Enabling your Organization to respond rapidly
to Changes in the Business Environment.

Agility

Simply put, Agility can best be compared with an Olympic relay race, one of the most fast-paced, energetic and exciting disciplines. One misstep in a relatively short sprint race or a mistake in handing over the baton can make the difference between a gold medal and no medal at all. For a relay team that is aiming for gold, synchronization of every single move, quick reaction to opportunities and effective delivery during the race are vital. This can only be accomplished with careful preparation, training and high motivation of each individual team member, guided by a brilliant strategy with a clear goal; this includes the ability to predict and adapt to changes before or during the race.

The pace of change and complexity in today’s business environment has increased so much that it is no longer sufficient for an organization to just react quickly to changes. To react involves driving immediate actions, being controlled only by circumstances. Such actions are short-term focused and deal with symptoms, not with root causes. However, to maintain its thriving business in the long-term, an organization needs to be agile, i.e. it needs to be able to respond rapidly, pro-actively and effectively to changes. Note the distinction. To respond involves acting with speed, but in a reasonable and appropriate manner after analysing and thinking through the situation, considering options and likely outcomes and choosing the best, before acting. This often requires innovation and new ways of working. In turn, responses will almost always get you through the situation much faster, with fewer resources and let you achieve more in the long-term. For any organization that seeks to be high-performing and effective this means that it is not enough to cultivate a stable Corporate DNA and introduce a brilliant Strategy; it must continually improve its Organizational Agility, too.

Initiatives to improve Organizational Agility either focus on incremental improvements (‘Developmental Change’), on replacement by something completely new (‘Transitional Change’), or on a radical, organization-wide shift in business and culture (‘Transformational Change’). This can in turn either be to expand, improve, optimize or replace existing systems or processes, to introduce completely new systems or processes, or both. Examples include:

Systems:

  • Business Model review or innovation
  • Organizational review and design
  • Implementation, standardization, centralization or optimization of Management and Control systems
  • Implementation, standardization, centralization or optimization of IT systems

Processes:

  • (Lean) Supply Chain Optimization
  • Standardization, centralization or optimization of processes
  • Embedding Continuous Improvement
  • Introduction of Lean Management & 6 Sigma

Experience shows, that many of these initiatives require substantial changes in ways of working and behaviours, which often are not appropriately addressed.

We work with our clients to build and embed the capabilities for their organizations to respond rapidly to changes in their business environment. We do this by effectively facilitating the change aspect which ensures that the initiative lifts an organization’s Agility on Olympic levels. It delivers the expected outcomes and results, and at the same time it equips the organization with proven tools, methodologies and techniques to sustain them – and continually improve.

The Effective High-Performance Organization =
(Corporate DNA + Strategy + Agility) x Risk Management
x People & Culture

leistungsspektrum

Any Challenges?

If your response to more than 2 of the following statements is “NO”, your organization will probably face some challenges related to Organizational Agility:

  • A sense of urgency for the initiative is established.
  • The status quo of the organization is clearly understood.
  • Clear goals and priorities for the initiative are defined.
  • The initiative is directly linked to your organization’s vision, mission and strategy.
  • Senior leadership owns, is commitment to and supports the initiative.
  • The implementation roadmap of the initiative focuses not only on functional or technical aspects but also includes addressing required culture change with a clear plan how to transform ‘people concerned’ into ‘people engaged’.
  • The initiative includes elements that enable your organization to sustain results.
  • The initiative has an organization-wide / international perspective.
  • There is a comprehensive communication strategy defined.
  • Your organization is effective in program and project management.

Our Approach

The DEES-Cycle

Rather than trying to deal with symptoms, we first take time to understand your challenges by discovering the underlying root causes. Next we define clear objectives and deliverables, and design a feasible, realistic roadmap to deliver sustained results.

We then help with getting all relevant individuals on board, converting ‘people concerned’ into ‘people engaged’ - crucially in an interactive approach.

To enable your organization to take full ownership of delivering the agreed objectives, we work closely with your people, from the senior leadership team to individual employees. We help build the capabilities required for sustained change; we guide, challenge, train, coach, share our experience and transfer pragmatic, proven tools, methodologies and techniques into your organization.

Before our work ends, we evaluate the results and identify further potential for improvement. The next cycle begins – led, driven and implemented by your own organization. New ways of working and capabilities will have been embedded to sustain results and to continuously make a difference.

The DEES-Cycle

The DEES-Cycle

Your Benefits

A rapid response to changes in the business environment delivers tangible results.

Major benefits of equipping your organization with the ability to sustain these results and the capabilities to continually improve include:

  • Creation of lean thinking and practice throughout the organization
  • Release of innovation and creativity within teams and individuals
  • Continuous pursuit of change and improvement opportunities in productive and cost-effective ways becomes a routine part of organizational life
  • Increased pace of change within the organization
  • Improved quality of outputs at all levels
  • Better management of complexity
  • Higher levels of enthusiasm, motivation and engagement
  • More commitment and personal accountability for results on all levels in your organization
  • A key enabler of developing into a ‘Learning Organization’
  • Honing your organization’s competitive edge.