5 Tips to Improve Organizational Agility

Organizational agility is the ability for your IT organization to adapt quickly in response to changes in technology or changes in the business.  It requires the IT organization to have a foundation in place that includes the processes and controls that equate to stability but allow for flexibility so that the IT organization can be dynamic, taking advantage of change and potentially, actually thriving on change. 
 
When the IT organization has high agility, it not only supports the business in achieving its’ goals and objectives, IT offers a competitive advantage providing its’ customers with the opportunity to improve the speed to market for new products and services, facilitate a new customer experience, or optimize costs by taking advantage of changes in the technology landscape. 
 
To build agility, IT organizations must take actions to harness the power of change in the organization.  It must help people not only adapt but feel that they can prosper in times of change.  This often requires culture change with the organization.  IT leaders can define a path which embeds agility into the culture.  This requires targeted actions that tie to the very foundation of the organization.  Redefining the vision and strategy process and plan, identifying and changing management behaviors, modifying job descriptions, changing the reward and incentive plan, and redesigning employee development are some basic actions that tie to embedding agility into the culture.  It is an effort that requires focused planning and leadership.

What if you aren’t ready to undertake this type of initiative but you want to improve the agility within your team or division?  What steps can you can take to see some improvement?
 
5 Tips to Improve Organizational Agility 

1. Change the way you frame initiatives when communicating with your team.  Provide context as to why changes are occurring, the business impact, and the team’s role in being successful.  When IT staff understand why something is changing, the business impact, and their role, it helps to reduce fear, reinforces the anticipated outcome, and provides them with context for decision making. 
2. Ask key stakeholders about the results they need in order to strengthen the relationship, understand their perspective, and discuss any misconceptions about what is or will be delivered.
3. Challenge the way you and your team manage setbacks.  Strive to turn setbacks into true learning opportunities with everyone on the team examining their own behaviors and actions to determine how they could have changed the outcome. 
4. Routinely ask what you are your team are doing to help each other as well as how you are hindering individual and team performance.  Asking these questions helps to build a stronger understanding of how you can support each other and it often identifies behaviors that are causing difficulties.
5. Discuss your risk tolerance and decision making authorities. In the areas where you have a higher risk tolerance, consider simplifying decision making processes and approval authorities.  Taking this action will empower individuals and teams and greatly improve the speed of decision making. 

 
Embedding organizational agility into the IT culture takes time and focused effort but given the critical nature of technology and the pace of change in your industry, how can you afford to postpone taking steps to improve the effectiveness and adaptability of the organization?

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At AdOPT, we are transformation consultants focused on strategy, innovation, process, and culture to increase effectiveness, improve efficiency, and optimize costs.  Discover how an cultural assessment can help you identify key steps to influence change adoption.   Ask us to complete an assessment today and discover how to improve the return on your initiatives.  Contact us at  info@adoptitsm.com or by calling 520-591-2427.