Unsure About Agile? Here Are the Business Benefits
Committing to change means being prepared to do things differently, and the agile mindset can feel very different from your normal ways of working.
It’s understandable that you’d want some reassurance about the kinds of benefits it offers before embracing it wholesale.
After all, many ideas can seem attractive in theory, until you start considering the practical challenges of putting them into action.
Here, then, are the business benefits of going agile, and they apply to a broad range of organisations.
Who Benefits from Agile?
By creating an agile workplace, you create an environment in which employees can thrive.
If they feel valued, this provides powerful, energising motivation, contributing to a positive workplace culture.
But agile is not simply inward-looking. This positive change impact on how your customers perceive you, and what they get from you.
The agile approach drives efficiency and innovation, resulting in improved services, products and overall customer service.
Happy employees should mean satisfied customers.
Creating a Culture of High Performance
It’s important to emphasise that agile is not a bolted-on initiative or some other form of added ingredient.
It works because you embed it in the culture of your organisation, and this culture becomes a culture of high performance.
Why is this the case? Because the agile mindset changes how people work, as individuals and within teams:
- Empowering people, giving them greater autonomy
- Giving them a voice that will be heard and valued
- Encouraging creative thinking and collaborative working
- Enabling greater knowledge sharing and openness.
High performing organisations are not top-down, command and control structures. They are places where there is a broad talent pool, and where a sense of collective effort motivates individuals.
How does this translate into working practices?
Agile Working Structures
There is a structural aspect to agile working.
It is about smaller teams working in shorter cycles, to achieve multiple, reviewable objectives.
This is different from a more rigid, stage-by-stage approach to project management.
And at the same time, these smaller teams should be networking and engaging with the wider organisation and beyond, so that there is a constant, two-way directional flow of knowledge.
Even in organisations that are more technically minded, there is an increasing recognition that working creatively like this can bring greater benefits.
Recognising a Shift in Values
In the job marketplace, people’s values are changing. More employees are now value-led.
They look beyond a salary and a job title and delve deep into a company’s own values when deciding where they want to work, and whom they wish to work for.
They want work that feels meaningful, because they feel valued for doing it.
There is an expectation that this will be demonstrated in how organisations structure themselves, and in their approach to projects.
If your organisation is serious about attracting and retaining fresh talent, it needs to have the kind of structure which appeals to the next generation of employees.
The agile mindset is perfect for creating this kind of collaborative, value-led culture.
Is Your Business Agile-ready?
There may already be aspects of your organisation that demonstrate an agile mindset, which would help you embed change:
- Great customer service – you value your customers, and show this by tailoring your interactions and responses to them
- A focus on problem-solving – you understand the best way to get to the root of problem is with small, focused teams, in short cycles, drawing on continual feedback
- Change must include everyone – top-down bureaucracy stifles change, but ensuring everyone buys into it enables it
- An eye for your talent – an agile culture is a nurturing culture, where you encourage innovation and fresh ideas, from all quarters, recognising and rewarding employees for their contributions.
You may already be on the road to agile, but even if you’re not, the benefits are there for you to experience, if you’re prepared to make changes where you need to.
I can help you commit to change, and deliver a tangible transformation to your enterprise or organisation. For more details, please contact me
