Agile has been the darling of software development for years, praised for helping teams move fast, be nimble and continuously improve. But what if Agile wasn’t just for tech? What if the same principles could transform large customer operations?

In a recent episode of our Culture in Action podcast, Alex Goodanew, Employee Engagement Manager at OVO Energy, shared how the organisation embedded Agile practices within its operational teams. The results? Not just better processes, but a thriving culture that reinforces adaptability, ownership, and results.

The Shift: From Engineering to Customer Frontlines

OVO has always been a forward thinking challenger in the UK energy space, with a strong focus on customer experience and company culture. But as the business grew so did the complexity. Keeping thousands of customer accounts and service teams aligned and effective was getting tougher.

The answer? Bring in Agile but not in a copy and paste way. While daily stand-ups, sprints and retrospectives were borrowed from tech, they were tailored to suit the very different rhythm of frontline teams. This wasn’t Agile theatre. It was a purposeful reimagining.

Agile’s core ideas, being customer focused, always improving and working in short focused bursts, fit naturally with what service teams needed. Instead of scripts and rigid SLAs they now had structured autonomy and the confidence to collaborate, solve problems and think for themselves.

Leadership: Setting the Tone for Change

This wasn’t just about new meetings. It was about a mindset shift and that had to start with leaders.

People managers were asked to step up differently: to lead with openness, curiosity and a willingness to break old habits. They weren’t given frameworks and left to it. They were asked to truly live Agile values. That meant creating psychological safety, encouraging experimentation and making feedback a regular healthy part of working life.

There was one unique challenge: OVO’s culture was, in Alex’s words, “almost too nice”. Feedback didn’t always come naturally. So the company leaned into that challenge, helping teams reframe feedback as a positive driver of growth. That turned into a huge cultural unlock. Leaders were taught not to control but to coach. They were shown how to facilitate team led problem solving, cross silo collaboration and make it ok to share half baked ideas. Much of the work was about unlearning old leadership habits as much as learning new ones.

Rituals That Reinforce Culture

What really embedded change at OVO were the rituals. These weren’t check-the-box exercises; they became the cadence of work life:

  • Daily stand-ups created structure and focus, especially valuable in a hybrid working model. They served not only as alignment tools but also as a means to maintain team cohesion and morale.
  • Fortnightly sprints provided clarity of priorities and allowed teams to manage work in achievable increments. This made it easier to track progress, course-correct quickly, and celebrate small wins.
  • Quarterly retrospectives offered space for collective reflection and improvement. Over time, these created a culture of accountability and continuous learning.

Alongside these standard Agile routines, OVO introduced a unique cultural mechanism: a Boost (or prompt for others to share) using Mo. This was more than a recognition programme. Delivered through the Mo platform, Boosts created a weekly rhythm of peer and manager recognition. Each Monday, team members were prompted to acknowledge those who had supported or enabled their work.

Departments personalised this ritual with creative names like “High Fives and Good Vibes” or “Strategy and Delivery Superstars,” reinforcing team identity and making appreciation a habit. Recognition wasn’t just nice to have, it was tightly aligned with performance goals and collaborative behaviours.

Over time, Boosts became a mirror of team health. A department with high participation in Boosts tended to show stronger collaboration, more consistent performance, and greater employee satisfaction. Managers began to see recognition not just as a perk but as a cultural lever, a way to influence how people behaved and how teams functioned.

Tech That Enables

Importantly, technology wasn’t the driver of this transformation, but it was a key enabler. The Mo platform provided automation, structure, and visibility to rituals like Boosts. As Agile took hold, OVO adapted their use of the platform, shifting from a loose monthly reward scheme to a weekly, purpose-driven recognition cadence aligned to sprints.

This pragmatic approach ensured tech served the culture, not the other way around. Managers could easily see standout contributions and act on them quickly, strengthening the loop between behaviour and recognition.

The data from the Mo platform helped managers identify engagement patterns and team dynamics. It allowed them to spot high-performers, emerging leaders, and areas where support might be needed, all in real time. This kind of visibility was invaluable in an environment where distributed teams were becoming the norm.

The Results: Culture That Performs

Two years in, the data speaks volumes. OVO’s operational shift to Agile has delivered:

  • Improved customer outcomes: A clear reduction in complaint volumes and rising customer satisfaction scores. Teams feel closer to the customer and more accountable for their experience.
  • Higher employee engagement: Peakon scores rose from 6.9 to 8.0, with strong scores for peer relationships (8.8) and recognition (up to 8.5). Teams report a stronger sense of purpose and belonging.
  • Greater adaptability: Teams now see change as a norm, not a disruption. With consistent rituals and shared ownership, they embrace evolution rather than resist it.

This success has been rooted in consistency. As Alex puts it, “It becomes part of the behaviour. It’s just how we do things.” The result is a self-reinforcing culture, where employees anticipate change, trust each other, and take pride in their contribution.

Advice for Other Teams

For operational or customer service leaders exploring similar paths, OVO’s journey offers four key lessons:

  1. Don’t dismiss Agile as “just for tech.” Its principles are highly applicable to service teams focused on responsiveness and improvement.
  2. Lead with culture, not process. Empower your people leaders to model the change.
  3. Commit to the rituals. They provide clarity, rhythm, and reinforce the culture you’re building.
  4. Use recognition to anchor behaviour. Positive reinforcement at scale strengthens performance and engagement.

Ultimately, Agile isn’t just a process framework. At its best, it’s a cultural shift, a new way of thinking about teamwork, leadership, and progress. OVO’s experience is a compelling blueprint for organisations ready to make agility a cultural asset, not just a methodology. By putting people, purpose, and rituals at the centre, they’ve turned Agile into a lived experience that drives real results.