What comes to mind when you think of the word agile?
Agility is usually associated with sports and everyday life. Agility can mean quick movements, a body adapting to rapid changes, or being coordinated and balanced.
Similarly, agility in business refers to the company’s ability to quickly adapt to changes and fluctuations in its business environment.
If there’s anything that the last two years has taught us, it’s the need to be responsive and adaptable. If a business is set up to respond quickly and with the flexibility to meet business demands, they’re more likely to thrive and sustain their growth.
How can you develop workplace agility in your company?
- Listen
Listen closely to what’s going on in your field or industry, and then respond or strategize accordingly. If you don’t pay attention, you won’t be able to meet rapidly changing business needs.
2. Be proactive
Encourage quick decision-making and fast thinking. This enables autonomy and empowers employees to act quickly by removing unnecessary obstacles to progress and innovate.
3. Collaborate
Agility in the workplace strives to break down hierarchical power structures and unnecessary barriers so that everyone can explore, create, and drive positive outcomes. Share industry knowledge with teammates and collaborate on tasks.
4. Communicate
In order to optimize and execute the strategies planned, you need to be able to communicate quickly, accurately, and effectively.
5. Learn
Being agile requires keeping up and learning new skills as needed. The best way to show agility at work is to grow and expand your knowledge, using new skills and information to respond to whatever situation comes up in real life.
Why develop and promote agility in the workplace?
- Higher profit margins
Agility boosts employee motivation and engagement. This means better quality produced and better results for the company.
Research conducted by Gallup shows that employees who perceive their company culture to be agile believe that their company is ahead of the competition, that the company’s financial future is secure, and that their employer is successful and growing.
2. Greater customer satisfaction
Agility requires more collaboration and communication. This extends beyond the company and its employees. You can stay informed and deliver the best solutions and products when customers can share their thoughts and opinions.
3. More resilient business
When you challenge people to be more agile, you can improve both individual and organizational resilience. Businesses that can adapt and adjust quickly to sudden challenges and employees who know how to balance work, manage stress, and retain motivation are the definition of resilience in the workplace.
Embracing business agility gives you an advantage over your competition. Companies that react quickly to change and learn from innovating not only survive, but grow stronger. Foster the habit of always looking for ways to improve your processes, products, and services among your workforce, and let your employees lead your business into the future.