It all began in 2017 with the introduction of a new project in Assembly. Weber's supervisor asked him if he would be interested in accompanying the kick-off and training the employees. The 33-year-old agreed. During the kick-off, Weber's programming skills became apparent. That's why his current boss gave him the opportunity to work as a programmer in a team − initially for a limited period of time. The qualified industrial electrician strongly believes that "I have to enjoy my work." That's why he took the opportunity, proved himself, and is now a permanent member of the team. The 33-year-old developed an interest in zeros and ones in his free time. Homepage programming, smart home, server control: Weber taught himself many things. Other things he learned in internal IT training courses that he had attended as an interiors inspector.

In the meantime, Weber has successfully mastered his first project: a platform that improves fault processing and bundles assessments centrally. This makes it easier for his former colleagues to keep an overview. Weber is pleased: "I have the feeling that I can have a big impact here." Since March 2018, he has been doing a part-time distance learning course to become a technician for information and communication technology in order to be ready for the next steps in the world of data.

The people around her were critical and skeptical. "You want to start over again at your age?" But Nadine Stickel didn’t let them put her off. She applied to become a certified teacher for training and further education at the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) – and was accepted. As a "stranger" to this field, this was unusual: the others in her course were already working as trainers for various companies. So was teaching really the right thing for her?

To find out, Stickel also managed to bag a teaching position at the CampusM21 university in Munich. In addition to her full-time job at Audi and further training, this meant a triple burden. The trained tax assistant even used her vacation time to prepare for the exams. She remembers: "Sometimes I thought it was all just too much, and that I was ready to throw in the towel." Luckily, she didn't.

Taking new perspectives
Her current boss took notice of the Audi employee − he had a new, suitable position with a focus on organization and personnel. No sooner said than done: Nadine Stickel took the job, gradually familiarized herself with the tasks involved, completed her further training as one of the best in her class, and built up the "Automotive Industry and Transport Policy" module for the "Business Management" course at the university. "The young people approach the topics without bias, so we exchange new impulses for company experience". One of the students has already completed an internship in her department, with very good results, while a second student has just come on board. The 44-year-old is proud and convinced that, "the exchange with the talents is valuable for Audi. In the long term, my goal is to start a real cooperation."

The new perspectives and contacts can help Audi in its transformation. She wants to "inspire and captivate people", introduce new working methods together, and establish functioning processes. Of course, you also have to become more efficient, says the training and further education teacher. "Nevertheless, we must not lose sight of the meaning of making Audi fit for the future. And that includes a workforce that enjoys working here." She has a positive outlook on the associated challenges: "Change is what drives me".

At 19, he struck out on his professional path in the hierarchical armed forces (Bundeswehr). He initially pursued the rank of an officer, but after his three-year training, he set his sights on a new goal. He decided to pursue his interest in programming and obtain a degree in IT.

After leaving the military, he immediately joined Audi as a system planner. “That job was a lot of fun. But my everyday work life was heavily influenced by classical processes. They demanded a lot of time and didn’t allow much flexibility,” Keim said. This brought him face-to-face with a fundamental problem: “The demand for IT was increasing enormously and becoming more and more important for the company’s overall success. But the procedures for IT solutions were old, they often took too long, and they weren’t customer-oriented.”

In 2013, Keim jumped at the chance to start a new experiment. Instead of setting about digitalizing paper-archiving processes in the classical style of “waterfall” project management, he chose an agile approach. His goal was to create new, more efficient work methods through flexible work, fewer hierarchies, and new responsibility roles.

What does agile work mean?
Keim compares the difference between a waterfall model and an agile approach with the process of writing a book. With a classical approach, a book is completed and only then presented to the reader. “With an agile approach, on the other hand, the author formulates the first chapter and goes ahead and gives that to the reader. The reader’s feedback then influences all the following chapters. The customer is thus actively involved in the development of the solution.”

The new work method bore fruit and led to the desired solutions. Many smaller and larger projects followed throughout the year. During that time, Keim took an official advanced training on agile work methods. “This was still quite new back then. Now, there’s a training path for it at the Audi Academy.”

The role of the cultural driver
In Keim’s experience, an agile transformation can’t happen overnight. “Of course, it’s hard for an organization like Audi, which has functioned on the same pattern for decades, to let go of old standards.” But he’s convinced that an agile approach with openness and respect is crucial to the success of new collaboration models.

Looking back, Keim realizes that the jobs of officers and agile coaches aren’t diametrically opposed. During his 12-year occupation with the armed forces, he learned “to develop and implement solutions independently for predefined goals. That’s really helpful for agile work.” Today, the 49-year-old is happy to be able to professionally combine his personal development, these new forms of collaboration, and his passion for IT.