Agile Organization » Definition, Explanation & Examples + Practice Questions

One speaks of an agile organization when a company or an organization does not act in rigid structures, but rather is able to quickly adapt itself to changing conditions through proactive and proactive behavior, learn more about Organizational structure

In this chapter we clarify what the agile organization is and when it plays a role. We then compare the advantages and disadvantages of agile organization. Finally, you can put your knowledge to the test with our exercises, learn more about Pure project organization

Why is agile organization important?

Especially in times of constantly changing market conditions and increasing international competition, it is important that companies can adapt to these changes and help shape them themselves in order not to be pushed out of the market.

In order to establish an agile organizational structure in the company, attention should be paid to the following points :

Promotion of self organization of employees and granting corresponding freedoms in carrying out their work.
Anchoring of agile values in the self-image of the company and the employees. This includes: Courage and openness as well as focus and commitment to shared values.
Flexible and agile design of work processes and working methods to ensure accelerated adaptability of the process chain. Efficiency comes before perfectionism.
Introduction of agile meeting formats , such as a daily stand-up meeting. Lengthy meetings should be avoided and effective time frames should be set, for example 10-15 minutes per meeting.
Greatest possible renunciation of control and instruction instruments . In contrast, a culture of openness and trust should be established.
In the course of creating an agile corporate culture , reducing the distances between managers and employees is also one of the important tasks. Open and intensive communication are the basis for an agile corporate culture.

What is the agile organization?

The agility of a company describes its ability to adapt its own structures and processes to new requirements quickly and easily. Changes are not only approached reactively but also proactively helped to shape them.

While classic corporate structures are geared towards stable, process- or project-oriented forms of organization, agile organization describes less rigid organizational frameworks that can be quickly adapted to constant change . Our own processes and projects are constantly questioned and, if necessary, realigned in order to be able to optimally meet changing customer wishes and market requirements.

Agile organizations attach great importance to the following criteria :

constructive interaction of each individual
Orientation towards products or services
proactive response to change
active customer loyalty and cooperation with customers for continuous improvement

Agility within a company can be defined in six dimensions :

the agile target image :The vision, mission and strategic goals of the company are constantly being questioned and adapted to changing conditions.
A customer oriented organizational structure :The entire corporate strategy and the resulting process and organizational structure are geared to the needs of the customer. The focus is on the cooperation of interdisciplinary teams to enrich the value chain .
employee oriented management behavior :Classic hierarchical management structures often stand in the way of a company's agility. Therefore, managers in agile organizational structures see themselves more as leading and supporting members of the entire team in order to jointly increase customer benefits and employee satisfaction.
Iterative design of business processes :Instead of relying on lengthy planning and conception of business processes, it is beneficial for the company's agility to pursue iterative and incremental approaches in process design. In this way, undesirable developments can be recognized more quickly and the processes can be quickly adapted.
Agility of the corporate culture :The culture of agile companies is characterized by mutual trust and transparency instead of relying on rule-based behavior and control. This promotes the exchange of knowledge and the acceptance of constructive feedback by both managers and employees.
agile use of the existing management tools : In contrast to classic organizational structures, the employees are included in the personnel planning and development within the framework of agile organization :The focus is on the promotion and development of the internal team structure.

Characteristics of the agile organization

An agile organization can be characterized by four characteristics :

Future-oriented thinking with clearly thought-out alternative plans for proactive behavior with regard to future market situations
Creation of heterogeneous networks for constant exchange with external influencing factors.
Integration of a lean organization in the company structure as well as a process organization characterized by agile management behavior .
Use of the company's own experience and the resulting strengths of the organization.

The basis for creating an agile organization is a change in the thinking and behavior of managers. Old thought patterns and structures should be broken up, for example:

Advantages and disadvantages of agile organization

Advantages :

The company is able to quickly adapt to changing market conditions.
The efficiency of processes and structures is constantly being questioned and, if necessary, adjusted in order to increase economic success.
The open communication and corporate culture promotes employee motivation.

Disadvantages :

Leaders may be afraid of losing authority and power and for these reasons try to block the creation of the agile organization.
Classic quality management is strongly process-oriented and can therefore only be implemented with difficulty in agile organizations.

practice questions

#1. What is the agile organization?

In the agile organization there are no structures in the company, so that it can act free of hierarchical specifications.

The agile organization describes an organizational form of companies that represents a hybrid of functional and divisional organization.

#2. What advantages does the agile organization offer?

The power and authority of managers are strengthened.

The company is able to quickly adapt to changing market conditions.

Quality management is particularly easy to apply in agile organizations.

#3. What disadvantages can the agile organization bring with it?

Processes are fixed and rigid, which is why their efficiency cannot be improved.

The highly hierarchical corporate culture can have a negative impact on employee motivation.

Leaders may be afraid of losing authority and power and for these reasons try to block the creation of the agile organization.

#4. “In times of rapidly changing markets and increasing international competition, agile organization is becoming more and more important.” – This statement is:

Right

Not correct

#5. "In order to create an agile corporate organization, it is important to provide employees with clear instructions on how to carry out their tasks." – this statement is: