How a B2B Distributor Restored Predictable Execution by Reorganizing Teams Around Flow

Are You Struggling With Execution and Implementation of Key Projects? 

Executive Summary 

A North American B2B distributor was "doing Agile right" - Scrum ceremonies, sprint planning, velocity tracking - yet leadership had no confidence in delivery timelines. Key initiatives repeatedly slipped, teams were overloaded, and execution felt chaotic. 

Integratz helped the organization reorganize teams and operating models around flow, replacing sprint-based batching with a continuous delivery system. Within three months, delivery stabilized, predictability returned, and leadership regained trust in execution. 

The Challenge: When Process Discipline Still Fails 

The organization's IT and digital teams followed Scrum by the book: 

• Two-week sprints 

• Story points and velocity tracking 

• Sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives 

Despite this, execution problems persisted: 

• Work piled up at the end of sprints 

• Too many initiatives started, too few finished 

• Cycle times varied wildly for similar work 

• Leadership could not reliably forecast delivery dates 

The issue wasn't effort, talent, or discipline. The system itself was unstable. 

The Root Cause 

Scrum's sprint-based batching created artificial deadlines and encouraged teams to: 

• Start too much work at once 

• Rush work at sprint end 

• Carry unfinished work across sprints 

• Debate estimates without improving predictability 

Velocity numbers looked reassuring, but they masked real variability in delivery. 

Leadership realized execution would not improve without structural change. 

The Results

Within three months: 

• 36% reduction in cycle time variability 

• Work completion ratio increased to 96.4% 

• Delivery process achieved statistical control

• Leadership gained confidence in delivery forecasts

• No tooling replacement required

Most importantly, execution stopped feeling chaotic - it became predictable and manageable.

The Integratz Approach: Reorganizing Around Flow

Integratz guided a shift from sprint-based delivery to a flow-based operating model, which included:

1. Team Reorganization
   1. Teams were reorganized to align with end-to-end value flow
   2. Clear ownership of work from start to finish
   3. Reduced handoffs and dependencies
2. Visualized Workflow
   1. Explicit workflow stages defined and made visible
   2. All work visualized on a Kanban board
   3. Bottlenecks surfaced in real time
3. Work-in-Progress (WIP) Limits
   1. Strict limits enforced at each workflow stage
   2. Teams focused on finishing work before starting new items
4. Continuous Flow
   1. Sprint boundaries removed
   2. Work pulled based on capacity, not pushed by sprint plans
   3. Story points replaced with data-driven expectations
5. Flow Metrics & Statistical Control
   1. Cycle time, throughput, WIP, and work item age tracked
   2. Control charts used to confirm process stability

Key Takeaway

If your teams are busy but outcomes are unreliable, the problem isn't commitment - it's flow. Execution improves when teams are organized around finishing work, not starting it.