At the beginning of 2019, OP began a journey of change towards a more agile, self-managed operating model that is based on autonomous teams. In Development & Technologies (D&T), this has meant the creation of shared agile principles and practices, in addition to the agile development methods that have been used already for some time. It has also involved further improving our management models and supporting our self-managed teams.
During the journey of change, OP has three strategic priorities: improving employee experience, improving customer experience and operational efficiency. Bringing these priorities into life in a lean, self-managed organisation is supported by the four Principles of Good Leadership that guide supervisors as well as specialists who are in charge of managing their own work:
- “I’ll show the way”
- “I’ll make success possible”
- “I’ll encourage learning”
- “I’ll ensure results.”
The new corporate culture based on self management and autonomous teams has transformed management and leadership: the new servant leadership aims to remove obstacles and thus enable the success of teams and specialists. Specialists have been given notable decision-making power over their own work, practices and targets. This article discusses what the leadership principle “I’ll make success possible” means for a supervisor in Development & Technologies, and how the teams see it.
Success enabled by targets set together and confidence in the team
Test Engineer Sami Kyllönen coordinates testing in the Hybrid Infra Transition project. He says that, from the employee’s point of view, mutual confidence between the supervisor and the team makes it possible for an autonomous team to succeed. The self-managed way of working enables such confidence which builds on continuous discussion and listening.
”Things go best when targets and boundaries for our work are agreed together and the supervisor then has confidence that the team can do its work well. As a subordinate, I’m very independent, systematic and logical. For me, the most important is that targets are agreed together and that I feel I’m trusted,” Sami says.
“I also like the fact that if we’re on a critical project, we discuss progress with our supervisor every week or two. Giving feedback on reaching the target is very important at that point. I think I’m easily approachable and I like to get feedback. I appreciate constructive feedback from the supervisor so I can improve my performance. I’m ready to give feedback to others, too,” Sami says, describing the success factors and what he expects from leadership.
Sami’s supervisor is Leena Likitalo, Competence Lead of test engineers in OP Software, Banking. In Sami’s opinion, her way of working could be characterised as servant leadership. In Leena’s group, work is divided so that the supervisor manages practical issues and removes any obstacles to work, while specialists focus on their tasks and choose the methods they believe are the best.
Supervisor’s support and presence available whenever needed
The leadership principle ”I’ll make success possible” can be divided into trust and sharing responsibility, supervisor’s presence in daily work, removing obstacles and long-term approach to change management.
”Trust and sharing responsibility means that it’s the team who knows the best how to act. As a supervisor, I give my team the opportunity to make autonomous decisions and take responsibility. Instead of providing them a ready set of answers, I give them my full support and encourage them to find the right solution,” Leena Likitalo says.
The transformation of OP’s corporate culture has been significant. Before the adoption of self-managed practices, supervisors had smaller teams which meant that presence in daily work meant working in the same location. Today, a supervisor may have over a hundred persons working under them. So does Leena.
“All of us aren’t necessarily working in the same location every day and working from home is now very common. I decided to ask my subordinates what they thought my presence should mean in this context. They felt that the key thing was that if they needed help, I’d be quickly available through digital communication methods or by phone or that I could forward their question to the right person. For me, that’s removing obstacles,” Leena says.
In Leena’s opinion, a long-term approach to change management as an element of “I’ll make success possible” means competence management, among other things. Based on OP’s strategy, each competence area forms its competence strategy that defines the kind of competence to strengthen and to acquire in the future. In this, Leena as a competence lead plays a key role.
Leadership principles derived from employee expectations
OP’s journey of change started in the beginning of 2019, and Leena joined the company in August of the same year. It was the very journey of change that made Leena interested in the career opportunity at OP presented to her and she decided to move from gaming into the financial industry.
“When I came to OP, I was keen to embed OP’s core values in my leadership, but also to find out how they are applied here in practice. It’s fantastic that employees were actually asked what they wanted from leadership,” Leena says.
It’s these needs and wishes, which relate to the sharply changing working life and to our self-managed operating model based on autonomous teams, that are the basis of OP’s Principles of Good Leadership.
“I naturally want to follow OP’s Principles of Good Leadership. For me as a supervisor, they are crystal clear. However, it’s important for me to know how people in my teams perceive them – what does “I’ll make success possible” and the other principles mean to them. That’s why we’ve discussed them together to find out what the good practices are and what more could I do to support them.”
“In an agile context, leadership must be agile too. If needed, leadership behaviour must be developed and modified. I think I’ve succeeded as a supervisor if someone finds the courage to say that they want to be led in a certain way. In making success possible, it’s crucial to listen to people about what “I’ll make success possible” means to them. For some, it means practical things, such as functioning tools and progressing without problems. The important thing is to be on the same page about these wishes,” Leena summarises.