Embracing an Agile audit methodology for enhanced efficiency

Agile Internal Audit: A path toward continuous improvement

There is an old saying among Agilists that the goal of adopting Agile is not to do Agile but to be Agile. In our six years at the forefront of Agile Internal Audit (IA), we’ve observed how the importance of doing is a precursor for being. At its core, Agile is a mindset, and to develop the mindset, one must unlearn at least as much as is learned.

Adopting an Agile mindset is the equivalent of crossing one’s arms in a new way because it changes the hourly, daily, and weekly cadences to which we are accustomed. Throughout our six years of experience coaching teams to use Agile IA, we have found that the Scrum Framework has been highly effective in helping teams understand the essence of the Agile mindset and enable transformation. The roles, events, and artifacts help develop a new set of habits that lead to transformative moments of insight regarding the Agile mindset. This seems to happen during the first six to ten weeks of applying Scrum.

What clients had to say about Scrum

One large consumer retailer’s pilot team was uncomfortable about not planning the entire audit in advance. They questioned how they could start work before they had completed a comprehensive risk and control matrix (RCM). However, around six weeks in, they realized that building a complete RCM would have resulted in spending time on relatively unimportant risks.

The consumer retailer’s audit vice president commented,

While they developed a thorough understanding of risk as the audit progressed, the idea of a continually prioritized backlog enabled them to direct more effort toward the risks that mattered most and eliminate time wasted on smaller risks.

This redirection of effort led to delivering audits that delivered greater business impact and which stakeholders found more valuable.

At a large financial institution, a key issue was helping junior auditors connect their individual tasks to the bigger picture of the value and purpose of the audit. Sprint Planning, an Agile event that requires all team members to commit to work in the context of a larger team goal, was key. This institution’s use of this Scrum event and other collaborative artifacts gave their staff a practical means for becoming a collaborative, self-organizing team—which is part of the mindset that experience shows is not achieved simply by deciding to become it. As a result, junior staff feel they better understand the areas they audit because they are involved in discussions on all the work sets instead of just their particular tasks.

Shifting toward Agile with Scrum

Introducing Scrum first helps teams develop the Agile mindset by making them exercise different “muscles” and thought patterns. It lays down a framework for customizing the methods once they understand the basics, creating flexibility to emphasize the Agile mindset in different ways depending on the needs of the day. In other words, it helps them cross their arms differently and feel comfortable with it.
 

Next in the series: Showing up as an Agile leader.

Author:

Chris Soskin Advisory Specialist Leader Agile Internal Audit Deloitte & Touche LLP csoskin@deloitte.com