BMW 2022

Alphabet was founded in 1997 as a division of the BMW Group. I was asked by Alphabet to provide consultancy to the ODS team at the BMW Bank in Munich, for various data integration projects. In this combined role I was also assigned to guide the team’s junior Scrum Master in her role.
As an information analyst, I often interacted with end users from various European countries served by the team. A professional attitude and the ability to collaborate with different cultures, while navigating organizational politics, was crucial in this assignment. The common thread in all my projects was short-cycle, iterative delivery. Customer wishes were assessed on the available data as soon as possible, often during the first conversation. This way of working turned meetings into workshops and typically increased the participation of the customer in the final solution. “This was very useful” or “you are achieving results faster than we are used to” are comments I often heard.
The most important project I participated in was the removal of personal data from various systems of the Bank. Cultural differences, different legal requirements and the complexity of the removal process, resulted in irritation among IT and business colleagues. By having the difficult conversations first, delivering on our promises, and making everyone part of the solution, this project became one of the successful and interesting projects at BMW Bank. Business definitions, which are highly dependent on the local market in each country, were coordinated and tested based on the data that was provided and were updated in a timely manner by business and IT together.
As an Agile Software Development Coach, I helped the Scrum Master to better understand her role. After a number of sessions to review the core concepts of Scrum, I helped her with on-the-job training and advice when she needed it. I acted as the “change agent” in the team and tried to get everyone enthusiastic about agile working. I did this by citing examples of previous assignments, giving presentations on concepts such as Cynefin, Scrum, XP and Lean, but also by providing feedback on the latest developments after the annual Better Ways conference.