Executive Summary

Agile is widely regarded as one of the most effective and important work methodologies. The purpose of this paper is to suggest what it means for an organization to be truly agile, the crucial role that leadership plays in agile transformation, and therefore the need for organizations to upskill their workforce to face the challenges and benefit of the opportunities within the post-COVID-19 world. In what ways is Agile relevant (or not?) through a crisis just like the one we’re facing brought on by COVID-19?

 

An agile mindset results in centroidal specialization in customer values.

During this challenging time of COVID-19, what I observed is that different companies tend to have different approaches towards addressing the sudden and big disruption. In smaller companies and start-ups, the customer is often the central focus and therefore the design thinking framework is constructed around it. The company is a network of individuals and every single person within the network is targeted at providing value to the customer, no matter the numerous changes from the customer’s side. This is often how small companies start growing. As a corporation grows, policies and departments are formed, a hierarchical data structure emerges with processes to be followed. This is frequently the point at which the company’s centric focus shifts away from customers and toward the process itself. As a result, the company struggles to provide true value to the customer because the process, hierarchy, and thus traditional way of thinking have condemned the customer’s value.

To restore customer value, the massive companies will plan on a change to the management process which will probably take around two months to be implemented. Agile causes a shift in mindset, allowing everyone in the network to adapt to a centroidal specialization in customer value and style thinking.

The hierarchy doesn’t play a negative role here. Structures, policies, and procedures are important for each company, but we also have to realize and learn from the items which worked well when the company was small. It’s true that change is inevitable and is the only constant in life; the important thing for us to grasp is a way to adapt. The company that adapts fastest, keeping the main target on the customer, is the one that may achieve success. The customer focus is what Agile brings about.

Why do organizations fail escorted by Agile transformations?

Some of the large companies, like Blockbuster (the video rental company) didn’t adapt and eventually fell apart. Meanwhile, Netflix, which started after the blockbuster, understood the rationale for change and truly adopted Agile. They understood the Agile way of thinking and trained their employees to be truly agile and to be innovative. Their employees were trained to take risks, which helped Netflix grow to its current size.

Don’t change just to fit in with the crowd. Recognize why your organization has decided to form a transition.

Companies such as BlackBerry and Nokia failed, whereas Apple and Samsung have thrived in adapting to change and are enormously successful. Businesses must consider what motivates them to grow. And the motivation that any business should have is simply changing to fit in with the group rather than understanding why they have decided to create a transition alternatively or everyone will surpass them. And, to support that understanding, they need to allow their employees autonomy and therefore the opportunity to excel.

The difference between “being agile” and “doing agile” is knowing the principles.

There is an enormous difference between “doing agile” and “being agile”. Many companies feel that they’re agile because they need to adopt several frameworks and methodologies in their work until they don’t work, or they find they’re ineffectual at delivering value to customers. If these companies do a deep dive, they’re going to soon realize that they’re just “doing Agile”, not “being Agile”.

“Doing agile” boils down to external reasons – I’m doing it because my neighbor is doing it, my friend is doing it or my competitors do it – without an understanding of the explanation behind the necessity to become agile. So, the primary and foremost important thing is to acknowledge the need for change.

The second reason businesses struggle is that they do not understand the underlying principles and values of agile. When companies make decisions without understanding the principles behind them, they’re not capable of making the right decisions. The thing companies need to understand is that if they wish to be truly agile, they wish to grasp what the values and principles behind agility are all about. Once they understand these and begin believing in them, the selections they then make are supported by these principles, and value statements are what makes them truly agile.

With companies that are struggling, I have noticed that these companies try to be agile only at the team level. The management feels that they are not agile and it’s only the IT team who needs to be agile. That’s an enormous misconception. That is why companies are struggling so much because of this hybrid model, in which you are traditional on the top but Agile on the bottom, where the work is truly happening. This causes a large disconnect between the thought process at the leadership and management level and also the team that’s delivering value.

Agile isn’t a process implementation. It’s a shift in mindset.

Enterprises must adopt an agile mindset because it isn’t just the teams who do the work- the whole enterprise must be agile. This could be where the Scaled Agile framework or SAFe® comes up. Scaled Agile has made significant progress and gained popularity because it is a framework that caters to any or all levels of an enterprise, not just the team level. Scaling isn’t an option nowadays; if you don’t scale, you’re dead. Leadership must understand what it takes to be Agile; it is not just about the teams.

And what leaders must then do is to provide the correct environment-an environment of trust, an environment of respect, and an environment of support. This could be what brings about the eagerness within the team to deliver true value to the shoppers. This is often where the magic happens, and transformation begins. It all begins with the mindset at the leadership level.

Make the simplest of lock-down and slowdown to upskill.

Unfortunately, we are in the middle of an economic slowdown and firms are struggling. However, this provides an opportunity for businesses to develop a skill in which their employees take the time to reflect on what they have done in the past–have they been delivering true value to their customers? Are there perhaps better ways to try and do it?

Investing in training and education allows a company to grow. can be important and now it’s especially a real blast to concentrate on this. Companies need to know how to arrange for what comes after the crisis. Companies will then increase and deliver things fast, faster than ever before because they need to catch up with the economy which will look to rebound rapidly.

When companies want to build, especially in scaling Agile, it shouldn’t be just at the team level. It mustn’t just be, for instance, Scrum. While that’s one among the abilities, there are several other frameworks – there’s Kanban, Lean thinking, Disciplined Agile, and several others. So, there are multiple areas they must upskill themselves in.

It’s also important for companies to find out a way to choose the proper agile solution for different situations. Not every project is “agile able”; the concept is that teams must understand which projects Agile must be applied to and which projects they have to continue in maybe a Waterfall fashion. Even in projects where Agile must be used, you would like to have different strategies in place–one project may require Kanban and thus Scrum, while another may require Lean or perhaps Safe. There are alternative ways to use your knowledge, but the sole way you’ll be able to make this decision is to realize that knowledge.

How can companies best brace themselves for the new normal post-COVID-19?

The next 6 months to a year will be crucial in terms of how companies wrap themselves around the problem. The work must be done now to develop character, adaptability, and suppleness, as well as to provide true value to customers. When things come to a new normal, things will speed up. Enterprises will then need their employees equipped with the abilities and, therefore, the right frame of mind to help the company grow at double the speed. That’s why this transition period during the lockdown is crucial for companies to organize their employees for what’s bobbing up in the future. As companies try to adapt, this is often a good opportunity for people to create use of their time and upskill.

Biography

 

Soudha has a Bachelor of Business Studies with a major in Finance and a minor in system tracks from the University of UK. Master of Business Administration at Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University. Certificate of Achievement at Harvard X. Leadership and Development Experience in the International Student Society. Learn more about the author here

 

References

Jensen Clayton, S. (2021, January 11). An Agile Approach to Change Management. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/01/an-agile-approach-to-change-management

Craven, M., Liu, L., Wilson, M., & Mysore, M. (2021, April 7). COVID-19: Implications for business. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/risk/our-insights/covid-19-implications-for-business #

Houseman, D., Sexton, P., Moore, N., & Lijding, E. (2020, May 29). COVID-19: The new reality for project and program management. KPMG. https://home.kpmg/au/en/home/insights/2020/05/coronavirus-covid-19-project-program-management-new-reality.html