Traditional management can contribute to organizational success in a stable economic environment with no significant changes. However, today’s market and economies have become more complex and are more prone to disruptive changes and destabilization. Leading an organization to success in these conditions while using traditional management strategies is no longer a viable option.
Rapid changes require organizations to develop and test new strategies suitable for the new economic conditions. Using the right strategy at the right time before the competition increases in the market is not an easy task and can be quite risky. However, organizations with agile management use new and effective management models and methods to act quickly, resiliently, and successfully in an increasingly complex and insecure world. Therefore, agile management is the need of the hour because it is resilient, quickly adapts to drastic changes, and focuses on optimizing the flow of value creation for the customer.
Competent and agile managers have professional education and years of experience in the industry. To succeed in various management roles like product management, marketing management, logistics management, and more, you can pursue an online MBA in management program. It will equip you with the necessary knowledge and practical skills to effectively manage an organization in the rapidly changing economy.
This article will discuss the role of agile management in organizational success. However, first, we will discuss how it can be implemented in an organization.
How can Agile Management be Implemented in an Organization?
Agile management can only work in an organization ready to accept changes. Agile management realigns and introduces specific changes in the organization like how it works, how it delivers projects, and how it runs its business. Managers measure the readiness of an organization for change through a readiness assessment. It also helps them assess the time and effort that will be required for the implementation of agile management strategies.
A single team develops specific standards and templates that are eventually introduced to subsequent teams throughout the organization to implement agile management strategies. Moreover, agile management is also supportive and ensures regular communication so that the agile way of thinking becomes a part of the entire company culture.
The Role of Agile Management in an Organization
After introducing the agile ways in an organization, management continues to ensure that this culture is maintained. They also keep developing strategies to help the organization adapt to new trends and challenges successfully. Some roles that agile management plays in the success of an organization include;
1.Encourages Accountability
Agile management recognizes the importance of accountability and forces organizations to accept reality and make decisions accordingly. They also help the company personnel understand the impact of their decisions on the entire organization—for example, how changing one aspect can affect the other.
Accountability also helps develop trust, and enables members of the organization to identify and discuss a problem without the fear of criticism, retribution, or dismissal. Accountability is critical to the success of an organization, and agile management introduces transparency and accountability for improved performance.
2.Allows Flexibility
Agile management encourages flexibility and allows changes in a project as it moves towards completion. They believe that the original vision for a project will never match the end result as dynamic forces can affect the scope of a project. Moreover, priorities may change along the way, and changes to the project can become crucial for its success.
Flexibility is also necessary for product-based companies to develop their Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Agile management prioritizes only what is needed to build a product and eliminates all other features that serve no purpose. However, it also leaves room for additional features that may be added later on.
3.Introduces Clarity
Agile management uses a trio of time, cost, and scope to determine if a service or product will be a successful investment for the organization. They help organizations gain a clear perspective regarding their future ventures.
Sometimes, they also use the history of a project’s performance to predict future progress. Moreover, agility helps create insightful maps to determine the timeline of a project, guess the release date, and make this information available to all project members to avoid any miscommunication. Clear and tangible goals are at the crux of agile organizations.
4.Ensures Sustainability
Sustainability is all the rage in the business industry nowadays. Agile management also focuses on creating a sustainable organization. It essentially means creating a cross-trained and cross-functional team so that the loss of a team member doesn’t clog the entire production line.
They understand that sustainability helps drive effective progress only when employees are happy and productive. Therefore, they don’t encourage overtime or unreasonable pressure. If they want to decrease the time of a project, they add more people to the team instead of overworking the existing members.
5.Enhances Scalability
Scalability isn’t an easy task. If new employees are recruited, they don’t immediately start contributing to the organization’s success. They require time and training to become a useful member of the organization.
However, agile management is always ready to scale up employees before the organization may even need them. They identify the tools that the new employees may need to get started as quickly as possible. Therefore, agile management ensures that every team member in the organization makes an impact regardless of the role they perform.
The Bottom Line
Agile management follows the market trends and designs new strategies to deal with the complex and drastic changes in the economy. They carry out a readiness assessment in their organization before implementing their agile management strategies. They play a crucial role in the success of an organization. They encourage accountability, allow flexibility to introduce changes in a project along the way, and introduce clarity in the organization.
Moreover, they also ensure that the organization is sustainable and easily scalable to avoid any losses when a skilled member leaves or when new members are recruited.
