Introducing changes in the project management culture.

Chain retailer EVA has been the market leader in its segment for many years according to customer opinion. The company starts dozens of new projects each year to improve service and internal optimization, but many projects from previous years remain unfinished. The company needed to accelerate project completion and strengthen its culture of project management.

Eva

We introduced top managers to agile approaches.

At a two-day training, we introduced the CEO and top managers to agile approaches inorganizing work processes and showed them their value in modern business. Each key employee understood what would be happening at the company and why. The initiators of the changes to project management pledged their support and help to their colleagues, and they chose pilot projects for implementing agile.

We conducted a session with the team where we visualized all planned projects. We updated the status of ongoing projects and those that had not yet started. We also prioritized the projects based on their value for the business. Finally, we identified which projects would be most complex (where agile helps most) and which could be done according to classical project management approaches.

Development of a mobile app for EVA

  1. Development of a mobile app for EVA
  2. Implementing CRM in category management (personalized offers for customers)
  3. Extending functionality of the online store EVA.UA

We got started training and launching teams for the pilot projects.

After three weeks of work on personalized offers, we saw that the EVA team could more quickly 

handle tasks that used to be given to contractors.

First successes: mobile app eva

The key challenge was to create an independent internal team of developers for the first time in the company’s history.

The results were impressive: the first version of the app was ready for testing in just 12weeks!
  • Product quality. Direct communication between developers and users during product research showed what customers need – and what they don’t.
  • Speed. Parallel incremental development of the design and the app itself with quick approvals, unlike when working with contractors.
  • Business value. The atmosphere of creativity and safety in the Scrum team led to many new solutions for other projects and processes at the company.

Personalized offers project.   

The challenge here was to create the company’s first cross-functional team with representatives from three departments (ІТ, marketing, and sales/finance). Employees worked on the project part-time except for the Scrum master. We also needed to transform employees’ attitudes: from a negative view of such projects as ‘extra work’ into ‘being involved in something interesting.’

After 11 weeks: speed, productivity, and a new level of cooperation.
  • Speed. 46 experiments launched in nine week long sprints. Before: one experiment in eight weeks.
  • Productivity. Three experiments in sprint#1, 15 experiments in sprint #11.
  • New level of cooperation between representatives of nine departments: individual accountability, interaction, and help.
  • Engagement of employees in a creative and safe atmosphere: two participants expressed a desire to work on the project full-time.

The internet store team.

The challenge: create one product with three teams. And 95% of the team members were newcomersto the company, with more joining constantly.

After three weeks: transparency and quick adaptation.
  • Transparent and structured work process: planning tasks for concrete, short time periods and planning for unplanned work
  • Transparency of workload and deadlines thanks to visualization of work and use of work boards
  • Transparency of results: participants saw how much they’d gotten done, and felt satisfied instead of just tired
  • New team members adapt quickly and get involvedin the work.
After three months: project fulfilment speed increased by several times.

Additionally, with the help of an Uphill Partners coach, the team:    

  • chose three more projects for introducing agile approaches
  • decided to move key members of the personalized offers project team to full-time
  • decided to hire two more internal Scrum masters for ongoing and new agile projects.

Further: growing employee expertise.

We taught the team one more methodology: Kanban. We launched a Product Owner Schoolfor them. Their internal Scrum masters also went through Scrum Master School by Uphill Partners.

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