategy Consultant - Opinno Latam
[email protected]

NTT DATA

Victor Leon Marambio

Executive Director of the Agile Center of Excellence - NTT DATA Latam
[email protected]

Alejandro A. Hernández H.
Agile Coach/Center of Excellence (CoE) Consultant - NTT DATA Latam
[email protected]

The MIT Technology Review in Spanish is the translated edition of the MIT
Technology Review, a magazine published by Technology Review Inc., an
independent media company owned by the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology (MIT). Founded in 1899, it is the world’s oldest technology magazine
and a global authority on the future of Internet technology, telecommunications,
energy, information technology, materials, biomedicine and business.

Contents under the MIT Technology Review seal are fully copyrighted. No material
may be reprinted in whole or in part without authorization. If you would like to publish
the content of the MIT Technology Review magazine, please contact us by sending
an e-mail to [email protected] or by phone: +34 911 284 864.