Many organizations have observed that agile working methods have been a powerful tool in their operations for many years. This proves that data and agility will drive future organizations, but organizations also need time to transform their processes and culture.  

Now suddenly, the pandemic rapidly changed all of that. With dispersed employees and swiftly changing markets, agile ways of working go from choice to a business obligation in a very short time. 

That switch highlighted the characteristic between organizations with solid or in-progress agile operating systems and those that have not. Those who have agile operating systems can quickly adapt to a rapidly changing business environment.  

To succeed in the long run, organizations must continue to embrace genuine change that is ultimately beneficial to their operations. Agile transformation does not simply mean that your company “does agile” or is “going agile.” It necessitates the implementation of new and dynamic principles throughout the organization, ensuring that the business is firmly centered on customer value and reworking processes to improve agility, productivity, and waste reduction. 

Agile transformation entails a cultural shift that can improve an organization’s overall effectiveness and efficiency. The agile transformation has no expiry date: companies must constantly inspect and adapt their operations to stay ahead.

Ways to help you and your organization keep its agility in rapid market changes

1. Determine Organization’s Agile Transformation 

Some organizations are entering comprehensive agile transformations. In comparison, others were already amid adaptation before the pandemic expedited it. However, everyone is beginning to feel the strain of new challenges. The pandemic needs fulcrum in nearly every organization; even the most agile companies must consider higher levels of efficiency and adoption. 

Regardless of the increase in pressure, agile transformation needs time. Experience in transitioning from a conventional organization to a fully agile business has no one-size-fits-all transformation model; each organization has its rate of change and risk tolerance. 

The question is, what is your company’s current position on agility? Is your organization just starting to be agile, implementing agility, using a hybrid model, or is it in a predominantly agile acceleration and transformation? These questions can direct your organization to advance and improve the value delivery to meet the customers’ needs better. 

2. A Call to The Executive Board 

Obtaining executive board buy-in has always been one of the most challenging for agile transformation. In a world where change is both required and expected, the board must embrace whole-organization transformation models and methodologies that are now needed for long-term success. With the pandemic-induced acceleration, these newly committed executive boards must become servant leaders to provide visibility into business strategy, set goals, and empower teams to tackle projects with strategic value delivery. Every executive must fully commit to the transformation. 

3. Leaders to Support the Teams 

Employees are stuck in a rut. Despite massive shocks to the core of the workplace, work still consumes the majority of employees’ time. Teams become confused in the tangle of ambiguous tasks and processes. Organizations can avoid this by implementing more visible cross-team methods that keep organizations moving with the ebb and flow of change. 

Challenges will inevitably arise, but they do not have to be permanent. Leaders can alleviate burnout and imposter syndrome by being transparent about organizational goals, providing training, developing mentorship programs, and providing mental health resources. Leaders must set a good example by taking time off, ceasing work after hours, and being open about their work burnout. These changes are critical for attracting top talent, retaining employees, and emphasizing psychological safety at work. It also benefits both the employees and the company’s well-being. 

4. Continuous Communication 

Nowadays, most people are working remotely. Flexibility in work hours and location is good, but too much flexibility leads to confusion and an awkward workplace. Organizations and teams can benefit from agreeing on a weekly meeting schedule that clearly defines the quiet time to work alone at home and collaborative time to work on shared projects in the office. 

5. Stakeholders’ Readiness 

Organizations rely on disparate applications to maintain employees’ performance in remote work. In other ways, employees constantly shift their attention to the following notification, resulting in inefficiency, missed action items, and longer hours. Employees can easily find their center of gravity and focus on what matters most when companies reduce the number of applications and choose tools that streamline work. 

Organizations must ease and help employees in this more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world. Organization agility reimagines an organization as a collection of high-performing teams with a clear purpose and the necessary skills. In the early days of agility, these teams—often called squads and comprised developers, testers, data analysts, customer-journey specialists, and user interface designers—had the most impact in a company’s digital corners.  

Organizational agility is not a top-down or bottom-up process. It is “in” instead because the emphasis is on providing value to customers based on their needs. Your clients are not your managers. 

Whereas traditional organizations rely on a manager or team to determine what needs to be done and then ensure that employees complete the work according to the instructions, agility entails having a couple of self-managing employees who know what needs to be done and get it done on their own. 

6. Adaptation to Current Needs 

The rapidly changing needs, the constant introduction of disruptive technology, the accelerating digitization, and the new battle for talents wear out the machine approach to organizational structure. Agile organizations are not machines but rather living organisms. The organizations grow, evolve, and adapt as the circumstances change. The needs change, which means that organizations must be willing to make the necessary changes to help employees become the best versions of themselves to survive and thrive. An agile organization is no exception. 

Agile transformation allows organizations to unite around a future operating model, learn new skills, and connect with others who share common goals. And Genashtim is one of the many agile organizations which are able to adapt to meet market demands. Genashtim ensures that every employee receives support on agility and flexibility in working remotely due to its ability to incorporate social and environmentally sustainable practices into its operations and think beyond profit. Using a simple application for all employees, including those with disabilities, ensures that both asynchronous and synchronous communication runs smoothly for all teams and clients, even if they are in different time zones. And the good news is that Genashtim successfully recorded a triple in profit last year.