The world around us is changing at a rapid pace, and as a result, business environments are becoming increasingly complex and volatile. To address this, companies recognise a need to demonstrate agility.
In recent years, the concept of the agile workplace has garnered popularity with employers recognising its benefits on workplace productivity, collaboration, flexibility and culture. In order to attract, develop and retain the best workforce, then the environment needs to be as dynamic and aspiring as the employees within it.
Agile workspaces are proactive. They can quickly change and adapt to the variables of the current market and are highly responsive to the marketplace disruptions. These workplace are outcomes focused and results driven. Most importantly – people are central to any successful Agile workplace and they need to be supported in order to bring along this change.
Technology plays a very important role in this substantial workplace transition and in supporting your staff. Modern productivity and collaboration tools that allows people to connect with their colleagues and to the various data sources of information supports the fundamentals of agility by allowing quick and informed decision making, easy access to correct information in the users context. They empower people to work together and innovate. We discussed this in details in one of our earlier articles here.
So how do you build a case for change?
Agile workplaces are on the rise
According to a McKinsey survey, most participants agreed that the world is changing very quickly and two thirds of respondents said their sectors in particular were experiencing rapid change. The more unstable responders said their environments were, the more likely their companies have already begun agile transformation.
When asked where agility is being applied in their organisation, respondents most often cited activities that are closest to their customers: customer experience, sales, servicing, product management and innovation. At least four in ten respondents also said their companies are applying agile methodology in operations, strategy and technology.
Agility is becoming a top priority
Companies are increasingly aspiring to become more agile. Three-quarters of respondents to the McKinsey survey said that organisational agility is a top or top-three priority in their organisation. On average, respondents believe that 68 percent of their organisations’ employees should be working in an agile way.
Agile working pays off
According to the McKinsey survey, workplace agility actually pays off.
According to respondents, 81 percent of those currently in agile workplaces have reported a moderate or significant increase in overall performance since their agile transformation began.
On top of this, respondents in agile organisations are 1.5 times more likely than others to report financial outperformance compared to industry counterparts, and are 1.7 times more likely to report that they are outperforming their peers when it comes to non-financial measures.
Before building a case:
- Understand what agile is about. Ensure you get familiar with agile values and principles, explore agile practices and consider how these can make sense for your industry and organisation.
- Have a clear understanding of why your organisation (or what parts of your organisation) should become agile, outlining specific business needs, what benefits are expected and how to measure the transformation’s actual impact.
And once an agile transformation has begun:
- Keep employees informed and be clear on your vision.
- Define your metrics and start tracking them to see if workplace agility is bringing your business value.
- Stay agile by reflecting on your own journey – always be ready to learn, pivot and adopt.
To keep pace with change and improve your business processes, contact us today.
About Prometix: At Prometix, we design implement and support Microsoft based technology solutions that help our client’s staff to more easily use and share information as individuals and in teams. We work with our clients to establish a structure that makes information easier to create, store, find and share with others. We’ve worked hard to understand how people want to access and share information.
