WHAT IS AGILE?

Agile is the ability to adapt to change; it’s a mindset, it’s about creation. Agile enables organisations to face the VUCA environments we live in. It emerged in the 2000s as a more flexible and collaborative approach to project management.

Its popularisation is attributed to the Agile Manifesto, a set of principles established by a group of software developers in 2001. Individuals such as Jeff Sutherland, Ken Schwaber, Kent Beck and others advocated a shift to more agile methods that value direct communication, adaptability and the continuous delivery of operational software releases.

HOW DOES ‘AGILITY’ HELP BUSINESSES?

In today’s market, where the ability to adapt quickly to market changes is critical to business resilience, the adoption of agility is the difference between success and failure. 

Leading organisations need to adopt innovative methodologies that enable them to continue to differentiate themselves from the competition and deliver modern solutions.

While the agile culture has been established abroad for some time, Spain still has a long way to go. According to the latest BACometer from the Business Agility Corporation, only 20% of Spanish companies default to using this methodology.

“Only 20% of Spanish companies use this methodology by default”.

Companies that decide to adopt this methodology must undergo a complete transformation:

• Culturally, by encouraging collaboration and autonomy.
• Organisationally, with flatter and more horizontal structures.
• Business-wise, aligning business and technology (OKRs).
• Developmentally, increasing the speed and frequency of product/service improvements.
• In terms of customer relations, customers are directly involved in development.
• Product management, creating minimum viable products (MVPs) for early feedback.
• Technologically, by implementing collaborative and agile work management tools.
• And in terms of measurement and metrics, choosing new KPIs to measure value delivery and customer satisfaction.

WHY ARE WE AN AGILE LEADER?

Alejandro Vega, our Scrum Master, and Alberto Arroyo, Agile Consultant at SmartWay, have been driving cultural and digital transformation in our Barcelona offices for many years.

In recognition of their work, last week Alberto had the opportunity to share our success story with CAS 2023 attendees and provide guidance for organisations looking to align technology and business within an agile framework.

His presentation focused on how companies can improve cross-functional communication and deliver the best product to users by unifying requirements and visualising workflows.

By focusing on teamwork, we have been able to incorporate our customers’ needs into our solutions. The result? We can now predict what our users need and deliver a higher quality service.

In line with our way of working in Holacracy, the ultimate horizontal organisational structure, SmartWay has helped us to align Agile methodologies with the organisation to further empower self-management and autonomy in teams.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people at SmartWay, and Alberto in particular, for the support they have given us over the years and for the achievements we could not have made without them.

La entrada We are leaders in Agile methodology in Spain se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

3 Predictions about How Offices Will Change in 2023 

1) Agile Work Becomes Even More Flexible. Coworking Spaces Are Becoming More Frequent

In recent years, flexible or “agile” working has seen a massive rise in popularity. CV Library ranks flexible hours as the most desirable benefit for employees, winning 47% of the vote in a survey. As workers choose more non-essential hours and want to work from home, the number of people working in a traditional “office” setting will decrease. Co-working spaces, where smaller companies or entrepreneurs typically pay to use shared office space, will become increasingly popular, as fewer workers require permanent desks.

An agile workforce must be able to access their files from home or from any location at a time that works best for them, without relying on reams of paperwork.

2) Rise of Centralized Cloud-Based Technology. Data Protection Is Key

Just a few years ago, experts dismissed cloud computing as a fad. Now, it has greatly changed the face of IT and the way businesses operate around the world. The popularity of mobile devices (and remote work) is partly behind the rise of cloud-based technologies. Like the need for collaboration: cloud-based products allow for easier communication between employees and more streamlined processes.

Data protection will also continue to be important, as consumers become more aware of their rights and the laws surrounding the GDPR become more integrated into working life. People have been skeptical about how the cloud will impact data protection and security, but a RapidScale study states that 94% of companies saw an improvement in security after moving to the cloud, and the 91% indicated that the cloud made it easier to comply with regulations.

Cloud solutions save time, facilitate better communication, provide more control; they increase safety, and meet the demands of a flexible workforce.

3) People Care About the Planet. The ‘Paperless’ Is Back

As a society, we are increasingly aware of our impact on the environment. Consumer demand is putting pressure on companies to go green: GreenBiz reports 25% growth in organizations promoting environmental benefits in the last 2 years, and 40% of companies say they have taken action to improve the ecological compatibility of what they offer. This means reducing the amount of plastics we use and the waste we produce for landfills, and a revival of the “paperless office” concept we’ve been hearing about for years.

While a truly paperless office is still many years away, we will see strong attempts from companies trying to significantly reduce their consumption. This means printing fewer unnecessary documents; do not duplicate already printed files; and moving towards a digital document management system instead of traditional physical folders.

La entrada 3 Predictions about How Offices Will Change in 2023 se publicó primero en Enreach ES.