The Australian Red Cross partners with ThoughtWorks for Agile transformation
Announcement posted by Allison+Partners 22 Nov 2017
Agile tools and techniques enable the charity to unlock value and respond to change at speed
Sydney, Australia - 22 November 2017 – Global software development and digital transformation consultancy ThoughtWorks, has partnered with humanitarian aid and community services charity The Australian Red Cross, to introduce new Agile ways of working to deliver its valuable services more efficiently.
Managing the details of 180 services across every state in Australia, across 30 different systems, was proving to be an ongoing challenge for Red Cross. As an organisation that offers the community everything from vital mental health and NDIS services to assistance for children, the aged and those who are homeless, it recognised that having the ability to easily access important data about who it was helping through which services, would substantially improve its operating efficiency.
Combining this level of visibility with the ability to capture and maintain data in a single system, would also increase levels of accountability, as well as making it easier to meet regulatory and funding requirements.
“We provide worldwide support in times of crisis, encourage the upholding of international humanitarian law and offer migration support and community services for disadvantaged or vulnerable communities. The world is changing rapidly, and so are the challenges that we face. Unexpected disasters, a changing climate and new conflicts and legalities create the need to be able to respond to change at speed,” said Holly Brown, Project Manager Client Case Management at Australian Red Cross.
With a case management product identified, the team considered how a diverse change management system, affecting the entire organisation, could be broken down to deliver key functionality, build capability and advocacy early, as well as respond to ongoing change.
ThoughtWorks began working with Red Cross to introduce an Agile way of working into the organisation. The process started with a discovery phase to identify themes for improvement, before creating a visual system to plan out the entire portfolio of work across all services. A lean roadmap then established a standardised, yet highly flexible approach to onboarding individual services, introducing Agile tools and techniques to each team as they were engaged.
The Agile approach to change management has enabled Red Cross to rapidly unlock the value of work undertaken to select and customise a product, building alignment in the team and fostering advocacy with service stakeholders, technology stakeholders and senior leadership.
"The Agile approach has allowed us to deliver value to Red Cross employees and clients faster, as well as using visual systems to create deeper engagement with our business stakeholders," said Holly.
“The case management product is already being used by over a third of our services, which means we’re edging closer to our goal of achieving a centralised data management system.”
-Ends-
About ThoughtWorks
We are a software company and community of passionate purpose-led individuals. We think disruptively to deliver technology to address our clients’ toughest challenges all while seeking to revolutionize the IT industry and create positive social change.
For further information:
ThoughtWorks
Michelle Rovere, Allison+Partners
0408.441.662
michelle.rovere@allisonpr.com
The Australian Red Cross
Kylie Johnson, Media and Communications Adviser
02.8234.3107 or 0466.464.695
kjohnson@redcross.org.au
Managing the details of 180 services across every state in Australia, across 30 different systems, was proving to be an ongoing challenge for Red Cross. As an organisation that offers the community everything from vital mental health and NDIS services to assistance for children, the aged and those who are homeless, it recognised that having the ability to easily access important data about who it was helping through which services, would substantially improve its operating efficiency.
Combining this level of visibility with the ability to capture and maintain data in a single system, would also increase levels of accountability, as well as making it easier to meet regulatory and funding requirements.
“We provide worldwide support in times of crisis, encourage the upholding of international humanitarian law and offer migration support and community services for disadvantaged or vulnerable communities. The world is changing rapidly, and so are the challenges that we face. Unexpected disasters, a changing climate and new conflicts and legalities create the need to be able to respond to change at speed,” said Holly Brown, Project Manager Client Case Management at Australian Red Cross.
With a case management product identified, the team considered how a diverse change management system, affecting the entire organisation, could be broken down to deliver key functionality, build capability and advocacy early, as well as respond to ongoing change.
ThoughtWorks began working with Red Cross to introduce an Agile way of working into the organisation. The process started with a discovery phase to identify themes for improvement, before creating a visual system to plan out the entire portfolio of work across all services. A lean roadmap then established a standardised, yet highly flexible approach to onboarding individual services, introducing Agile tools and techniques to each team as they were engaged.
The Agile approach to change management has enabled Red Cross to rapidly unlock the value of work undertaken to select and customise a product, building alignment in the team and fostering advocacy with service stakeholders, technology stakeholders and senior leadership.
"The Agile approach has allowed us to deliver value to Red Cross employees and clients faster, as well as using visual systems to create deeper engagement with our business stakeholders," said Holly.
“The case management product is already being used by over a third of our services, which means we’re edging closer to our goal of achieving a centralised data management system.”
-Ends-
About ThoughtWorks
We are a software company and community of passionate purpose-led individuals. We think disruptively to deliver technology to address our clients’ toughest challenges all while seeking to revolutionize the IT industry and create positive social change.
For further information:
ThoughtWorks
Michelle Rovere, Allison+Partners
0408.441.662
michelle.rovere@allisonpr.com
The Australian Red Cross
Kylie Johnson, Media and Communications Adviser
02.8234.3107 or 0466.464.695
kjohnson@redcross.org.au