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Who is responsible for digitalization in your company? a) CEO, b) CTO, c) COO, d) COVID-19. This saying has been doing the rounds on LinkedIn, with a kernel of truth: forced by the coronavirus pandemic, many companies have unintentionally become a lot more digital and agile. What could previously be dismissed as a newfangled, unnecessary or inappropriate trend and nipped in the bud in endless discussions about data protection and a lack of productivity changed abruptly from one day to the next. Corona suddenly meant that the entire workforce was working from anywhere and at any time. It was actually the right time to rethink working methods, align structures in an agile way and implement sustainable digitalization measures. However, this process takes time, as the COVID-19 lesson clearly showed us. The eternal mantra for digitalization is better early than late - but now is the time.
However, the abrupt change was anything but rosy. Companies noticed this, for example, when important documents were only available physically and employees had to go to the office first thing in the morning in order to be able to work from home. Or when employees work from home as parents in a small apartment and have to homeschool two children at the same time. Or when collaboration suddenly becomes much more difficult because personal interaction and team building with colleagues has been neglected.
Initial difficulties have settled down over time, and overall, working from home has worked relatively well across Switzerland. Managers all over the country have noticed that the vast majority of employees are motivated to do their work well - whether they do it in a well-equipped office or in a much too small home office. For many, the coronavirus crisis even led to a real boost in productivity, firstly because commuting time was eliminated, but above all because many unnecessary meetings and interruptions were no longer necessary.
After the crisis: seizing the opportunity for future viability
Companies now basically have two options on how to deal with this situation: Either they are left with the negative memories of all the difficulties during the coronavirus crisis and try to get back to their pre-crisis form as quickly as possible. Or they can focus on the positive experiences the company has had in recent months during COVID-19, what they have learned from them and where they want to go from here.
The first type of company misses the opportunity to position itself for the future and increase its resilience. The next black swan or crisis is sure to come - and it is highly unlikely that these companies will get off lightly, as the future will be anything but simple. We are already living in a VUCA world, a term that describes today's world as volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Companies would do well to adapt to this VUCA world by becoming more agile and reacting more quickly to change.
Even if the coronavirus pandemic is now primarily being discussed in the context of working from home, agility means a lot more than just quickly issuing a home office policy or handing out a few vouchers for electronic goods. Specifically, it is about topics such as:
- Self-organization and personal responsibility
- Work independent of time and place
- Decentralization of decision-making
- Working without hierarchy
- Agile working methods
Creating the right foundation with an agile mindset
The crisis has shown that cumbersome and bureaucratic processes have to be thrown out the window as soon as it is necessary to react to collapsing markets and supply chains worldwide within days. Why should we now fall back into old patterns after the crisis? How much more innovation and shorter time-to-market could be achieved through greater agility?
Future-oriented companies reflect on the agility of their processes and structures by asking themselves the following questions:
- What changes introduced during the coronavirus pandemic have made our organization more agile?
- Which of these changes do we want to make permanent?
- How do we want to achieve this?
What is already apparent: Agility is first and foremost a question of mindset. If employees are to take on more responsibility and make decisions more quickly, this requires neither tools nor instruments, but a trust-based workplace culture. Vision, values and a sense of purpose are the guard rails that enable employees to make the best possible decisions. Appreciative feedback and a culture of error lead to constructive collaboration that enables new and disruptive thinking.
Here you can find out how companies can develop an agile mindset
Ultimately, managers are responsible for allowing and exemplifying agility. However, a study by Great Place To Work Germany shows just how much they overestimate the level of agility: only 41% of employees rate agility in their companies positively, while managers rate it at 54% and managing directors even at 65%.
It is important for companies to embed agility at all levels of the hierarchy and for employees to be so close to the customer or the market that they know what will influence and change their own business in the future. Agility can only be achieved comprehensively if all groups, and especially the employees who are the experts in their field, have the opportunity to think in new and different ways in order to develop new solutions.
