From Burnout to Breakthrough: How Agile Transformed Our Workday Team

UPDATE: Join us for a special Friday Agile-focused "Member Spotlight" on June 13 starting at 11am EDT (registration required)

UPDATE 2: In case you missed it on LinkedIn, here is our 4-Part series of "teaser" videos for Friday's Share:

Part 1: How Agile Transformed Our Workday Team

Part 2: Agile Basics

Part 3: Intake Form

Part 4: Expert/Learner Approach

When I stepped into my role leading our Workday® team, we were in survival mode. A small, overwhelmed group of six (four in configuration, two in integration), juggling demands and firefighting our way through daily chaos. Sound familiar?

Our internal customers were frustrated. Our team was burned out. And frankly, no one really knew how HR Tech should fit—should we sit under HR? IT? Somewhere else entirely?

After 20+ years of implementing HRIS systems and five years deep into the Workday ecosystem, I knew there had to be a better way. This blog covers perspectives and solutions from when I took a leap of faith—armed with the mentorship of an incredible Scrum Master—when we decided to try Agile.

Starting with Buy-In, Not Buzzwords

First, I had to get my team on board. Agile wasn’t going to be a top-down directive. We educated ourselves, asked hard questions, and acknowledged that we’d need to refine as we go. Then I turned to HR leadership and set the expectation: requests would now follow a structured intake, with priorities and progress shared transparently.

It wasn’t an overnight fix—it took 3–6 months before our new rhythms felt natural—but the payoff was real.

Building a Sustainable, Agile Practice

We adapted Agile in a way that works for us. We’re not “pure Agile,” and that’s okay. The structure helped us organize work, understand capacity, and shift from reactive to strategic.

Our 2-week sprint cycle includes the four essential ceremonies:

• Refinement: Breaking work down, clarifying intent, and assessing complexity.

• Planning: Choosing the right stories for our sprint based on priority and realistic capacity.

• Daily Standups: A 30-minute pulse-check to unblock issues and stay connected.

• Retrospectives: Reflecting, refining, and—most importantly—celebrating wins.

These rhythms brought clarity and consistency, not just for us, but for our stakeholders. Now, they see what we’re working on, understand how requests are prioritized, and feel included in the process.

Tools & Templates That Made It Real

We didn’t just change meetings—we built a toolkit to support it:

• JIRA to manage stories and sprints

• Workday Help for intake

• Mural for collaboration and fun retrospectives

• OneNote and Teams for centralized documentation

• Templates for requests, discoveries, and a team working agreement

  
  

We even mapped out capacity and production support hours—so the “random” stuff didn’t derail our work.

Knowledge Sharing is Key

To tackle single-threaded knowledge silos, we launched a Learner/Expert model. When someone picks up a story, they pair with a teammate who’s learning that area. It builds skill depth, reduces burnout, and fosters true team ownership.

The Results? A Healthier Team and Happier Customers

We’re still evolving and always will be. But now, we have structure, accountability, and a culture of continuous improvement. Our internal customers are more satisfied, and our team feels empowered and less stressed.

Agile didn’t just change how we work—it changed how we feel about our work.

Are you thinking about an Agile transformation for your HRIS or Workday team? The journey isn’t easy, but the impact is worth it. Join us anytime between 8-9:30am PDT on Friday, June 13, 2025, for a very non-scary event where I discuss more about my journey with Agile on a new offering from the Customer Sharing Movement called the “CSM Member Spotlight”. Looking forward to Sharing with you. (Registration required) 

Author: Jess from Minnesota