Otto Group
Kanban Introduction IT

All three levels of the organization were involved at the same time and the first step was to fundamentally clarify how agile and fluid but regulated communication can work across three or four levels. Kanban boards were then set up at team level (flight level 1) together with the teams in training sessions, workshops, simulations, retrospectives and with the help of practical support.

At the same time, Kanban boards were set up at department/area level with the department and area managers in training sessions, workshops, retrospectives, simulations and with the help of practical support (flight level 2). As this level is primarily concerned with coordination and eliminating blockages, the topic of delegation and decision-making crystallized over time. Further workshops were therefore held on delegation practices and decision-making skills. In order to ensure continuity, at least one person per area within Otto Group IT was required to accompany the change full-time, i.e. to provide a reliable point of contact and know "where the shoe pinches". This person was trained and developed iteratively by sitegeist.

In order to bring all the threads together in Flight Level 3, to become strategically effective and to focus on leading initiatives quickly and successfully to the goal, Kanban boards were set up at management level (Flight Level 3) with the division managers and the director of the division in training sessions, workshops, retrospectives, simulations and with the help of practical support. In the last step for the time being, an interested division manager was given a next-step analysis based on the Kanban Maturity Model in order to be able to position himself again and again. This makes it possible to identify sensible and senseless next steps in order to prevent stagnation in development as well as excessive demands on the system.

Kanban has been successfully established in all teams and the teams now use Kanban on a daily basis to balance operations and projects and to ensure communication and keep it lean. All areas also use Kanban at divisional level (flight level 2) and have found a good digital solution to link the flight levels together through internal experiments. There has been a striking amount of transparency in the strategic flight level 3 of the management. The flight level 3 Kanban board is visible to everyone in the management corridor and can be used by all colleagues to get an overview. This has significantly increased communication and transparency throughout the entire management team and focused work (e.g. innovation). Otto will continue to change, just as Otto has been changing since it was founded. Kanban is now an established method in Otto Group IT for promoting and channeling change. We continue to offer Otto help in any form and, with the KMM (Kanban Maturity Model), we have a powerful method for supporting large systems over the long term if necessary. Here too, our clear goal is to make ourselves as unnecessary as possible.