In terms of process, Agile is most frequently associated with software development projects, but I beleive that it is also appropriate as Agile for Business, and I have utilized that methodology not only in my own business processes.
Agile For Business – Cheetah Like by Hein Waschefort
I also utilize Agile in my coaching practice where my clients use what I have adapted from primarily a software process into a process that all businesses can use throughout their organization.
Small businesses have a major advantage over their larger competitors in that they can be more flexible, nimble and quick moving to changes in the business environment than their larger, slower and more bureaucratic competition.
Sadly a vast majority of small businesses are seriously deficient in utilizing that fact to their advantage in business.
Instead of being quick and Agile, they have fallen into the trap of the bigger guys and move like molasses.
Those business have forgotten that their small size is actually an advantage as it enables them to be nimble and quick to make and implement decisions and changes in direction and thus they are significantly more adaptable to a changing environment like we have more and more these days, but are you utilizing that advantage in your small business?
Agile is a set of methodologies and philosophies for management.
It is typically used for managing software projects, but can be used for managing any kid of project and also be used as a structure to manage the operations of your overall business and everything inside of it.
If you are familiar with the TV show Heroes that ran on NBC from 2006 – 2010, every week when they were producing a new episode of the show, they were using Scrum, which is one of the flavors of Agile, to get the episode created on time, and I’m sure you (like I) can’t even imagine the complexity of everything that goes into producing a weekly TV show.
Agile is most often associated with Software projects, but the philosophies and methodologies are applicable to the broader business world, especially small businesses that aren’t bloated with bureaucracy and a bunch of constricting policies and procedures.
Agile For Business
Ok, so what is Agile for Business you ask?
The big thing that you have to understand about Agile is that it is a philosophy and a set of guidelines to help you get a better understanding of exactly what your customers are looking for and to adapt quickly to what is actually happening in the marketplace.
You can take advantage of your smaller size by being nimble and quick to react and not have tons of layers of bureaucracy in your organization that slows things down. You don’t have committees of middle managers and pages of processes and procedures in place to keep the status quo.
You can react quickly to any new information that comes into the marketplace and that action on that new information long before your large competition even knows what hit them.
Is your small business taking advantage of it’s size and using Agile for Business?
Please post a comment below to let me know if you are, or if you have a question, I’d love to hear that as well.
As always, a Like would be great so your friends can learn this as for their businesses too.
Have A Prosperous Day!