The world has changed. Globalisation is progressing rapidly whilst digital technologies revolutionise all company activities. More and more disruptions appear at an ever increasing rate, then disappear just as quickly. In this context, companies must take on challenges that vary greatly depending on their business sector. Typical approaches to management are reaching their limits. This context, combined with a high level of uncertainty, is pushing businesses and public administrations towards agile organisations that put clients at the heart of their development.
These agile organisations help them respond to market challenges: survive when faced with new competitors, identify new reservoirs of performance, bringing ever more value to clients and, finally, attract and keep talent. Agility is a way to improve performance by better using production capacity within a company.
This Cigref report is intended for all employees in businesses and public administrations. Its goal is to offer the keys to implementing and/or developing agility at a company-wide scale through feedback from around thirty companies that participated in this working group.
Agility driven at a company-wide scale shakes up our working habits, our company culture and creates a state of mind that fosters the digital transformation. By focusing on people, it encourages creativity and « happiness at work ». It implies a change of mindset in all employees as well as new stance for the community of managers who become « servant leaders ». The latter encourage skills to develop and focus on the vision, the « what » and the « why » and delegate the « how » to their teams. For its part, the team accepts collective responsibility. There is no more « command and control » or micromanagement; both are replaced by an environment that encourages employees to self-motivate. Agility offers employees greater autonomy even though they are still subject to rules. These rules ensure consistency and alignment among teams.
Agility is spread throughout the company by:
• Developing the right mindset,
• Mobilising early adopters,
• Training and coaching,
• Having a cross-functional leadership team,
• Communication,
• Emerging diffusion with sponsorship from executives,
• Implementing agility everywhere at the same time,
• Adapting the organisation,
• Changing the manager’s stance into one of a « servant leader »,
• Measuring progress towards agility at a company-wide scale,
• A structured approach to achieve a systemic, company-wide transformation.
This Cigref report was initially published in French under the title “ Agile at scale : Mise en oeuvre de l’agilité à l’échelle de l’entreprise«