New Work in large companies? Utopian! We say: not true! Even in large companies and corporations, there are rays of hope – and people who are committed to them every day. In an interview with MPC, David Mett (Project Manager Volkswagen Group Services GmbH*) and Sebastian Philipp (Team Leader Business Innovation Studio, BIS) talk about their experiences in dealing with different ways of working, about successes and hurdles – and how it can be possible to soften rigid structures on a small scale.
MPC: David, you once affectionately referred to BIS as a commune. Why?
DM: (laughs) There are various reasons for this. Especially because of the way the team treats each other. My understanding of a commune is a close-knit community that doesn’t worry too much about what others think of it, but has set itself the goal of being satisfied with itself and realizing its own potential – completely independent of any socially imposed constraints. You are “aligned”, but everyone still has the necessary freedom to make their own decisions. Decisions are made by those who have the most competence or by the community. In many other areas, there is often a classic hierarchical mindset. The “Why are we doing something?” fades into the background and the “How” unfortunately too often comes to the fore. For me, this was a contrasting program.
MPC: Sebastian, what do you think makes the Business Innovation Studio so special within the Volkswagen Group?
SP: We stand for a cause with passion and our personal commitment. I think that’s special for such a large company. When you work in a creative environment, you have people who are more passionate about their job than in purely analytical, management-oriented professional fields. In a small team of specialists, we are often better able to shape this required creativity, flexibility and focused customer and service orientation on a day-to-day basis than a large hierarchy-driven organization can.
MPC: The Business Innovation Studio also stands for new ways of working. Would you describe your way of working as agile?
SP: Yes and no. If you’re talking about agility only meaning Scrum, then no. If it’s about carrying the “Agile Manifesto” in your heart, then yes.
MPC: What does it mean for you to carry the “Agile Manifesto” in your heart?
SP: This means that the individual and interactions are more important than processes and tools. That everyone involved has freedom of thought. That you can take changes into consideration and react to them at any time and not slavishly follow a plan that was drawn up at the beginning but turns out to be impractical and poorly thought out over the course of the project.
MPC: Conversely, does this mean that everything that does not conform to this approach is obsolete?
SP: No, not at all. There are other organizational structures that are also absolutely right and important. Especially in such a large corporation, it is important that you also have clear structures and processes – for example in the financial or legal area – otherwise it would be very difficult to organize this huge apparatus. It’s simply a matter of accepting a maximum amount of freedom in terms of the “goal”, i.e. the assignment, in order to achieve the best possible result.
DM: We come from a world, due to the size of the company, in which processes take precedence over the individual. However, the necessary change in the company is currently taking place. However, we also realize that this is associated with a great deal of friction and that it is perfectly acceptable in such large companies for certain issues to be handled according to very clear processes. You have to have a sense of proportion and a sure instinct for what makes sense in which situations. In many areas, we have realized that the original plan should no longer be stubbornly followed, but must be adapted to rapidly changing requirements and situations. This does not mean that everything tried and tested is bad. It just means that we have to reassess the challenges and issues at all times in order to optimally adapt or redesign structures and processes. The biggest challenge I see is the question of what each individual employee, leader, manager and even managing director is prepared to give up in order to break through the classic “we’ve always done it this way”.
MPC: David: You also have a team in Braunschweig for project solutions. Have you adapted parts of the BIS way of working there?
DM: Yes, I learned an incredible amount from the BIS and took it with me to the other team. It starts with the structure of a jour fixe, where the first thing is to find out where everyone is mentally at the moment, what is on their mind. I didn’t know that before. And I no longer focus only on my defined area of responsibility, as is usual in traditional thinking, but try to keep an eye on the bigger picture. The best example: I can build a steering wheel or a door, see it as a self-contained part, or look at the overall car product. In the meantime, I always try to question and sensitize the team members as to why we do individual tasks and where there are interfaces.
MPC: Have there been situations in the past where you reached your limits due to different ways of working?
DM: Yes, for example when it comes to time. On the one hand, there is the customer’s desire and need to solve things at short notice. On the other hand, there is a service provider with clear structures that can stand in the way of flexible solutions. This is not only frustrating for the team, but also for me as the project manager. These discussions distract us from the issues that are actually important to us: Customer projects, growth, expanding and forging team structures. Ultimately, helping the Group to shape the upcoming challenges of the new automobility that the pace of change of our time brings with it.
SP: Two different types of service come together here. While we in the team work on a much more short-term basis according to the classic, external agency principle, Volkswagen Group Services as an overall service provider thinks in completely different time horizons. You can see that all dependent processes – be it procurement or HR processes – are designed for these long time horizons. They may work wonderfully in a different context, but in our relatively fast, dynamic environment they often prove to be impractical. This is the biggest point of discussion for me personally, but also in our collaboration.
MPC: How did you overcome these hurdles?
SP: We have started to identify these processes and have considered what adjustments are necessary. How much freedom is needed in certain processes? Which processes need to be created from scratch? You can only break new ground by always offering a certain amount of resistance and questioning the familiar. Of course, this is a balancing act: our mindset is also our USP. But from an internal perspective, this also leads to criticism. We sat down together and identified the interfaces where there is often friction. We communicated with our stakeholders at Volkswagen Group Services and worked on how to adapt these interfaces and processes so that they continue to comply with the rules, but also enable a new way of working throughout the company. We discussed how we can adapt recruitment processes so that they work faster and more flexibly. We looked at how this could be reconciled with the pay scale systems, corporate identity, communications department, IT and procurement processes. And we learned that our colleagues are generally helpful and solution-oriented and are also willing to try new things.
MPC: Have there already been any partial successes?
DM: Sure, but this is an ongoing process. We have achieved more flexibility in the recruitment processes – the growth from two to 14 employees within two years speaks for itself. We have also managed to create an understanding of this department and what we need. However, we have not yet really succeeded in making sustainable changes. We have to show the managing directors and division heads – and ultimately everyone who is supposed to accompany us on our journey – that innovative services cannot be conceived, developed and implemented without new ways of working. We need to consistently and permanently create the necessary freedom that we need to achieve this.
MPC: What specific tips can you give to other teams who want to work more flexibly and quickly in a larger company and move towards an agile way of working?
DM: What is absolutely paramount for me and what I have learned: Finding the right advocates and multipliers. It is incredibly important to find one or more colleagues in management, divisional management, HR, procurement and all other cross-divisional functions who are enthusiastic about the topic. This ally – in spirit – then needs to be filled with all kinds of information and benefits, so that they can be the multiplier in their respective sphere of influence; the driver to create the freedom that is needed. It is important to know their agenda, goals and personal motivation and to link these with the benefits of your own project.
SP: For you as a team, you need to be very clear about where you want to go. You need a very clear focus on who you are and who you are not. Only from this can you draw the strength to engage with the whole topic of change. You should look ahead and not struggle too much with the existing system. And it is very important that you let the stakeholders become part of your work. Only through their own experience can you create understanding for change. In short: invite management to feel your passion and light a fire in them.
The interview was conducted by Susanne Stöcker
Sebastian Philipp (left) and David Mett
Photo: Susanne Stöcker
* Volkswagen Group Services (www.volkswagen-groupservices.com) offers a wide range of automotive services for the Volkswagen Group. Since 2014, the Business Innovation Studio (BIS) as an internal agency for service and business design for various customers and clients from the entire Volkswagen Group.
Copyright lead image: Nathan Rodriguez/Unsplash