Increasing our capacity for agility (being responsive, adaptive, and innovative) can help navigate organization wide decisions in new and unfamiliar environments. Let’s consider an example of a challenge many organizations are in the midst of today: implementing strategies and guidelines regarding remote or on-site work.
A department focused on organizational agility might approach this challenge by:
· Investigating theoretical research on the costs and benefits of remote and on-site work (financial-, social-, production-, sustainability-wise)
· Conduct their own research within their organization on the costs and benefits of remote and on-site work and compare their results to the theoretical research (financial-, social-, production-, sustainability-wise)
· Evaluate company values and culture against observed costs and benefits
· Evaluate economic, social and environmental impact of decision options
· Use human centered design approach to design work plans that address needs of all stakeholders
· Prototype and iterate, looking for satisfaction across all levels of pre-determined criteria for success.
An organization with an Agility department would ideally be addressing this sort of concern proactively, either creating scenario based strategic plans ready to role out, or moving the company forward at a pace slightly ahead of the pace of cultural change. However, if a challenge arose that had not been anticipated, using established practices to navigate these scenarios reactively with agility can also increase the quality of decisions.