Agility and methods of the new working world

State-of-the-art models

What is learned at many universities today has nothing to do with work or boredom, but rather with the changing needs of customers and the technological possibilities of the new era. We are talking about approaches such as Kanban, Scrum or Design Thinking – have you ever heard of them? That’s great, because that’s exactly what future managers and start-ups, not only in the digital business sector, will be given and trickled into. These methods can also be adapted to the classic SME business, because the intention plays back on one and the same core message in many respects: The customer moves into the centre! But first of all, it is important to clarify and acquire a sound basic knowledge of this area before blindly integrating any state-of-the-art methods into your business model without really having checked how suitable they can really be integrated into your corporate culture and what added value you expect from them. As always, one thing needs to be understood: New technologies are only as effective as their users and use cases. If you’re looking for water in the desert with a Ferrari, you’ll tend to return frustrated rather than choosing the right timetable and vehicle right from the start.

Where does agility begin?

If you search for “agile work” in Google, you get around 250,000 results. Many recommendations and theories shape the picture and yet, when interviewing employees in the DACH regions, one still comes across many statements that postulate stagnation in the development of internal processes. However, with the often made remark, especially at management level, that it is less a question of will than of budget and available resources. Full understanding of this and yet it should be noted that every beginning begins with a first step. Have courage, agility in connection with digitization begins in the minds and in common understanding of the future project through the entire corporate structure. Even today, many processes can be made more efficient with various software solutions, without having to incur immeasurable expenses. Here we are not just talking about the website, which is linked to a social media account, but about a deeper approach to business orientation. In essence, this means being able to react quickly and dynamically to changes in a complex environment. Flat hierarchies, a lower degree of formalization and shorter decision paths ensure higher speed, more adaptability and more effective utilization of know-how. Open channels, use globalization and get creativity if necessary externally into your company. Reward the innovative wealth and value-adding ideas of employees, give incentives and create room for interaction for an active exchange of ideas. New Work is the keyword. Start for example with a simple communication platform like Slack, Trello or Wrike.
Simplify your knowledge management with cloud-based filing, automate the answering of customer inquiries or simply start continuous brainstorming sessions involving as many interested employees as possible.

Design thinking

Without now continuing an endless list of transformation processes, DIGIALOG is happy to support you elsewhere, in this article we will again deal with the term Design Thinking. The term Design Thinking describes an iterative approach to solving a problem and developing new ideas. Especially in projects where requirements and implementation seem unclear at the beginning, the methodology proves itself. Problems are understood in creative, but structured work processes, many solutions are developed and tested with the help of different techniques in order to test prototypes and solutions directly on the market. According to the following diagram, you first go through the diverging phase, to collect ideas, exclude no-go’s, survey customers, and finally switch to the converging phase. There the objective lies in the refinement of the Funky prototype, analogously the grinding of the rough diamond up to the final prototype, which can be used fully functional. Test how close you really are to the wishes of your customers, attend workshops or seek advice. Innovative consulting companies such as Hartmann Ventures specialize in precisely these processes and offer support for questions relating to design thinking and product development and management.

(Image source | Design Thinking Process: HTW Chur)