[SPONSORED] These stats show businesses must become agile

11 March 2019 -

Managers are working in uncertain times and will be become involved in change projects

[Sponsored content]

Companies across the world seem to be in a perpetual state of flux these days. This has become more evident as many prepare to deal with Brexit, disruptive technologies and other looming global issues impacting their businesses. To arm themselves to face future challenges, many enterprises are beginning to take their first steps on the journey to business agility.

Research shows they need to. The Business Agility Institute commissioned the first global survey on how companies rate their own performance when it comes to integrating agile principles into their operations. By the end of 2018, 71% of companies surveyed had low business agility. The survey also looked at how organisations are dealing with market trends and disruptors. More than 60% of survey respondents said their market was being disrupted or was unpredictable.

The statistics are daunting, but there are steps that organisations can take to remain resilient and react swiftly to unsettled market conditions.

What is business agility?

Business agility has its origins in software development, but today it is a global business strategy. Being business agile means organisations move much faster in terms of their portfolios, programmes, projects and deliveries in order to achieve strategic goals.

Enterprises that embrace business agility often find that their work and decision-making processes become quicker and more efficient, enabling innovation and ‘out of the cubicle’ thinking that may not otherwise have been possible. The key steps to a business agile culture include:

• Identifying the right model for communication
• Enabling visibility through sharing information across teams – not just on a need-to-know basis
• Aligning team goals with organisational objectives
• Putting in place the technologies that make it possible to meet the above goals, ensure they recognise changes in their industry, know how their organisation needs to react and have the flexibility to do so

Keeping employees engaged

Adapting a business agile approach to projects or elements of it – aligning goals, communication, visibility – is also key to combating employee disengagement and apathy. A business agile approach gives employees the trust, ability and opportunity they need to do their job and do it well.

Agility and the power to transform

The next ten or so years will bring massive change in how organisations are structured, deliver on strategic goals and communicate to all stakeholders. Last year, a survey by the Association for Project Management showed that 51% of project managers will be involved in corporate culture change projects by 2030.

Increasingly, we will see more support or function managers – not just project managers – dealing with specific change management or digital transformation projects. These digital transformation journeys need the fluidity and collaboration that business agility brings – the ability to quickly understand how a marketplace is changing and how the needs of its customers are rapidly evolving – and to adapt at speed.

For more information visit Clarizen