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Ever since the industrial age began, mankind and the industry have seen two things consistently - development and progress. Organizations have found that they must keep pace with the speed of progress, or the competition will leave them behind. Organizations that do not adapt to the changes in the market trends and customer requirements are not able to compete and have to bow out of the competition eventually. The traditional way of running an organization is also changing rapidly, with companies becoming more aware of the changing needs of the times. In traditional companies, the command is in the hands of the top leadership or management, and they control the functioning of the whole organization. They decide how the people in the organization would work and what processes would be followed.

However, these companies function around a hierarchy which is static and compartmentalized. All the decisions are taken at the top and conveyed down the line. Such organizations do not quickly adopt changes. They can neither keep track of the advancements in their field nor the table to keep pace with the fast-changing market trends. But today, more and more organizations are seeing the benefits of being Agile. Today, Agility defines most organizations, particularly those in technical fields. But what exactly does being Agile mean? Agile means being mentally aware and able to move quickly and easily. Agility is catching up fast with organizations of all types and sizes, from startups to large enterprises, because of the benefits that accrue from it. 

So, what precisely is an Agile organization, and what are the advantages of being an Agile organization? We are going to deal with these two things in this article. But the first thing first.

What is an Agile organization?

An Agile organization can be broadly said to be one that can make quick decisions to provide a fast response to the changes in the market or business environment. Agile organizations are customer-centric, meaning they provide customized solutions keeping the customers' needs in mind rather than standard solutions. They always work with an eye on the future and introduce more customer-centric changes, help improve productivity and flexibility and make the goal more accessible. Agile usually flourishes in organizations that do not have hierarchy or where the authority is not vested at a single point. The main feature of an Agile organization is that it uses modern tools and methods of training along with advanced processes to quickly respond to the fast changes in technology and market conditions. 

Agile is an incremental and iterative project management method that keeps teams in sync with the demands of modern-day work requirements. Agile organizations can achieve the balance between being dynamic and stable simultaneously. The organizations that use Agile methodology can inculcate a common objective among the teams. An Agile organization empowers its teams to make independent decisions with commensurate accountability. It infuses a high level of transparency in working and collaboration among the teams. Agile organizations can embrace the complexities and unpredictability of the market by enabling teams with technology and developing a culture where a common purpose drives people.

Now that we know what an Agile organization is, why companies should adopt Agile arises. What are its advantages? Let us look at some benefits organizations get when implementing the Agile approach.

Benefits of Agile organization:

The main benefits of Agile are as under:

Better customer centricity:

An Agile organization focuses on being customer-centric rather than profit-centric. Instead of increasing the profit margins, they work toward optimizing the processes and customizing the solutions per the customer's needs. This is done by obtaining continuous customer feedback and making changes based on that feedback. This enables the companies to provide value to the customers and deliver a product per their requirements. Constant customer feedback also helps the Product Managers set their priorities accordingly, making it easy to decide which features need to be developed first and which ones later. Regular customer interactions rank very high on every Agile team's agenda. This helps faster product delivery as the Agile teams work with a clear focus and knowledge about their priorities. This is the core of understanding that customer satisfaction is the organization's highest priority. It doesn't mean that Agile organizations completely ignore the profits. They work on the profits by delivering value to the customers. 

Better quality of the product:

Before the arrival of Agile, the development process of products was very complex and took a long time to complete. This meant there used to be delivery delays. But Agile teams work in short iterative bursts, which enables them to develop the product efficiently and within the given timeframe. Product testing is an integral part of the Agile approach to Project Management. The product is tested at every step of the process, ensuring that the product delivered is high quality. Since the customers are involved throughout the process (through requests for feedback), the changes suggested can be easily incorporated without disturbing the whole process. So, no or less time is wasted, and quality is not compromised to deliver the product quickly.

Business value is increased:

Every Agile team's primary goal is to create maximum value for the customer. When the focus is consistently on this goal, it drives the business decisions too. Without purposely focusing on creating more and more value for customers, business decisions may not be on solid ground as the organizations would not be able to see what should drive their decisions. The beauty of Agile is that every individual at every level of the organization is empowered to work in a manner that helps increase customer value. On the contrary, this value creation becomes problematic if the work is done in lengthy cycles. This may be a spoiler for the organization's standing in the market and is a risky business proposition. Creating value is always the top priority when work is done in short iterations, as in Agile. Teams are in sync regarding decisions regarding what is to be done first, and there is a coordinated effort to create value for the customers. The release is faster and smoother. All this contributes to the increase in the business value of the organization.

Better alignment:

The key to increased adaptability to Agile is increased alignment, both internally as well as externally. Two things play an essential role here. The first is autonomy and self-organizing ability, the hallmark of every Agile team. And the second is the ability to deliver continuously and consistently to satisfy the customers. The internal alignment comes with highly motivated, self-organizing Agile teams. The teams are aligned to work on a common goal. They are empowered to operate from an increased level of autonomy. If the teams are aligned effectively, it results in increased business alignment and better collaboration as teams bring their combined experience into play. Since every individual at every level is empowered, ideas may float in from anywhere to increase the team's effectiveness or the product's quality. Likewise, increased collaboration helps speedy and timely product or project delivery. The external alignment comes by prioritizing the customer. It obtains continuous customer feedback and regular interactions with them throughout the development cycle. 

Better Adaptability:

The Agile methodology stresses responding to change and solving problems more than working on a fixed plan. This is one of the essential benefits of Agile. Every level of the organization has increased adaptability. When companies implement Agile, they become very flexible in their approach. When we say that adaptability is a crucial benefit of Agile, we mean that when organizations grow, they tend to become more complex, and more complexity slows down things. With new players entering the fray every day, this causes disruptions. Organizations try to overcome these disruptions with an increase in speed. But when they increase the speed without a strategy, the derived solution is not usually tenable. And pressurizing the teams to speed up things only reduces their efficiency. But Agile is a system that is more sustainable and gives more value to the customers. By practicing iterative development, Agile increases adaptability by splitting the complexities into smaller parts. When the adaptability of the Agile team increases, they can easily adjust to the sudden changes in requirements or conditions because they continue to release regularly and receive customer feedback. 

Better control:

With its flexible method, Agile allows teams to have better control over their projects. The system's transparency and continuous customer feedback mean the team can read just their plans anytime without having a profound impact on the working of the entire project and its delivery. Modern reporting tools and techniques are used to keep all the Stakeholders involved daily. Quality tests are conducted throughout the process, results are shared, and feedback is obtained. All this combines to give teams better control over their work. Agile provides ways to predict risk. When risks can be predicted more effectively, it offers a chance to reduce them or deal with them more effectively, and the project moves with fewer obstacles and more smoothly. Agile helps improve the project's visibility so the Managers can predict the performance and adjust their plans accordingly.

All these benefits are inherently built in the Agile methodology, and as compared to the traditional way, they help reduce waste and save a lot of time and finances. With its flexible approach and increased adaptability, Agile allows teams to function without much strain as they don't have to continuously worry about any unexpected change in requirements and can be more focused. With a high level of alignment among the teams and their understanding of a common goal, they can deliver more excellent value to the customer, thus increasing the business value of the customer. This is why more and more companies are adopting Agile in their quest to stay ahead of the competition.

References

1. https://www.planview.com/resources/guide/Agile-methodologies-a-beginners-guide/benefits-Agile/
2. https://www.betterteam.com/what-is-an-Agile-organization