Disruption challenges norms and reveals new ways to achieve business objectives. In part 2 of this article, we continue to examine how to resolve today’s complex IT and business challenges in a climate of economic uncertainty.
Total Agility: Applying The Principles Of Agility Across Your Organization
As part 1 of this article made abundantly clear, we’re faced with a possible recession, ongoing labour shortages, high interest rates, and inflation exist – all existing concurrently. It’s a classic example of widespread disruption.
In the light of these new challenges, it’s clear that agility can play a greater role outside the corridors of IT and the realm of business modernization.
Here’s how.
Agility: The not so “secret sauce” for today’s business challenges.
When it comes to IT and business modernization, the way forward is clear: Agility. It’s an obvious solution but one that is often overlooked when it comes to applying it to the business side of an organisation.
Agility is not just for IT anymore. Applying it across an organization boosts competitiveness, facilitates change management, and opens the door to innovation.
Continuing supply-line issues exacerbated by the ongoing adjustment to post-pandemic economic and societal realities are creating uncertainty as to the duration and depth of the lack of manpower, a looming slowdown, rising interest rates, and rapid price increases.
Adopting agility as a general operational policy is an excellent way to remain nimble and responsive, lower costs, and increase both efficiency and productivity during uncertain economic times.
FOR I.T., AGILITY HAS PROVEN TO DEMONSTRATE:
12X FASTER PRIORITY ADJUSTMENT
4X MEASURED PRODUCTIVITY
2X FASTER PROJECT DELIVERY
3X FASTER COST SAVINGS1
(2022 – Bain & Company)
Implementing agility across your entire business.
It’s expected that results cited above might be extended across an organization if agility becomes a way of thinking and not merely an approach to complex IT challenges.
Implementing agility across your organization can go a long way to countering the effects of economic disruption by:
- Helping better anticipate costs and shortfalls
- Contributing to internal team skills upgrades and hence efficiency and productivity
- Placing customer needs first and improving overall customer satisfaction as a driver of growth
- Simplifying change management
- Achieving goals more quickly
Business agility considers the organization in its entirety and is the ability of a company to deliver a better customer experience, quickly and continuously. But achieving it requires a change of approach, embracing new ways of learning, thinking, acting, and operating.
In short, business agility frees companies to be more responsive and to better manage uncertainty.
For example, work according to agile principles in after-sales support and suddenly customer satisfaction spikes and complaints wane. Do the same in shipping and your supply line issues eventually stop keeping you up at night. This truly transforms change management and helps keep your clients coming back.
Business Agility Puts Customer Needs First
Business agility puts the customer at the heart of every decision. While it finds its origins in software development, when applied across business it enables goals to be achieved and value to be generated faster and more successfully.
Traditionally business has focussed on improving costs and efficiency across each individual service rather than on customer needs. This is an inside-out approach.
Business agility does the reverse. It challenges traditional business models to better address unmet customer needs, based on the premise that growth and profitability also come from improving the experience. It is an outside-in approach.
Agility strengthens a company’s aptitude to lead and stay one step ahead of competitors.
A Gartner report recently cited that:
89% OF ORGANIZATIONS SURVEYED PLANNED TO APPLY AGILITY TO THEIR SUPPLY CHAINS4.
Clearly, agility also has long legs and can improve productivity and efficiency anywhere it’s applied. It has the power to profoundly improve change management.
Putting agility into action will help you make more reliable decisions swiftly, which is what business needs to do to optimize competitiveness. Especially when uncertainty reigns.
AGILE FIRMS EXPERIENCE
37% FASTER REVENUE GROWTH
AND GENERATE
30% HIGHER PROFITS THAN NON-AGILE COMPANIES2.
Agility is a powerful ally during trying economic times and presents an opportunity for business to modernize, innovate, and advance.
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A Final Word on Agility
Agility is the universal lever that helps actualize the growth and continuity potential of business – in good times, or bad. Both for business modernization as well as for improving operations overall.
Our economy exists within a new digital paradigm where corporate culture, structure, hierarchy, digital prowess and capacity, and the efforts spent staying competitive within this new paradigm are taking on heightened importance. Disruptions won’t change that, but agility will change how well and how easily a company sustains growth and success during periods of upheaval.
Agility is the lever that helps actualize the growth and continuity potential of business – in good times, or bad.
For a brief overview of Cofomo’s agility expertise, be sure to download our complimentary PDF.
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