Nemanja Vukoje
Agile Coach
Wien Energie GmbH
Young Talents

Breaking walls between Business and IT in traditional Company

Any change is difficult, but how difficult do you think is a change in a traditional company with more than 130 years of tradition would be? Imagine a company with a strong separation between IT and Business, Demand managers, and a rigid hierarchy. Do you think this company can become agile? Yes, change there would be really hard, but not impossible. This is our current job right now! When you have old structures and silos within the company, it is very hard to instill the agile mindset. Why? Because you have the boss, standing above you, telling you what (and sometimes how) to do. That one person, who is expected to know everything and make all the decisions – you have probably encountered such a person in your career. But what do you do when you realize that your company is lagging behind in digitalization, and that you are losing customers to newer and more modern companies? How do you start to create modern solutions for your customers? How do you make fast decisions in a rapidly changing environment? These are a lot of questions, but there is one possible answer:IT is time for a change! That is why we are trying to introduce new ways of working in our company. Staring with our IT. Come and hear part of our transformation story, some of our successful experiments, and not so successful ones, where we have tried to break down the walls between business and IT, give people more responsibility, and empower collaboration. And if you think that all our experiments went perfectly – just come and see the opposite!

Biography

Originally, I come from Serbia, but I finished my high school in Hungary, Budapest. After completing my mature, I moved to Vienna, where I pursued Software Engineering at TU Wien. Following my studies, I began working as a Software Developer in one smaller Viennese tech company. However, this experience led me to realize that I didn’t want to continue as a software developer and that my passion lies in working with people. It was during this period that I discovered the role of Scrum Master and agility in general. I had the opportunity to implement Scrum in that company, which further fueled my interest in learning and exploring the agile world. I coached many teams in different companies, from very young teams to really mature ones, and I’ve learned that every team has its own story, and that I have to approach every team differently. Currently, I work as an Agile Coach for Wien Energie, were we try to change to new ways of working. In addition to my professional role, I also teach yoga and meditation, and work with individuals on their personal development, and also I used to be a professional dancer.
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