Every business today endures a continuously evolving and highly competitive environment. It is practically impossible to build a product or a strategy and depend on it without any advancements or modifications.
Entrepreneurs are consistently pursuing market needs as well as trends to be able to respond to the changes with alterations in their products and approach.
This ability to quickly adjust and accommodate is also responsible for business success. And that’s where agility in business becomes apparent. This article talks about agility, its benefits and why every business must switch to it.
| What is business agility? Business agility is the capability of a company to adapt to the evolving business and market environment. Agile businesses focus on constant improvement and react rapidly to changes around them. More responsive the company is to change, the better its business agility. The eventual result of business agility reflects in the company’s proficiency in delivering its products and services more efficiently resulting in growth and longevity. |
Also Read: Customer Centricity: The Hidden Key to a Seamless Customer Experience
How does a company adapt to business agility
Let’s look at the fundamental aspects required by an organisation to ensure an agile mindset.
Leadership: Agile leaders are able to take or alter decisions based on the situation and its assessment rather than holding to the preset targets.
They also believe in empowering everyone around and extending competencies for a collective effort and a collaborative environment.
Agile leaders display a strong affinity for being flexible, inclusive and committed.
Culture: The company promotes values and practices that support the firm’s stability and growth even in complex and volatile circumstances. The culture also allows space to experiment, learn and continuously evolve.
An agile organisation places greater emphasis on encouraging and rewarding people to make them able decision-makers.
The culture of a business that is agile is able to firmly anchor the company in the face of uncertainty.
Strategy: Agile strategies allow plans and processes to be modified in response to the change in events or environment.
Moreover, an agile strategy retains room for frequent inspection and iterations to remain relevant and operative in ongoing situations.
| Traditional Strategy | Agile Strategy |
| Relies on months and years of research | Draws its plan by evaluating customer response |
| Usually documented in detail and employees expected to closely follow its guidelines | Built based on a shared understanding with less rigidity and more scope for new ideas and experiments |
| Built by leaders and top management without inputs from the concerned teams | Teams are involved and responsible for planning and execution of the end goals |
| Rarely changed or revisited once it has been built | Regularly refined according to the market environment and outcomes |
Technology: The firm employs all the necessary tools and systems that help it deliver value faster and with lesser constraints.
Agile organisations leverage advanced systems to effectively manage and minimise interdependencies thus speeding up the work and output.
They also ensure that their teams incorporate the latest innovations and automated solutions into the daily tasks. Technology is not only used to improve the product but also the organisation and its processes.
Also read: Building a Payment Gateway: Does your Business Really Need to?
Teamwork: The organisation maintains a structure but does not encourage hierarchy in decision-making and rather relies on collective coordination.
The teams are aligned and accountable and have everyone and everything needed to take a project to completion.
Employees are able to use suitable techniques and processes to achieve desired results. They are also adequately trained and coached to actively contribute to tasks.
What are the benefits of business agility?
Better control: Agility in business prepares organisations to handle market opportunities as well as threats efficiently and without losing their focus on the product quality and customer experience.
Competitive advantage: Since agile organisations are flexible they can easily capture new opportunities and stay ahead of the competition. Moreover, if things do not go as planned, they are open to readjusting their approach and working towards the best outcome.
Cross-functional collaboration: Teamwork is a hallmark of agile businesses which results in greater participation in problem-solving/decision-making and elimination of organisational silos.
Productivity: Agile organisations often display higher productivity since the method helps reduce turnaround time and respond sooner also resulting in reduced costs in the long term.
Resilience: Agility in business makes it capable of addressing unexpected, sudden disruptions – ensuring stability and adaptability in uncertain business environments.
Why should agility in business matter for your organisation?
For any organisation to thrive in today’s ever-changing landscape, agility is extremely critical. Customer preferences are changing, technological advancements are inevitable and the competition is fierce.
Working with a fixed set of ideas that do not resonate with the reforming market can take away sizable opportunities from a business.
Moreover, agility does not restrict itself to making an organisation flexible. It contributes to employee engagement, a better work environment and an improved company culture.
An agile mindset is not just restricted to firms in IT services or production-heavy companies. The framework is useful for every business that wants to stay relevant in a volatile market.
However, each business must assess its needs and goals to decide if agility in business is the best approach for them since it requires a complete shift from the traditional approach.
Conclusion
Agility in business is a long process requiring a complete shift in the business outlook. It also needs the participation of every stakeholder to embrace the change and be open to experimenting.
The advantages of an agile mindset are reflected in every sphere of the business, helping it
make rapid progress and stay ahead of the competition even in unstable situations. Agile organisations are empowered and better equipped to face the future.
