As we know, business life is generally an order consisting of strict rules and clear roles. At least, it has continued this way until now. Especially between 1960 and 1990, this order experienced its most rigid period. This order, which started with aspects such as dress code and work hours, even showed itself in the language of communication. Of course, let’s not forget the strict hierarchy that was established for the smooth running of things.
Of course, it is also obvious that this order will gradually disappear in the developing and changing world, isn’t it? After all, with the changing generations, no area of life continues to be as harsh and do-it-yourself as before. Hierarchical orders could not move with an iron fist as before. While violence used to be a common occurrence in educational institutions, today, very serious sanctions are applied even for verbal violence. This is also valid for business life. I am sure that in the early 2000s, the term “mobbing” was not a term that anyone used much.
Adaptation of the Business World
With the developing world and the formation of this understanding, the belief that things would be more efficient in the old hierarchical order still continues among some employers, but it has become clear, especially in large companies, that efficiency cannot be achieved this way. For this reason, a new process has emerged and has become a candidate to be the name of efficiency and happiness; that candidate is, of course, the Agile process.
When we look at the old state of our world, it is possible to see that progress and change were slower in those periods. For example, if we took a person from 500 AD to 1000 AD, he would not see an incredible difference in these 500 years, but between 2010 and 2024, there was even more value and technological difference than in 500 years. For this reason, the business world has also focused on the concept of agility to adapt to these rapid changes. The English word for this concept, “agility”, gave its name to the Agile process. So, what is this agility?
Agility in Business Life
For business life, we can say that “Agility” is the ability of an organization to adapt quickly and flexibly to changing needs. This means that business processes and strategies can be adjusted dynamically. Agility is rejecting the usual routines and also basing it on changing strategies and roles depending on the situation. For example, as an employee in the traditional business world, you always had to do job A. Of course, you could be doing more than one job along with the subheadings of this job A, but you definitely would not look at job B. With agility, you could switch to job B depending on the situation and orientation, and this actually revealed the employee’s ability to adapt and melted the routine. Of course, agility not only changes what the employee does, but it also directly changes the company’s approach. Instead of spending long hours on existing projects and taking intensive meetings, it also brought about the ability to change the target according to the situation. This is what kept companies afloat against the volatile ground of today’s world. In fact, agility is exactly this. So why isn’t the article finished? We can almost hear you say, “I see a few more paragraphs below.”
What if we told you that Agile and Becoming Agile are not exactly the same thing?
Agile Processes in Business Life
Agile is an approach and a set of methods used especially in software development processes. These methods aim to provide flexibility by responding quickly to variable requirements and customer feedback. In fact, the methods applied to ensure agility are Agile methods. Agile is basically:
- Customer Satisfaction: The highest priority is to ensure customer satisfaction.
- Flexible Response to Changing Requirements: Ability to respond quickly and effectively to changing requirements.
- Close Collaboration: Close collaboration and communication across business processes and across teams.
- Delivering: Early and frequent delivery of functional products or services at regular intervals.
- Motivated Team: Motivated and autonomous teams focused on the project process.
- Accepting Change: Being open to changes and making continuous improvement.
So, what are these Agile methods?
- Scrum: A popular framework that allows teams to work flexibly.
- Kanban: Managing workflow and making process improvements on a visual board.
- Extreme Programming (XP): A method that encourages technical excellence in the software development process.
- Lean Software Development: Reducing waste and adopting a value-driven approach.
Right now, you may be seeing these methods that you are not interested in at all. You may ask what kind of applications are actually being made and what changes they are making in business life. Let’s take a look at them right away. What you will see below are some of the applications used for agility and Agile in business life. These are:
- Project Management: Agility principles are integrated into project management processes, providing more flexible and effective project management.
- Software Development: Agile methods are frequently used in software development processes and provide a fast, customer-focused approach.
- Business Processes: Making business processes agile increases operational efficiency and adapts to changing requirements.
- Teamwork: Agile teams can work more efficiently and effectively with close collaboration and communication.
With all these methods, principles and applications, the business life has been tried to be taken out of its old boring state and made more flexible and development-oriented. Of course, how much this is applied and successful is another mystery. Nevertheless, with the increase of these applications in companies over time, we can see a business world where it is more possible to stay.
References and Further Reading
Agile Business Consortium. (n.d.). Business Agility. Retrieved from https://www.agilebusiness.org/business-agility.html
Agile Sherpas. (n.d.). What Is Business Agility? Retrieved from https://www.agilesherpas.com/blog/what-is-business-agility
Comert, T. (2023). What is Agile? Agile working types, applications and benefits]. Laba: https://laba.com.tr/blog/395-agile-nedir-agile-calisma-tuerleri-uygulamalari-ve-faydalari
Toptalent.co. (n.d.). Agile nedir? Agile metodu nasıl uygulanır? [Agile? How is the Agile methodology applied?]. Retrieved March 15, 2024, from https://toptalent.co/agile-nedir-agile-metodu-nasil-uygulanir
