Our fourth core belief emphasises the importance of operational agility in the banking industry, including the use of the scrum framework, and how it benefits digital banks.
Digitalisation plays a crucial role in modernising traditional banking processes. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, we see financial institutions continuously upgrading their technology infrastructure to support the ongoing operational revolution, enabling them to streamline operations and improve customer experience.
Why do we need operational agility?
In today’s rapidly changing world, the ability to act swiftly is crucial for organisations to excel and generate value. In the past, businesses followed a structure and predefined approach to their operations, but the introduction of technology has brought about the need for continuous improvements and adaptations.
Operational agility recognises the need for transformation in architecture, infrastructure, people, and processes, enabling consistent improvements through consistent iterations.
Benefits of agility to digital banks
Agility empowers digital banks to iteratively transform their processes and stay competitive in an environment of constant innovation. Some key benefits to digital banks include:
- Technological advantage: Consistent iterations enable the implementation of best-in-class products, enhancing efficiency through leveraging the latest technology.
- Refined velocity: Agile teams measure success through sprint iterations and story points, optimising processes and accelerating speed and velocity.1
- Workforce empowerment: Agile companies foster a culture of learning and innovation, empowering employees and reducing attrition rates.
- Improved transparency: Agility provides leaders with a clearer view of their employees’ processes, promoting efficiency, reducing bottlenecks, and creating a lean organisation.2
- Enhanced flexibility: Agility allows individuals to adapt to different roles, reducing dependencies on single stakeholders and eliminating bottlenecks.
Enhancing processes with operational agility and scrum framework
As financial institutions have historically been hierarchical in their management, the ongoing operational transformation paves the path for introspection and digital transformation. Banks are rapidly moulding their processes to consciously incorporate organisational agility.3
Most recently, Synpulse built Singapore’s first digital-native bank with agility at its heart. We delivered this via “scrum”, a framework that captures the agile mindset via certain roles. In this case, the scrum master applies the scrum theory and practice within the programme ecosystem.4
The scrum master involved in the project indicated that the adoption of agility played a pivotal role in accelerating time to market. It facilitated smoother communication, improved collaboration among team members, and enhanced flexibility in accommodating stakeholder requirements. Furthermore, the ability to prioritise backlog items more flexibly and address minor adjustments with comparative ease were notable advantages gained through the agile approach.
Leveraging the scrum framework
We embrace the scrum framework to shape our teams internally, enabling them to work in short iterations called “sprints”. Through these sprints, we make incremental changes to processes, steadily improving their foundations over time.
Additionally, we hold regular meetings known as “scrum ceremonies” to ensure effective collaboration and track individual workflow progresses. To facilitate task management, we utilise a visual tool called a “kanban board”. This board helps us visualise and manage tasks, fostering a cross-functional environment with shared goals.
By following this methodology, we prioritise process simplicity and transparency. It nurtures a unique mindset among our employees, enabling them to consistently deliver value to our clients.
How we can support you in your digital journey
At Synpulse, we understand the importance of operational agility in modernising processes, both externally and internally. Our goal is to provide incremental value to our clients by offering an agile structure that is highly adaptable to today’s dynamic environment.
We offer a comprehensive range of services, including enterprise analysis, design, planning, and implementation, utilising a holistic target operating model (TOM) approach. Our proprietary BANKINABOX methodology, which places agility at its core, supports our approach.
By leveraging operational agility, we aim to transform procedures to provide our clients with a competitive advantage. We believe in fostering a culture of workforce empowerment and agility, enabling organisations to thrive in the digital era.
Contact us to learn more about how we can help you achieve your strategic goals.
1 Dan Radigan, Five agile metrics you won't hate (Atlassian, 16 January 2015).
2 Brian Segel, Four Keys to Organizational Transparency - Brought to you by Agile (cprime, 7 August 2020).
3 Agile Banking Transformation: A New Era in Banking (Fintechnews Singapore, 17 November 2022).
4 Max Rehkopf, What is scrum master? (Atlassian, 11 July 2018).
