If business is booming, your staff are working tirelessly and phones are ringing off the hook, you might not notice a problem. But, before you know it, your old-fashioned way of working will be overtaken by swift, forward-thinking competitors.
This blog explores how agile working can help your business:
- Boost output whilst saving time and money
- Keep one step ahead of competitors
- Futureproof your organisation
- Increase staff productivity
- Support colleague happiness and wellbeing
- Adapt to a better way of working
If 2020 showed us anything, it’s that an ability to adapt is invaluable. The world around us isn’t static – it’s constantly evolving, and businesses must learn to change with the times.
Making organisational changes or implementing new systems shouldn’t be a knee-jerk response. Businesses should take a practical, analytical approach and enlist the help of experts to implement agile operations. Understanding what changes should be made, and why, is simply the first step.
What is agility and adaptability?
Agile working connects people to technology that helps to improve effectiveness and productivity. Therefore, agility is defined by the way a business proactively evolves in order to thrive. Adaptability is a business’s ability to respond to these changes. Businesses must recognise the importance of both of these competencies.
Agility allows a business to realise its full potential through implementing new systems. As technology evolves and the way we work inherently changes, businesses can’t just stand still. Continuing a way of working because “this is how we’ve always done it” will get mediocre results and hinder a business’s progress.
Adaptability is how prepared a business is to change or evolve its practices to overcome challenges or align with environmental changes. Businesses should be able to adapt to new changes in a productive, positive way – with company culture emerging unscathed and business processes improved as a result. Maintaining business effectiveness through times of change will ensure a business can thrive, no matter what life throws at it.
Businesses must be both agile and adaptable in order to weather new storms. Let’s face it, most people will say they don’t like change. Change is time consuming. Getting a positive result requires research, testing and learning. But implementing agile working can transform a business and safeguard its future.
The roots of agile working
Agile working is a term traditionally and originally used in software development. The four values and twelve principles of agile software created a better, more efficient way to develop software. At its core, the agile methodology focusses on nurturing a culture where flexibility is welcome, benefitting effective collaboration.
Accommodating change and motivating teams to adapt to this change allows software to be developed productively. There should be no unnecessary delays or barriers to getting the job done quickly – without compromising on the result of the finished product. Continually reflecting on how to improve is also a key principle within agile working methodology.
Whilst “agile working” in a software development sense isn’t wholly aligned with the term used when discussing business, there are some shared principles and key takeaways. Fundamentally, viewing change positively and approaching new processes with flexibility helps businesses adapt. Improving internal processes benefits the business, its staff and ultimately customers as the service provided is more effective.
Nurturing an adaptable culture for successful agile adoption
Businesses need a unified vision and passionate leaders to ensure agile adoption. Problem solving with a positive, productive mindset will ensure successful agile transformation. It’s all about understanding what currently works but being open to exploring what could work better.
Achieving agility and adaptability is a fine balancing act. Constantly striving for change without strategic rationale may cause a business to flounder. You should always aim for the final goal, with a strong end result in mind and a clear idea of how you’re going to get there.
Implementing change within a business can be a challenge. It’s true that leaders can sometimes be too close to their own operational processes to be able to clearly see better ways to work. Partnering with a specialist such as Babble offers a unique advantage.
Our experts will work with you to develop your business strategy and roadmaps, integrate cloud-based technology and implement secure agile operations to give your organisation a competitive edge. Together, we’ll help your business increase efficiency and thus profitability.
Agile adoption is considered a “quick win”, using agile principles to make swift organisational change. Agile transformation is a much lengthier, more complex process as the goal is to instigate company wide improvements. Instead of adjusting the way just one team works, agile transformation can involve an entire overhaul of systems and processes.
