Back in April, my colleague Colin Banno-Thornton wrote about the birth of the Enabling Digital Transformation team in Defra. Since then quite a lot has changed (not least the name of the team - I'll come back to that later), so I thought it was time for a bit of an update.
A team to help other teams
We've been saying continuously to the other teams we meet in Defra: we're here to help you get to grips with digital ways of working.
The members of our team have experience and expertise. They've tackled similar problems before, in other organisations. They're good at spotting problems and suggesting ways to fix them.
Most of our work relates to people and skills, because ultimately digital is not about upgrading technology or fixing websites, it's about creating an organisation that's better at coping with and adapting to change.
That means ensuring people have the skills, training, support and advice they need to change from old ways of working to new. All people, from the most junior assistant to the most senior leader. We're here to help everyone.
Our focus is on people and skills
We are concentrating our efforts on:
- building Communities of Practice
- providing and supporting learning and development
- recruitment (in other words, building digital capability to align Defra with the Digital, Data and Technology profession)
- helping teams to work in new ways
- providing coaching and support for specific teams
- helping everyone understand what digital means
We don't claim to know everything (not by a long shot), or to have all the answers. But our combined experience can be a big help for teams who are new to agile, because we're good at spotting the blockers and knowing where to go and who to talk to to get them unblocked.
As always: users first. Start small. Iterate often. Deliver as a team.
And talking of the team, ours now has a new name. Our focus has shifted a bit over time, and no-one really ever understood what "Enabling Digital Transformation" meant anyway.
So from now on, we're the "Digital Working" team. We know about digital ways of working, and we can help other teams here understand them and put them to use.
If you’d like to keep an eye on what we’re doing, keep an eye on this blog. We’ll be posting monthly updates here.
3 comments
Comment by Dan Beasley posted on
Transformation of the transformation team. I like it!
I think the focus on helping teams and the things directly affecting teams is a great thing, please continue 🙂
Comment by Greg Turner posted on
I want to help how can I join the team
Comment by Alan Rider DfT Digital Capability Lead posted on
We have a Digital Adoption team in DfT that do pretty much the same but also include an innovation lab and lead on agile working. You've inspired me to suggest a post for the DfT Digital blog!