The meaning of agile at organisational and project level
Agile is becoming increasingly popular. There are organisations that are specifically agile, as well as companies where traditional project management is still mostly mixed with agile methodologies. But what does agile mean? In which business environments can it be implemented and is it effective? What misconceptions surround it? What does the agile mindset mean? In this article, we explore these questions.
The meaning of the word agile
In the traditional sense, the word agile means a person who is ready, willing, eager, agile, enterprising, energetic, and full of life.
However, the term agile is increasingly used in an organisational context, as the rapidly changing environment and expectations lead more and more companies to switch to agile operations, which are characterised by flexibility, adaptability, innovation and continuous improvement.
The key to agile is not profit-driven, but customer satisfaction and delivering projects and day-to-day tasks that create real value for both the organisation and the customer.
What kind of business environment is agile fit for?
Although agile is becoming increasingly fashionable, it is important to know that it does not fit into the life of every organisation. It is particularly successful in areas where projects are delivered in an ever-changing environment and effectiveness requires the ability to respond quickly and effectively to emerging needs and issues. Where both objectives and delivery are constantly evolving. It is most commonly found in software development companies, but is also used by research and development companies, for example.
What makes an agile organisation different? Old vs. new paradigm
Old paradigm: the traditional, hierarchical organisation
To better understand how an agile organisation works, let's look at how most traditional corporate hierarchies are structured and what goals drive them.
Traditional organisations should be thought of as pyramidal. That is, major objectives are set at the top and then broken down by each department into their own areas. This structure is characterised by hierarchy, profit orientation, with shareholders' primary objective being to generate profit and gain market share.
Ford and Taylor: unprecedented efficiency and effectiveness
A good example of traditional organisation is the Ford Motor Company, which in 1910 was one of many small car manufacturers. A decade later, however, Ford had a 60 per cent market share of the new car market worldwide. Assembly time per vehicle was reduced from 12 hours to 90 minutes and the price from $850 to $300, while paying competitive wages to employees.
The ideas of Ford and his contemporary Frederick Taylor came from scientific management, a breakthrough insight that optimised work productivity through scientific methods. And it ushered in an era of unprecedented efficiency and effectiveness. Taylor's ideas were the forerunner of modern quality control, total quality management and, through his student Henry Gantt, project management.
Gareth Morgan also describes Taylorist organisations such as Ford as hierarchical, portraying them as machines. For decades they dominated their markets and outperformed other organisations, attracting the best talent.
Digital revolution - new organisational challenges
The digital revolution in economy, industry and society has recently resulted in:
- A rapidly changing environment: customer, partner and investor needs have changed
- Disruptive technologies are constantly being introduced: existing businesses and industries are being replaced by digitalisation, advances in life sciences, innovative use of new models and automation
- Accelerating digitalisation and the democratisation of information: the increased volume, transparency and dissemination of information requires organisations to develop faster, multi-directional communication and more complex collaboration with customers, partners and staff
- Competition for talent: as creative knowledge and learning-based roles become increasingly important, organisations need a specific value proposition to attract and retain the best and most diverse talent
This has led to an ongoing paradigm shift, where hierarchical organisational structures are breaking down and being replaced by networked agile organisations.
New paradigm: agile organisation - focus on teams
In an ever-changing world, organisations are now faced with the challenge of keeping pace with the rapid market changes brought about by the digital revolution. While traditional organisational structures and management styles struggle to adapt their processes at a fast pace, organisations that adopt an agile approach are coping well with change.
An agile organisation is characterised by a paradox: it is stable but also dynamic. It is like a living organism made up of teams of agile people. What they have in common is that they are motivated by the pursuit of a powerful and attractive shared vision.
Under the agile methodology, value creation is achieved in multi-round work cycles, involving external partners. It involves the integration of new technologies into processes, automation and optimisation to achieve results.
The importance of adopting an agile mindset
While many traditional organisations have tried to adapt to the new environment, they have failed. The agile transformation can lead to resistance and high turnover, which can be prevented by regular and accurate communication.
For agile operations to be effective, it is essential that people in the organisation have a clear understanding and understanding of agile methods and tools, and put them into practice.
What are the characteristics of an agile mindset?
- cooperation
- continuous development and learning
- innovative approach
- adapting to change
- speed and efficiency
- ability to convert failures into opportunities
The meaning of Agile: misunderstandings, misconceptions
In the case of agile organisations, it is important to distinguish between companies that operate entirely according to agile methodologies and those that operate in a hybrid way. There are companies where only certain teams or departments apply agile, while other departments still operate according to traditional principles.
It is a mistake to think that because agility is popular and fashionable, all organisations must adopt it. If projects are not run in a volatile environment, and both the needs and the scope are well defined and stable, then significant results can be achieved using traditional approaches.
Many people also misunderstand agile project management as not requiring planning and documentation. Agile projects also go through planning processes.
In traditional waterfall-type methodologies, the project plan defines the entire life cycle from project definition to project closure and follow-up. In contrast, agile projects plan for shorter timescales. Typically, 1-2 week or monthly iterations are identified. These are concluded with an evaluation and then the success criteria for the next sprint are planned.
How can we help?
In the past years, our colleagues with agile coaching, product ownership, development and consulting/training experience have supported dozens of agile teams and organisational agile development processes.
We are not agile evangelists, we don't believe that agile trends are the solution to everything. We believe that these tools can help in everyday life, and that incorporating this way of thinking into day-to-day work to the right extent can bring short-term success for projects and organisations.
If the basics of agility, the Scrum, to learn more about kanban trends, we recommend our agile project management programme.
If you are a project manager, As a Product Owner, possibly starting up As a Scrum Master want to test the design process and tools on a concrete project, our agile simulation we recommend.
For Scrum Masters Open and outsourced programme, we can also provide support and international exam preparation provide.
If you have any questions or do not know how to proceed, please contact us.
Designabc