Agile: Impact on organisations
Do you also have a sense that our world is changing more and more rapidly? And that the complexity and dynamic are increasing? That we need to deal with a constantly growing flow of information? Markets, customer demands, and technology are evolving rapidly.
Accenture reports that: 94% of C-level executives see their operating model putting their organisation's growth and performance at risk. 85% say they are not very confident that their operating model can meet shifting strategic priorities.
This is why business agility is so important: It enables organizations to focus on their customer’s needs, increase flexibility, and constantly evolve.
For some, agility is just a way to organize processes and projects. For others it is anticipation and readiness for change, collaboration, focus on valuable and meaningful work (meaningful for customers, organization, oneself), also reflection and relentless, continuous improvement and learning.
Agile ways of thinking and working are especially useful in complex and highly dynamic environments that require particularly high flexibility. But also because our world is becoming increasingly complex, dynamic and unpredictable.
Benefits of agile ways of working
According to McKinsey adopting agile ways of working can significantly improve:
employee engagement - 20 to 30 points improvement
customer satisfaction - 10 to 30 points improvement
operational performance - 30% to 50% improvement
financial performance - 20% to 30% improvement
How can we achieve that?
From my experience, besides focusing on customers, their needs, and activities that generate value, agility is about reducing the bureaucracy, building networks instead of hierarchy, enabling and empowering teams and people in your organization to come up with solutions and ideas, trying things out and learn along the way instead of wasting time for planning in too much detail too far in the future. It is also about rapid learning through fast feedback cycles and validation of ideas. Empowered teams that have autonomy and resources - incl. technology and tools - as well as decision-making power to move fast and adapt.
But first and foremost, it is about leadership. The ability to create a safe space where the strength of individual employees can shine, honest communication takes place, and the status quo can be questioned. A place where people can have a sense of purpose, do meaningful work, improve, learn, and strive for mastery. They need space, autonomy, and the support of others to do that.
If you need support with that, don’t hesitate to get in touch.