Business Agility: Evolution or Revolution?

Agility is fundamental to business growth. However, trying to fast-track the transition to an agile organization may be counter-productive. Businesses become agile through a process of development and evolution, not through a sudden and chaotic revolution.

Organizations are constantly impacted by both internal and external factors. Some factors are unexpected and unpredictable, leaving business leaders wrestling to regain control.

For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic has redefined many of the terms of doing business, forcing many organizations to rethink their methods. This was easier and faster for agile businesses to do than for businesses that were not agile. 

The restaurant industry is a good example. Restaurant owners who were able to quickly transition to a delivery/take-out model did well. Restaurants that depended solely on in-person dining and could not adapt fared poorly. 

Business agility refers to an organization’s ability to adjust to an ever-uncertain and complex environment. No matter the disruption, agile businesses can still find options in a digital space to access customers.

This ability is primarily determined by factors such as leadership, strategy, and governance within the organization. What steps can company managers take to achieve a smooth evolution to agile business methods?

A Well-Developed Plan

The fundamental concept of agility is that businesses should be creative and adaptive. To develop a detailed overview, organizations can utilize project management software that uses machine learning for adaptable and predictive analytics.

Transitioning to agility requires sustained effort and a comprehensive risk evaluation by the management team. This should be a well-planned, timed, deliberate, and sustained commitment by management team members. If the switch is ill-timed and drastic, the result may cause more harm than good.

Business Agility Assessment

Assessment of business agility can be done by analyzing the organization in seven areas:

• Team and technical agility

• Agile product delivery

• Enterprise solution delivery 

• Lean portfolio management 

• Lean agile leadership

• Organizational ability

• Continuous learning culture

Cross-organizational agility is achieved only through perseverance, long-term commitment, communication, and monitoring by the management team. Managers, therefore, should be knowledgeable and informed about different methodologies.

Defined Goals and Objectives

Setting clear goals for your business is integral to achieving agility. All goals should be communicated to your team, so that all your employees are involved in the process. Agility adoption happens quickly across all fronts with employee engagement. 

Agile adoption is also more likely to occur if team members understand the importance of the process to the organization, and what is expected of them.

Begin With Baby Steps

Don’t test the depth of the river by jumping in. Begin your journey of business agility with small steps at first to see how things work out. Focus on small projects that won’t compromise your overall organization, just in case things don’t go as planned.

This test run approach also offers your team an opportunity to evolve as the process evolves.

Determine Projects Worth Executing

In the transition process, you can’t plug into every possible project. Your objective must be in the interest of everyone rather than a select few in the organization. Determine which projects increase productivity and benefit your teams the most. In addition, ensure that your teams have the right technology to collaborate through interactive processes that facilitate real-time communication, feedback, and offer relevant improvements.

Choose a Reliable Partner

Becoming agile isn’t always a straight walk ahead. Instead, it’s more like a complex dance. And, as with any dance, you’re only as good as your partner. Choosing the right partner, such as Winmill PPM, brings experience and fresh perspective. This is not our first dance. The Winmill agile services team knows all the steps and all the right moves for successful PPM management. 

Companies that want to thrive in today’s high-tech world must be agile. Digital transformation relies on agility and constant evolution. This impacts all aspects of a company, from the market to customer requirements, delivery speed, supply chain, internal communication, and adaptability to change. 

Your business can’t predict the future, and with the fast pace of technological advancement, you don’t know what lies ahead. But when your business embraces agility, it will be able to adapt quickly to whatever changes occur.

Agility should not be rushed or subject to impossible deadlines. Instead, this should be done carefully and methodically until an appropriate outcome is reached. An agile transition will not happen overnight, but consistency and commitment to an agile project management process will put your business on the right path to sustainable growth.