It is never easy for an organization to adopt an entirely new methodology of Lean-Agile Management. For an enterprise to achieve agility, it is very important for it to develop a partnership with top professionals both within the organizational and outside it, who are adequately trained and knowledgeable in the agile practices and principles, as well as management process review. The professionals should also desire to promote a customer-oriented culture towards bringing about a continuous improvement to the organization. In order for the Enterprise agility initiative to be successful, it is essential for the teams assigned to the task by the organization carries out its activities in a self-organizing manner. It is equally essential for the team to be in tune with the reality of the organization and be involved personality in the organization’s initiatives.
Enterprise agility vs. business agility
The two of them should never be confused together. Business agility has to do with the possession of an agile mindset towards the entire business organization. This can also be referred to as “diffusion of IT-based innovations.” Business agility has to do with all domains without leaving out those that are outside of product development as highlighted below:
- Adaptive leadership
- Human resources
- Personnel
- Organizational design
Enterprise agility, on the other hand, has to do with an agile mindset towards the organization, as mentioned earlier. This means that the organization can only work successfully if everyone in that organization possesses an agile mindset. If the agile mindset is absent, then there will be a clash of the agile values of innovation and experimentation with the value traditional management practices common in a culture that gives credence to failure avoidance and predictability. The organization will never be able to enjoy the full benefits of agile if the team saddled with the responsibility are simply following direct orders without any touch of agility or concern.
Not all organizations have agile mindsets, but the few that are agile possess the mindset and culture required for making such a claim. The usual practice is that a business organization will set up five or six agile teams to practice the following:
- Scrum
- Kanban
- Extreme Programming
- Lean Startup
The agile mindset must prevail in an organization in every department or section before the organization can be said to have an agile mindset. If not, the organization will never be able to reap the full benefits involved in any of its operations including day-to-day operation, quality of production or any other activity for that matter.
The organization will have to operate with a unified vision shared by every aspect of the workforce for it to enjoy the benefits involved. The organization equally needs to put in place a working system that will help the teams involved to collaborate, coordinate and communicate effectively at all times.
