From Silos to Sync: Making Agile Work in City Government
In Brief
Building a Smarter Way to Work: Boise's Agile Shift in City IT
The City of Boise needed a more transparent, collaborative, and accountable way to manage IT work across departments. With Resource Data’s guidance, they adopted Agile practices through a hands-on, phased implementation that combined role-based training, customized tools, and real-world mentoring. As a result, teams now deliver projects faster and more collaboratively, with clearer workflows and better visibility for stakeholders.
Key Takeaways
Agile transformation delivers transparency and collaboration for Boise IT
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Public-Sector agile works—when tailored to fit
Boise’s success shows that Agile can thrive in government, especially when frameworks are adapted to real-world constraints.
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Mentorship bridges the gap from theory to practice
By embedding Agile facilitators into project teams, Boise saw faster adoption and better results than training alone could offer.
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Tailored training makes change stick
Customized content and hands-on coaching established relevance to municipal roles and responsibilities. And the train-the trainer program ensures enduring change.
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Unified tools and practices enhance collaboration
Standardized Agile tools and ceremonies provided a common language and methodology, significantly boosting interdepartmental collaboration and aligning priorities.
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Empowered teams embrace improvement
Training and real-world practice gave teams the confidence and structure to identify and solve problems independently and adopt Agile confidently.
The Challenges
Disparate workflows and low visibility slowed IT progress
The City of Boise’s Information Technology Department comprises 85 employees who support a wide array of municipal services spanning public safety, infrastructure, citizen services, and more. Despite the importance of their work, the IT teams were operating without a cohesive project management framework.
Many projects were handled in silos, relying on waterfall methods or vendor-led processes that lacked transparency and clear accountability. The result was misaligned expectations, delayed project outcomes, and limited cross-department coordination. Teams had little insight into what others were doing, while leadership lacked clear, up-to-date visibility into project status. These gaps made prioritization difficult and hindered collaboration across city departments.
Leadership recognized the City’s ability to support the growing technology needs of municipal departments—and the public they serve—depended on transforming not just tools, but team culture and processes. Without addressing these issues, Boise risked prolonged project delays, escalating costs, and dissatisfaction among departments and stakeholders.
Approach
A phased, people-first rollout with embedded mentorship
To help the City of Boise shift to a more transparent, collaborative, and accountable way of working, Resource Data designed a phased Agile transformation plan: Training, Adoption, and Execution. Each phase was grounded in real engagement and hands-on support—built not just to introduce new processes, but to change mindsets.
We began with a discovery phase, analyzing existing workflows, assessing readiness, and conducting stakeholder interviews. This allowed us to customize an Agile framework that aligned with public-sector realities and the City’s operational culture.
We structured delivery around:
- Familiar Scrum-based frameworks adapted for internal development, SaaS, and vendor-managed projects.
- Azure DevOps setup to support backlog management, prioritization, and real-time visibility.
- Embedded mentorship with our consultants modeling Scrum Master and Product Owner roles during live sprints.
- Role-specific training supported by over 400 pages of tailored materials, toolkits, videos, and exercises.
Rather than deploying a static playbook, we used coaching and real-world sprints to help teams experience Agile in action. This gradual, confidence-building approach allowed Boise teams to internalize Agile principles and evolve their own practices. Adoption felt relevant, not disruptive and imposed.
Implementing Agile at the City of Boise was about more than just process change—it was about empowering people. By focusing on mentorship, tailored training, and hands-on practice, we helped teams embrace a mindset of continuous improvement. The result is a more collaborative, transparent, and responsive IT culture that’s built to support the city’s evolving needs.
Scott Beltz, Sr. Project Manager, Resource Data
The Solution
Agile infrastructure and playbooks purpose-built for public-sector teams
The backbone of the solution was a tailored Agile framework, supported by a city-wide configuration of Azure DevOps, customized specifically for Boise’s public-sector teams. This included custom product and sprint backlogs, burndown charts, Kanban boards, and dashboards. These tools power real-time reporting and transparent progress tracking for IT leadership and stakeholders alike.
As more teams adopted Agile practices, we provided repeatable templates and a shared playbook to ensure consistency without rigidity. Each department could align to a common approach while customizing workflows to meet their specific needs.
We also developed clear mentorship pathways and coaching structures to reinforce learning. Agile ceremonies, “definition of done” workshops, and multi-team collaboration efforts helped departments coordinate effectively and avoid duplication of effort.
Having access to toolkits, retrospectives, and real-time metrics was a game changer. Our team felt empowered to improve continuously.
Cindy Zuvich-Hinkle, IT Sr. Manager, Application Services, City of Boise
Features
Real tools and resources for lasting impact
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Azure DevOps configuration for work visibility
Custom boards, dashboards, and burndown charts enabled real-time tracking and improved planning decisions.
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Role-based training for increased adoption
Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and team members each received tailored workshops, helping define responsibilities and foster internal champions.
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Live mentorship for real-world learning
Resource Data consultants facilitated daily scrums and early sprints, demonstrating Agile ceremonies and guiding teams through hands-on practice.
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Reusable agile toolkits for ongoing enablement
Glossaries, video content, planning templates, and sprint facilitation materials created a sustainable internal library.
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Mult-team coordination for consistent practices
Shared workflows and an Agile playbook helped ensure that each department could adopt Agile in a way that met their specific needs while maintaining organizational consistency
The transition to Agile helped us rethink how we deliver technology to the community. It’s no longer just about finishing a project—it’s about delivering value iteratively and transparently.
- Alex Winkler, CIO, City of Boise
Results
A culture shift that improved delivery and collaboration across City IT
The City of Boise saw immediate and meaningful outcomes from its Agile implementation. Teams transitioned from fragmented workflows to a shared, iterative delivery model. The pilot teams successfully adopted Agile ceremonies—daily standups, sprint planning, reviews, and retrospectives—making their work more visible and coordinated.
With clear backlogs and transparent prioritization, departments were better equipped to collaborate and plan across teams. Leadership gained a real-time view into who was working on what, what was coming next, and how priorities aligned with business goals. This increased accountability, improved resource allocation, and helped leaders make faster, better-informed decisions.
Teams also began to identify and solve their own process gaps. Empowered by training and mentorship, staff felt confident proposing changes and experimenting with improvements. The result was not just better project delivery, but a cultural evolution toward agility, transparency, and continuous learning.
What's Next
Scaling momentum across the organization
The success of the pilot teams is fueling expansion to additional departments. A train-the-trainer program is underway to create internal champions who can scale Agile knowledge and skills organically.
Resource Data continues to support the City, building more advanced Agile dashboards and refining key metrics. Executive workshops on agile leadership and organizational change management are also planned to help sustain this transformation.
