May 02, 2019
May 02, 2019
Contributor: Jordan Bryan
Adopting agile can deliver great business benefits for internal audit departments. However, before rushing to adopt agile methods, audit leaders must clearly define their objectives and their own willingness to change.
Appreciating the business conditions today and the need for flexibility in planning and engagement, audit leaders are interested in the benefits of adopting agile. Despite the clear benefits, though, departments face a big hurdle in figuring out where to start.
“Conventional audit planning processes and engagements follow clearly defined schedules and phases that at first blush seem incompatible with agile methods,” says Malcolm J Murray, VP and Team Manager, Gartner. “However, if audit adopts agile thoughtfully and takes into account the organizational situation, it can be incorporated into audit methodology.”
To identify which components of agile to implement, audit leaders must:
Leaders must appreciate that different agile practices yield different benefits. Audit departments that wish to adopt agile methods must clearly define the objectives they seek to achieve through implementation.
Audit leaders looking to enable efficiency and higher-quality outputs may consider implementing iterative sprints. Sprints help teams take an incremental approach until the desired output is achieved, ensuring that no resources are wasted. However, if team communication, collaboration and accountability are the desired goals, Kanban may be the appropriate approach. Kanban helps teams visualize a process, manage it and continually improve, while enhancing communication and collaboration.
When selecting a single component of agile, it is likely that teams will also experience benefits associated with another agile component. For example, a team using Kanban may also see improvement in the quality of outputs, but these benefits are experienced to a lesser degree. If a combination of outcomes is desired, leaders should consider a hybrid approach.
After understanding which type of agile best fits the department’s needs, audit leaders should pick a framework for implementation. Each framework is designed based on change readiness and the degree of effort required to train and support audit teams and communicate changes to the business.
The clear benefits provide an impetus to enacting agile methods in the audit department, but variations exist within departments, and there is no one right solution. “Audit departments must tailor agile methods to meet their particular needs and objectives,” says Murray. When done successfully, agile methods can deliver:
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