Minna Solvestad
minna@solvestad.se
073–056 43 53
I help organizations improve their way of working in order to achieve higher value with less effort. I have a long history of strategically driving change based on different frameworks and methodologies. As of late the most common approach is to scale and increase agility, e.g. through introducing SAFe, training and coaching leaders, and adopting frameworks suitable for each organization. I am currently exploring ways in which non-knowledge work teams can embrace agile values to better support their surrounding agile organization.
Change manager, Release train engineer, Solution architect, Program manager, Maintenance manager, Team lead
Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban), SAFe, PPS, Pejl, pm3, ITIL, Lean thinking, Workshop facilitation
Leading change, Agile transformation, Process development and implementation, Continuous improvement, Strategy, Leadership, Program management
As consultant via Avega Group.
The agency is in the midst of transforming its core business. The core business will go from being supported by IT to being fully digitalized. This requires digitalizing IT development as well. The management team’s vision is to make all internal processes digital, IT development more efficient, and geographical location of the workforce irrelevant.
As a member of the management team:
As a sponsor and advisor:
Identified, planned, and coordinated initiatives for stable operations and proactive maintenance with the purpose of delivering customer value more frequently.
Adjusted existing and implemented new ITIL processes and roles. Close to a hundred SLA’s and OLA’s were agreed upon, something the agency had tried, but failed, to achieve several times for over a decade. In addition to this, monitoring of systems in operation were enabled through APM, NPM, and LOGG, to name a few.
The program involved two departments with over a thousand employees across 45 teams. Due to a wide scope, many individuals, and uncertainty—but clear effects—an upscale agile method was used to manage the program. Now the agency has faster incident management (33%) and an ability to analyze all root causes of interruptions as well as follow up Service Level Agreements.
Member of a management team with a focus on operations stability (server outages were troubling the agency since 2018). Apart from deciding on investments and prioritizations, reported monthly on program results as well as overall operations stability to the director-general and their management team.
During 2016 Pensionsmyndigheten started an agile transformation with the purpose of delivering customer value efficiently while keeping quality at a high level. The agency chose to implement a new way of working based on SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework).
Managed the web area projects and maintenance from an IT perspective, acting as Release Train Engineer (RTE, SAFe) for the web stream employing close to a hundred people, including five cross-functional agile teams. Parallel to the role of RTE, led the rest of the agency through the remaining SAFe-inspired changes, including guiding eight managers in creating budgets, measuring deliverables, performing follow-ups, and allocating resources. Evaluated and adapted roles and processes to better align with the new ways of working.
Acted as pm3 IT Solution Manager during a transition period for the parts of the agency yet to implement SAFe.
Implemented business processes, analyzed and improved organizational structures, and coached leaders and managers to effect change, while providing support to teams adapting their processes and technology to the agency’s new way of working based on SAFe.
The project resulted in the Agile Release Train “Web” and corresponding SAFe roles, five permanent web teams, and customer-centric web development. The web area now has a roadmap spanning five years, a list of deliverables for the coming two years, and a backlog for the PI planning period, all value-driven and customer-centric.
Scrum master for two web development teams. With an agile way of working the teams developed and maintained the external web site. The teams were cross-functional: communications, IT, and business development.
Solution architect for Nordic systems and market needs in two global TUI projects with the purpose of consolidating the group’s corresponding systems with local markets.
Single Customer View: TUI consolidated the national CRM systems into a single group-spanning SAP-based system. The system needed to meet the needs of all markets while fulfilling the rules and regulations of each specific region. Involved throughout the project, from customer journey analysis to detailed data mapping, ensuring that the resulting global system met local market needs.
Group Marketing Platform: Within a project replacing the existing Nordic solution with an IBM-based system, ensured Nordic needs were aligned with those of the TUI Group while managing additional complexity introduced by the group’s “one brand” initiative and an increased focus on the collection of tracking data.
Analyzed global business needs, identified data for centralization, and designed master data systems. The systems designed managed data such as construction projects, press releases, taxonomy, and employee contact information. Results included an increase in data quality while lowering system costs.
Oversaw the implementation of a new search platform consisting of in-house developed solutions and Google Search Appliance, supporting a global intranet, a dozen internal systems, and 13 external web sites.
Apart from being responsible for budget and strategy, improved the reliability, security, and performance of master data systems, ensuring the quality of service for internal platforms and external web sites.
Led a core group of five developers in Sweden. The team expanded with consultants and employees from other countries based on the needs of the projects. The role included responsibility for both budgets and resource allocation.
Had an active role in improving the team’s ways of working. The increased accountability, elimination of dependencies on single key resources, and modernization of the team’s agile processes resulted in a self-sufficient, autonomous team.
Fluent in Swedish, English, and Serbo–Croatian.
French, German, Italian, and Chinese at a level equivalent to B1.