Agility: the necessary transformation of companies
How do you revolutionize your corporate culture and processes to gain agility? Recently, the method is no longer the prerogative of start-ups: banks, insurances, industries, services, public administrations… All players in the economy are now attracted by this more flexible, transparent organisational model, which is necessary in the digital era.
Agility! The word is on all the lips of decision-makers. As society has become more global and dematerialised, they have all come to understand that their business must eventually change in order to race in an increasingly fast-moving world. Agility therefore emerges as the innovative solution. However, this proven concept in IT is more than thirty years old. Indeed, this project management method has made its experience in informatics.
The goal ? To bring more flexibility into project management processes and avoid the “tunnel effect” induced by traditional management that demultiplies risks and errors. Agility has therefore made it possible to adapt the project’s organization and make it evolve according to needs. This is a process of continuous improvement that allows us to anticipate – and react quickly to any sand grains that could block the machine. Agility requires building a relationship of trust among project stakeholders and constantly questioning and improving processes.
Trust and questioning
Why, then, is this thirty-year-old method still in the limelight today? Quite simply because the players in change management and digital transition are trying to apply it across the company. But can what is applicable in a specific department be extended to the whole of a company ? How can an historic company transform itself and gain agility? And finally, what do these changes imply?
Agility is no longer the prerogative of start-ups. Banks, insurance companies, public administrations, industries… All sectors of the economy are now attracted by this more flexible and transparent organisational model. What they don’t know, however, is that you don’t gain agility with a snap of the finger. For the company, it’s a matter of a profound cultural revolution. Because agility is a paradigm shift. An imperative in an era when changes have never been so rapid and profound.
A human transformation
It flattens pyramid management; it forces an end to archaic processes; it involves collaborative working methods; it requires trust and transparency in processes and teams. It requires changing pairs of glasses to deal with customer and employee satisfaction before profitability. As you will have understood, agility is a transformation that is first human.
Is agility therefore applicable to all companies, whether public or private? The answer is yes, as long as they feel ready for change. Because this large-scale transformation requires curiosity and experimentation. It depends on the particular context of each company. It is up to them to test, learn and energize their teams. It is only through this passage that they will find the key to their agility.
