20 Change Strategies: Agile Workplace

Today’s business world is not the business world of your parents or your grandparents. It is not even the business world of yesterday. It is a world comprised of four primary characteristics. The characteristics hit us every day.

Characteristic #1: Volatility

The world changes every day. Sometimes these changes are subtle. Often, they change in the blink of an eye. You and I have no way to foresee all the changes coming our way. As humans we like things that are stable but that is no longer possible. These changes occur at all levels of the organization.

Characteristic #2: Uncertainty

With this rapidly changing landscape we have an added burden. We can’t predict the future. This means that we can’t even be sure that we are meeting the voice of the customer. Guess what? They are experiencing the same pace of change. So, their needs are changing also. It requires a new focus on the supply chain. Think in terms of a continuum of process.

Characteristic #3: Chaos

Are you feeling uncomfortable? Are the events of change causing instability in your workplace? ?The chaos comes from the pace of change and what that in turns means for operations. We are never quite sure what is expected of us. We just know that are expectations are not what it was yesterday or even last hour.

Characteristic #4: Ambiguity

The final characteristic is that the operating landscape might not be what we think it is. Any given event or situation can change the way we operate.

Agile management as a methodology has changed our organizations. It has changed our required focus. It requires a new vision for your organization with a different basis. There are full length courses in agile management which more fully define this new philosophy. This newsletter is just a small view of this world. However, there are certain strategies you can use to take advantage of this method of running your organization.

Strategy #! Change Your Focus

The usual animals (TOC, Lean and Six Sigma) are process focused/ Agile management requires that you be people oriented. Your focus should be towards the individuals involved in the processes rather than how you resolve the problem and what tools from the toolbox you used.

Strategy #2: Forget the old way of doing things

You now need to respond the changes rather than what the plan tells you. If you take steps to resolve issues based on your written plan you may miss the opportunity presented to you.

Strategy #3: Increase your level of Collaboration

The key is the ability to glean the information you need to solve issues by hearing all the parties involved. Your stakeholders need to be active participants in the process. This means your customers as well as your suppliers. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need and trust them to get the job done. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams, sp make the best of them. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

Strategy #4: Put technology to work

There are several good, quality technology offerings to help you on the path to resolve issues quickly. Personally, I use QI Macros every day. It is an excel add-on, so it is easy to use and easy to understand. Don’t waste time by toiling over getting things done. Let the technology assist you in getting things completed when subjected to constant changing priorities.

Strategy #5:?Welcome changing developments, even late in development.?

I know you hate it when the customer tells you they must change the requirements. But live with it. Welcome the change and take steps to incorporate them immediately. Understand that the customer’s needs change as rapidly as your does. Don’t present an attitude that you know what they need and say it is too late to make any changes in your product/service delivery.

Strategy #6: Shorten delivery times

Here is your assignment if you choose to accept it. Your commitment is to deliver to your end user what they said they need as quick as you can. You need to constantly see where you can save time by eliminating non-value activities from your processes. The art of maximizing the amount of work not done — is essential. Start working in sprints (2-4 weeks)

?Whether you are prepared or not we are in a VUCA world. With it is new responsibilities and new demands and expectations. We can either dismiss the changes or learn to deal with them. The six strategies outlined in this week’s newsletter is just a start. Google agile management to learn more. Obtain a copy of Josh Bersin’s ‘The Big Reset Playbook Change Agility at https://joshbersin.com/research/big-reset-2020/.

Go forth and enjoy the new world of change on your organization. It opens the doors for a wide range of opportunities to create something amazing and exciting. Open your arms to these new ways of running your business for the foreseeable future.

Next week we will look at strategies Do Not fearing change

About the author:?Daniel Bloom?knows HR and Change Management. He’s a speaker on transformational HR, a strategic HR consultant and trainer. He is certified as both a Senior Professional in HR and as a Six Sigma Black Belt. Dan has written 7 books, more than 40 articles and has been in the HR social media space since 2006. Dan is currently the CEO and Change Maestro of?Daniel Bloom & Associates Inc., where?he helps organizations empower organizational change within their organizations.