4 ways agile working can help your organization to adapt

“Necessity is the mother of invention,” as the saying has it, and across the world we are seeing businesses rapidly adapt to change. From garment makers turning their hands to the production of protective gowns, to medical providers rapidly scaling up their use of telemedicine, there is an incredible amount of innovation taking place.

Even in less obviously affected sectors like financial services, business leaders are looking to establish new ways of working. Many teams will continue to work partially from home even as offices reopen, international travel will be reduced and the market will continue to be in flux. As businesses look to reduce the number of people in the workplace, they are considering introducing new technology, whether that be more robots on the factory floor or increased automation of admin functions.

Related: Who and where will workforce automation hit the hardest?

For business leaders who are looking to manage this process of assessment, innovation and adoption, the principles and practices of Agile are proving a useful framework. Here are some tips.

1. Respond positively to changing requirements

One of the 12 core principles of Agile is: “We welcome changing requirements, even late in development.” When a customers’ needs change, Agile businesses look for ways to harness that change to drive a competitive advantage for the customer. While the change itself may not be positive–such as one enforced by the current circumstances–there is no choice about whether or not to accept it.

Viewing the changing requirements of customers in this light helps business leaders to think about how best to meet them in their current form. When people let go of old ways of working, they are more open to thinking in fresh and innovative ways, and more likely to find solutions.

2. Offer customers as much flexibility as possible

You have probably spent a long time building strong customer relationships and it is important to take a long-term view of those. Customers’ needs may have changed right now–and they are thinking their way into the future just as you are. It is important, wherever possible, to try to be flexible. Focus on working with customers to probe how you can continue to provide value and to maintain the relationship.

One of the four values of the Agile manifesto is “We value customer collaboration over contract negotiation” and there are many businesses today who are taking that to heart as they try to maintain customer relationships in the face of unprecedented change.

3. Use short “sprints” to deliver value quickly

Another useful aspect of the Agile working practices is the emphasis on short “sprints.” With this, each self-managing team is clear about their objectives and they work in two-week bursts to deliver on them, in phases. In a rapidly changing environment, this means they deliver value as they go, at a steady pace, iterating and developing their offer in line with feedback.

This approach originated as a way to build software; it means the team doesn’t retire to an ivory tower for four years and emerge with a fix for a problem that no longer exists. But it also works well for any business trying to adapt as swiftly as possible to a changing market. It lessens the risk of spending too long on something without checking its effectiveness, and it increases the potential for learning the lessons of what doesn’t work.

4. Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential

This is another principle of Agile. It seemed to me initially as businesses moved overnight to working entirely from home, there was a bit of a tendency for things to move the other way. In fact, work proliferated. In some businesses, a reduced headcount due to furlough or lay-offs simply meant there was more for the remaining employees to do. There also seemed to be an explosion in virtual meetings–you would find ten people and their dogs on a Zoom meeting agonizing over a decision that would have been made by two people passing in the corridor previously.

Because of the sense of rapid change, people were less confident about making decisions that they would previously have made, and because business leaders were always available at home–instead of traveling at attending meetings and so on–it became easier to push things upwards. As I see it now, people are settling down. Professionals in many sectors are learning quickly how to collaborate effectively in all-remote teams, and how to carve out time so that they can focus on the right stuff.

In general, the technology sector has been focused on dealing with rapid change for many years. That experience, and specifically the Agile method, came out of that. These principles and processes offer some navigation tips that may be useful more widely in the current moment.

Mark Robinson is co-founder of PSA provider Kimble Applications.