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:
- “I’ll show the way”
- “I’ll make success possible”
- “I’ll encourage learning”
- “I’ll ensure results”
By applying these four principles in their personal work management, both managers and specialists can support the creation of OP’s goal-oriented culture. This article explains in more detail what “I’ll encourage learning” means in D&T and as an active way of working, both for supervisors and employees.
Encouraging learning means creating an environment and culture that support competence development
“The purpose of the principle “I’ll encourage learning” is to ensure that OP’s specialists not just get along in their work but shine in it,” says Toni Kopra, Competence Lead of product owners.
According to Toni, shining in one’s work means, above all, the success that a person experiences in their work: the lightness and smoothness of work and the flow state. In an organisation characterised by challenging duties and innovation, the lightness and smoothness of work is specifically based on top expertise and the confidence that it brings. This makes the business profitable because high-quality competencies produce good results and the courage to experiment something new.
Competence development should therefore be an integral and natural part of working at OP. In terms of time management at work, this approach is supported by models such as the 70–20–10 model. This means that specialists should use 70% of their time in daily work, 20% in the development of working methods and the remaining 10% in competence development.
However, we must note that introducing such operating models in competence development doesn’t happen with a snap of the fingers. Before we can discuss competence needs and give and take feedback, which is vital for learning, we must have a culture that makes all this possible. According to Toni, this is what encouragement to learning actually means.
“To make the practices of competence development an integral part of our daily work, we need to ensure a certain environment for them. Mutual trust and psychological safety within a team form the bedrock for everything. Thanks to measures such as recurring rounds of feedback in which people are encouraged to participate, we have already evidenced some cultural change that we are seeking. The change requires continuous practice and repetition, and we mustn’t give up even if the new operating model doesn’t feel so easy for all of us right away. The most important thing is to create a right kind of culture that supports development,” Toni says.
Product Owner Mervi Behm, who works in Toni’s line organisation, also finds that an open and safe atmosphere and team spirit are the key.
“Feedback is one of the elements of competence development, and we are encouraged to give feedback continuously, not only in official quarterly surveys. Anyone can give feedback to anyone. For this kind of feedback culture to exist and evolve, we need an open atmosphere. A good and safe team spirit enables open discussion and learning from feedback,” Mervi sums up.
How does competence development take place, besides through feedback and in our daily work?
Mervi explains that, in practice, they are encouraged to learn first and foremost in our daily work. Learning in one’s work and from coworkers takes place through active sharing of knowledge. Mervi also encourages her coworkers to learn and to take initiative to share their knowledge.
OP has created a number of methods and forums to encourage learning and competence development. One of these is OP Software Academy headed by Toni Kopra. The Academy focuses on meeting competence needs arising from OP’s ICT strategy. The Academy provides training mainly online which, according to Toni, has attracted interest and received positive feedback.
In addition to her role as Product Owner, Mervi Behm also works as the Chapter Lead of product owners. This means that she specifically encourages product owners to develop competencies by making sure that the competencies of this group of specialists, or chapter, are up to date. There are various ways of developing competencies through chapters.
“In our chapter operations, we define matters that we want to learn and turn them into quarterly targets. Together with product owners, we have also defined the mission and responsibilities of the chapter. We create quarterly backlogs on matters such as learning targets and training courses. After this, we share experiences and thoughts,” Mervi explains. “In chapter operations, we have also experimented job shadowing, which means that product owners working in different teams observe each others’ working day and working methods. You often get great ideas and inspiration by learning what others do,” she continues.
“In addition to chapter operations, we have product management guild operations, which were launched this year. The guild is also an excellent forum for learning and knowledge sharing. Everybody is welcome to guild meetings to listen to interesting presentations about product management. The guild also provides an opportunity to influence the development of product management at OP,” explains Mervi.