At some point in the not-so-distant past, business leaders and executives were still questioning the role of agility in enterprises. After all, it seemed enough to have a rock-solid business plan and to keep doing what had previously worked for your enterprise. But after a series of disruptions, be it a global pandemic, political chaos, or even war, the world is well aware of the need to respond quickly to changes, whether they represent challenges or opportunities. And in the end, achieving agility in enterprises can mean turning a crisis into an opportunity.
This article will look at some ways your organization can become more agile in a relatively short time.
Focus on Changing Processes and Systems
One reason why enterprises face so much pushback when trying to achieve agility is that the organization’s mindset is still firmly rooted in old practices. It is much easier and more convenient to view the enterprise and its operations from a more project-based or task-based perspective. Once a project is done, you tick it off the list and move on to the next one.
But if you want to become more agile, you need to ditch this view and adopt one where you look at the job where everyone works together to attain long-term results, which will then in turn fuel further progress. And this is done by altering or improving existing business processes and the systems in place.
Bolster Dynamism in Your Teams
Maybe your employees have fallen into a rut after performing the same job year after year. Or maybe they have some great and innovative ideas, but can’t put them to work. Creative, out-of-the-box thinking is a must if you want to be known as an agile enterprise, and you need to shape the appropriate team dynamics that encourage collaboration and innovation. Sometimes this means tweaking managerial roles to become more flexible and open to suggestions and input from all team members.
Establish an Environment of Goodwill and Collaboration
As you move through initiatives to boost agility, it is important to remember that they will not work with enterprise-wide goodwill. This goodwill needs to extend to and from every quarter of the organization: partners, employees, and even customers. Your team should be able to have faith in the enterprise, as well as mutual trust with each other which will translate to collaboration when required.
Besides achieving agility, it will draw clients to your business, retain old customers, ensure employee loyalty, and transform your organization into one that encourages transparency, professional growth, and rewarding experiences.
Strengthen Communication
You can’t expect growth or agility if your enterprise cannot communicate its needs effectively.
You (and your teams) need to understand what to say, when to say it, and how to phrase the things they wish to express.
In addition to clear internal communication within the organization, you also must have clear lines of communication with your customers, third-party vendors, stakeholders, and all possible partners. This isn’t just about fixing issues, it is also about ensuring that the enterprise’s vision and goals are clearly transmitted to every area of the organization. In the long run, it will break down isolated departments and encourage greater collaboration.
Look at the Enterprise As a Work in Progress
One key obstacle to agility is complacency. Change comes from constant tinkering and tweaking to find an even better way to do things. This doesn’t mean changing things that work; instead stay on the lookout for areas that need improvement, or minor hiccups that may grow into something bigger in the future.
Improvement is a top-down and bottom-up thing. Give your teams the space to take a step back, breathe and objectively evaluate their progress and collaboration from time to time. This element of self-assessment provides an insight into how effective current processes are and what changes need to be made to improve overall performance.
It will also allow management to assess both the needs of the business and whether the workforce is equipped to handle them. More importantly, it guarantees alignment between the enterprise, employees, and customer needs and wants.
Final Say
Achieving agility in enterprises isn’t easy, nor can it be gained in one day. However, once there is a change in workplace culture and the overall mindset of the organization, the following steps will become easier to follow. At the same time, it is important to focus on the customer—what do they want? What are they expecting? How will your agility benefit them? A customer-centric view will always make it easier for your enterprise to innovate and achieve agility.
