Transforming Federal IT: An Agile Journey at CMS
Industry: Federal Healthcare (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) Division: Information Security and Privacy Group (ISPG) Scope: 7-8 teams, PMO-level transformation
The Challenge: Modernizing Government IT Delivery
The Information Security and Privacy Group at CMS faced challenges common to many federal organizations: highly specific departmental processes, time-consuming cross-functional work, and lengthy delivery cycles. As a traditionally waterfall organization, teams operated in silos, making collaboration difficult and slowing down the delivery of critical security and privacy solutions.
The Solution: Strategic Transformation Through Innovation
Working from within the Program Management Office (PMO), I designed and implemented a comprehensive transformation approach that balanced Agile principles with federal requirements:
Foundation Building
- Established PMO-level Agile frameworks that maintained necessary governance while enabling team autonomy
- Created standardized yet flexible approaches for consistent delivery across diverse teams
- Coached and mentored 6 Scrum Masters supporting 8-12 development teams through their Agile journey
Innovation and Planning Week
One of the most successful initiatives was the implementation of a quarterly "Innovation and Planning Week" across the organization. During this week:
- All non-critical work paused, allowing teams to focus on improvement and planning
- Teams conducted self-directed workshops, training sessions, and process improvements
- Strategic quarterly planning incorporated cross-functional perspectives
- Teams determined their most valuable activities without top-down prescription
The Result: A New Way of Working
The transformation demonstrated that modern delivery methods could succeed within federal constraints:
- Teams began shifting from siloed operations to cross-functional collaboration
- Quarterly Innovation Weeks became a sustainable mechanism for continuous improvement
- PMO-level frameworks provided the structure needed for consistent yet flexible Agile adoption
- Internal client experience improved through more efficient delivery processes
The conclusion: Innovation is possible in government
The ISPG transformation proved that with the right approach, federal organizations can successfully adopt modern delivery practices while maintaining necessary governance and compliance requirements. The key lies in creating frameworks that balance structure with flexibility, and providing dedicated space for innovation and improvement.
Start Your CEO Journey: The Efficiency Advantage
Discover the 5 key shifts successful business owners make to stop doing everything themselves and finally step into true CEO mode.
EXPLORE
Lauren Glynn Consulting is where successful women and nonbinary business owners come when they're ready to stop being the bottleneck and start leading their business. Through customized operational leadership coaching and done-with-you systems implementation, I help you build the leadership capacity AND the operational infrastructure to step out of the day-to-day and run a business that doesn't need you holding everything together.
Copyright 2026 Lauren Glynn Consulting LLC. All rights reserved.