Business Agility: The successful formula for increasing efficiency and productivity in corporations

Experts often agree that the concept of Business Agility means a company’s ability to adapt to changes by responding quickly and in an innovative way, while improving cost efficiency and the quality of the results obtained. Even in the face of changing, challenging, competitive and volatile market environments, some organizations manage to improve their results in a sustainable and continuous way, standing out from the competition and making their customers fall in love with products and services that add real value to their lives. How do they do it?

According to BAI's latest Business Agility Report, which included participation from companies such as Santander, Renault and US Bank among many others, the more senior the position in the organization, the greater the emphasis on the need to tackle the uncertainties of a changing and unpredictable market and the adaptability and robustness of the company. This sentiment is particularly strong among senior executives. In recent years, the adoption of Business Agility initiatives in organizations has only increased. But why has it become a current trend?

The answer to this question is that Business Agility provides companies with the flexibility, efficiency and adaptability necessary to survive and excel in today's market, empowering teams when designing and creating products that can achieve a competitive advantage in the market. Multidisciplinary teams work and cooperate at each stage of the value chain with a shared purpose using methodologies that foster workflow efficiency. In addition to accelerating development, the internal organizational model is also reinforced, achieving cohesion and collaboration. Many different agile methodologies exist (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, LeSS, Theory of Constraints…) but beyond them, it is important to focus on an adaptive mindset based on experimentation, a culture based around learning and to enhance the improvement of the customer experience in a continuous and sustainable way.

The benefits are clear and tangible, especially in terms of performance, efficiency and productivity, as they lead to stronger and safer teams, with greater commitment and continuous improvement. This improvement not only impacts time management but in particular, it fosters greater talent recruitment and retention thanks to an inclusive business culture that promotes collaboration, human values and psychological security, as mentioned by Amy C. Edmonson (Harvard Leadership & Management) as a key factor for these objectives.

Analysts such as Forrester for example highlight specific concepts related to business agility such as Value Stream Management (VSM), which facilitates transformation in the processes of financing, creation, management, production, maintenance and evolution of large-scale business products, with a data-driven metrics model that improves the production flow and the value chain both at the team and organizational levels.

Any company that requires speed to launch its products to the market can implement a Business Agility initiative, which always starts with a first step, one that is affordable, simple and non-intrusive. Speed in the creation and adaptation of products is essential in highly competitive and ever-changing markets where many of the parameters are yet to be discovered, in addition to data-driven businesses and digital services such as financial services, banking, mobile, eCommerce, education, energy, transport and logistics, among others.

It should be clear that technology alone is not agile and in reality, Business Agility is more than a methodology; it is a mentality, which extends beyond processes or collaboration. It is a change in culture, which implies that, in all probability, to a greater or lesser extent, the majority of people involved will have to undergo a process of transformation. 

For a company to benefit from Business Agility, it is important to adopt and progressively expand work models that allow them to mechanize agility, implementing it as a continuous flow for multiple areas. The most advisable method of approach is to call on a specialized partner who knows how to discover and analyze the different types of projects and the tools available to bring them to life.

Because adopting Business Agility starts with a single first step, at the point where your company is. We do not recommend a Big Bang type organizational process but an iterative model, little by little.

A good example of this is Thinkö, a platform for the creation of e-Learning digital experiences based on project learning (ABP). We create and develop a collaborative and adaptive work culture and apply working methodologies such as Scrum, offering the customer the ability to adapt to changes and visibility, facilitating the technological supplier to improve their delivery times, achieve continuous alignment and above all, have the customer and supplier working as a united team with a shared purpose to obtain the expected results.  

In short, Business Agility means implementing new work methodologies and a new culture that allows you to be more agile when confronted with changes, reduce the time of delivery of products and improve their quality, enhance the relationship between the business and IT, reduce project risk, increase productivity, work better in a team and reduce costs.