The last two years have been a bumpy ride for organizations globally. During this time, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) were hit the worst. Since most SMBs have limited resources, setbacks were much more severe for them than for big corporations with more resources.
Whether your company had to shut down during the COVID-19 lockdowns entirely or whether it had to create a touchless customer experience or transition to a remote workforce overnight, you may have had so much more at stake than the average business.
What is business agility?
Business agility is all about having systems that provide flexibility to respond quickly to rapidly changing conditions and opportunities by preparing your people, processes, and technologies.
Businesses that prioritize agility can manage their growth flexibly, independently, and productively. As a result, efficiency increases, and costs decrease.
With this approach, you don’t predetermine the way forward. Instead, iterative changes are made based on feedback loops generated throughout the growth process, such as from employees and other key stakeholders. You can prepare to make additional changes based on future suggestions once you’ve made changes to accommodate all the constructive recommendations. Since clients are also involved in the process, you can use their feedback to identify priorities and make changes.
By being agile, your business can experience the following benefits:
More responsive to change
We, as humans, have a difficult time adapting to change. Unfortunately, this resistance to adjust to change frequently spills over into our business, stunting our growth trajectory.
Business agility prepares your organization to adapt to change faster, with fewer adverse effects on the business.
Quick adaptiveness to the market
If there’s one thing that businesses usually don’t have in the face of rapid change, it’s sufficient time to plan. But unfortunately, this lack of time to find a solution can cause additional problems.
Agile and flexible businesses can quickly adapt to a changing market or customers’ changing needs.
Less risk of extended downtime
Downtime is a business killer that can lead to employee and customer resentment if it occurs frequently. It’s your responsibility as a business executive to ensure that your company is protected from downtime.
Riding the path of business agility allows you to adapt your business to changing circumstances without experiencing extended downtime.
Protected bottom line
Plugging all financial leaks is critical because money is required to create more value for your customers and grow your business. Therefore, it’s crucial to avoid unexpected roadblocks that appear out of nowhere and burn a hole in your wallet.
Being flexible and agile is the best way to adapt quickly to sudden road bumps and not lose money.
