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If business agility was becoming a business requirement in the last few years, it has become imperative in today’s scenario. Never before has the world come to a complete standstill as it has this year, bringing with it unprecedented changes. The rapid adoption of technology changing consumer journey, changing needs… are a few that come to mind.
Only those businesses that could quickly change and adapt to a change in demand in the market have been able to take advantage of the opportunity that this uncertainty-ridden scenario threw up.
Agility today is defining the very viability of a business.
Being nimble can mean the difference between growth and failure.
In many ways, business agility is similar to fitness and flexibility for a person. Just as good health allows a person to fight off disease and stress, agility equips a business to deal better with the changing markets, competition, client preferences, and regulations.
Every company needs to make agility an integral part of its culture.
These core competencies can be products, expertise, manufacturing process, clients, relationships in the industry or even employees.
Next, determine what markets you can cater to from the products and services that arise from your core competencies.
How does the company stand out?
Can you make money from this distinctiveness?
To evaluate market opportunities and your fitment – market research is a must. Hiring a Market research company may be a wise call.
Step 3: VersatilityOnce you have identified the market the next step is to see how you can serve it.
If you are a product company, it may mean investment in equipment – if that be the case you need to forecast and see if it is the right volume that will make the investment viable.
If, on the other hand, if you are in soft services your value is based primarily on know-how or experience, it will be easier to adapt to variations in market opportunities.
Streamline your operations to reduce waste of effort and resources. This would mean eliminating processes that don’t ultimately create value for your customer. Make your operations lean to enable you to get your product or service to your customer with the right quality in the shortest time, in a cost-effective manner.
Choose your team well. Articulate your company values and recruit people who align with the defined values. The right aptitudes, attitude and drive are a must for building business agility. Inculcate the company values in them and make them understand what the company is all about. Create a culture of inclusiveness; be a leader, not a manager. Encourage them to participate in company decisions and take ownership.
Do not wait for perfection; make continuous improvements to the way of life. Commit to it. This means a constant focus on improving productivity and quality. It’s a process that never stops.
Avoid silos within the organization. Prevent decision-making bottlenecks by clearly assigning roles and responsibilities. Transparent accountability is essential. Decide who is responsible for making decisions, who has input, who implements decisions and who follows up. Adopt the RASCI model.
Keep a close eye on the KPI’s of your business. Stay up to date on what is happening in the market especially on trends and factors that impact your business.
Create systems, that feed in market intelligence, both of the environment and competition. Decide what type of information you need for strategic reasons, and then assign clear responsibilities for collecting, organizing, and analyzing it.
Make sure you gather the information that is critical for your company’s strategic direction.
If you incorporate these basic Steps in your business then it will not only help reduce reaction time but prime your business to make best the opportunities that changing marketing conditions present from time to time.
