Agile organization is an environment where employees are able to work quickly, efficiently, and apply creative solutions to solve challenges. Agile organizations prioritize continual learning, knowledge sharing, and strengthening team collaboration. Agile organizations seek to foster creativity and innovation by promoting an environment for employees to think outside-of-the-box, explore new ideas and solutions, and most importantly, learn from mistakes and challenges.
Agile organizations believe in putting individuals first by trusting them in their areas of expertise, valuing their effort and commitment, and preserving their work-life balance. Employees are given the autonomy to be self-directed, to find their best working style, to take ownership of their results, and to have the support from their team to complete the tasks at hand. Agile organizations focus on empowering employees to take on more creative, innovative roles.
Agile organizations strive to create a culture where experimentation and ideas are viewed as assets and are encouraged. Agile organizations will often try to prioritize around the original idea, and break down the tasks into smaller, achievable steps. This agile methodology allows the team to iterate and adjust quickly to accommodate learning, feedback, and change.
Agile organizations recognize that technology has enabled great changes in the way that we do business. As a result, they strive to integrate technology solutions within their workplace in a way that can continue to drive innovation and growth. Agile organizations embrace digitalization and embrace the need for continuous improvement and development as technology continues to change, update, and grow.
Agile organizations often have fast, responsive communication processes with short turnaround times. This allows for quick decisions to be made, information to be shared faster, and for teams to stay flexible and agile as changes and challenges come up. Agile teams are more productive and efficient when they can communicate quick, accurate information and feedback in a timely manner.
Agile organizations view organizational culture as an asset and strive to create an equitable and collaborative environment. This means creating an environment that values diversity, inclusion, and equity and gives everyone a sense of belonging and purpose. Agile organizations are open to feedback from everyone and everyone is considered an equal in the communication process.
Agile organizations also value feedback and feedback loops. Feedback loops help to reinforce ongoing learning and improvements and provide the opportunity for teams and individuals to use crucial insight to strategically pivot, adapt, and adjust. Feedback loops also help build trusting relationships, increase motivation, and develop higher quality work as teams and individuals understand the importance of the feedback being shared.
As Agile organizations continue to grow and evolve, it’s critical to have a structure and culture where experimentation, innovation, and creativity can run rampant without hindrance. Agile organizations believe in having an effective combination of people, processes, and technology that enable employees to perform at their best and work together toward a common goal. Agile organizations rely on their methods of working in order to foster an environment that allows for collaboration, innovation, and growth.