EESTI PROJEKTIJUHTIMISE ASSOTSIATSIOON
ESTONIAN PROJECT MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
In this theme group we focus to different business agility perspectives, ways of doing and knowledge sharing. Journey to become more agile as an organisation is always unique journey but there are many lessons learned and, in some level, best practices what help to avoid biggest mistakes.
ORGANISERS:
Business Agility theme group
Business Agility
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When it comes to agile organisations (business agility), there are still a lot of misconceptions, misperceptions or thinking around it. For example, many times the first thought is that it’s software development or at least IT-centric - and this is not correct.
An agile organisation generally means agility in an organisation’s culture, leadership, strategy, and governance that adds value to all stakeholders operating in uncertain, complex, and ambiguous environments. Agility refers to the characteristics of an organisation that enable organisations to respond quickly to changes in both the internal and external environments without losing their core business. The core and key characteristics of business agility are adaptability, flexibility, and balance.
Currently, organisational agility is one of the main themes of many organisations. Business Agility theme group focuses on the heart of the matter, ie what is an agile organisation? How can agility be increased and developed in an organisation, in other words how can an organisation be made more adaptable?
The Business Agility theme group is implemented together with EPMA and the Business Agility Europe network.
LEANING TOWARDS OR BACKWARDS?
Business Agility refers to distinct qualities that allow organisations to respond rapidly to changes both in internal and external environments without losing their core business focus. The main core and the most essential qualities in business agility are adaptability, flexibility, and balance. In other words, Business Agility is far more than only IT-development or scaling agile software or product development.
Understanding business agility and being knowledgeable about it is becoming more and more important for all organisations who wish to survive in both the short and long term. What is Business Agility in culture, strategy, leadership, mindset and in transformations?
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Organisations who do not innovate or have the capability to implement and change all the time are in a very critical business path already now and more in the near future. Organisations who are relying on ‘proven’ thinking styles and methods of doing business and leadership find themselves falling behind the competition more and more often because they cannot adapt quickly enough to changes in the business environment.
The term ‘agile’ is often misunderstood and consequently there are many interpretations of what it is. Although agile has its roots in software delivery, it has now grown well beyond this to be much more and in an organisational context is referred to as business agility. It is more than a set of methods, practices and behaviors. Business agility is about delivering value for an organisation, however that value might be defined.