MSG Team's other articles

9183 Entrepreneurs and Hot Money Flows and Investments

The Symbiotic Relationship between Financiers and Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs need funding and venture capitalists and financiers need emerging businesses with great potential for investments. Therefore, there is a symbiotic relationship with entrepreneurs and the financiers wherein each need the other for mutual gain. While the entrepreneurs would use the capital invested by the financiers to grow […]

10423 The Necessity of Drafting Proper and Foolproof Employment Contracts

What Are Employment Contracts ? Employment contracts are covenants between the employer and the employee which provide the basis and the terms and conditions for the employment relationship. Employment Contracts usually state how much salary would be paid, what the perks are, the nature of the employment relation, the basis for firing when the employee […]

11666 Types of Employees based on Level of Engagement

An organisation is a collection of individuals who come together and work towards the realisation of a common objective. Larger the number of people working together, larger is the size of the organisation and vice-versa. However, for an organisation to flourish it is important for the employees to operate at their full potential, which unfortunately […]

8727 Human Capital Management – Meaning and Important Concepts

To understand the meaning of Human Capital Management let us first find out the meaning of “Capital”. What does the word “Capital” stand for? Capital refers to already produced durable goods which further contribute to the production of goods and services. In simpler words, capital refers to any produced good/service which enables an individual/organization to […]

11574 Some Points to Consider About Executive Management Programs

In recent years, many business schools in China, Singapore, and India apart from other Asian countries have been offering one year or two year executive management programs. These programs are aimed at mid-career managers who wish to upgrade their managerial skills or who want to change careers midway. The main advantage of these executive management […]

Search with tags

  • No tags available.

What are Agile Workplaces how they are the Future in the New Normal?

As workplaces become virtual and working from home becomes the norm, organizations would have to adopt newer methodologies and strategies to adjust to the New Normal.

Agile methodologies, long thought to be the answer to the Digital Age workplaces are now gaining traction as viable models that can be adopted by virtual organizations.

Agile Workplaces, by definition, are those that are composed of Modular and Self Sufficient Teams that can work independently and without much supervision.

In addition, since they are composed of team members well versed in varied and versatile skills, they can also work without much need for assistance from other teams.

In other words, by virtue of being comprised of team members with cross functional skills, they can perform their tasks without much support and assistance from the rest of the organization.

Indeed, when the entire organization is made up of such teams, workplaces become that much more productive and efficient in our Virtual World where interactions between teams is limited in a face to face basis and where such communications are virtual.

So, it is our argument that Agile Workplaces are the Future.

How Agile Workplaces Function and Why Cloud is the Future of Operations

How do Agile Workplaces function in the real world? To start with, Agile Teams are those that have Designers, Developers, Testers, Rollout specialists, and After Rollout Support Team Members.

In addition, they also have members who are adept at fixing hardware and software issues in addition to having members who can liaise and interact with the Marketing, Finance, an Administration functions personnel.

In short, Agile Teams are truly modular and exist as separate entities without much need for inputs from the rest of the organization.

Moreover, as organizations and their clients begin to move their operations to the Cloud, Agile Teams would be in great demand as by virtue of their Cross Functional Expertise, they can perform everything from Design to Rollout to After Sales Support.

Cloud Operations obviate the need for Physical Presence of the Team Members in Client Sites, thereby ensuring that everything can be done remotely.

Indeed, when Remote Working is the norm, Remote Delivery and Remote Rollouts would follow suit, paving the way to a truly Virtual World.

This fits in neatly with the New Normal of Digital and Virtual Workplaces where there is no need for Physical Presence and Face to Face Interactions are virtual.

Agile was a Model Waiting to Happen and the Pandemic Provided the Opportunity

One can go as far as to say that Agile was a methodology that was waiting to arrive and the Post Pandemic Virtual World gives it the best opportunity to Scale Up as well as to Actualize Synergies between the Various Functions.

Indeed, agile teams make it very easy for organizations to Scale Up as Cloud based rollouts do not need multiple personal computing devices and instead, a theoretically infinite number of clients can login and get their work done on the cloud.

Moreover, due to their cross functional nature, they can actualize synergies between different functions and ensure that Virtual Organizations are able to enhance team and organizational productivity in the process.

In addition, Agile Teams can be located anywhere and everywhere and can deliver the goods every time and all the time.

This is perhaps what was envisaged by Tech Visionaries such as Bill Gates when he predicted the Virtual Organizations that are the norm now much before anyone else did.

So, in a way what we are witnessing now is the Fusion of the Present Exigencies with an Innovation that arrived Just in Time. The Digital Age is upon us and Agile is the Future of Working.

Agile Workplace

Limitations of Agile Workplaces and How to Overcome Them Astutely and Smartly

Having said that, as with any methodology and paradigm, Agile too has its limitations and drawbacks and these relate to the way in which Fixing Transparency and Accountability for errors and glitches are concerned.

For instance, if a particular team misses out on the Deliverables, then the higher-ups would need to either fix the blame on the entire team or go in a piecemeal approach by apportioning who was at fault through talking to each team member.

In physical workplaces, often it is easier to spot errors much before they happen as the close relationships between Teams and within Teams ensures that everyone is in the loop.

On the other hand, in Remote Teams with minimal interactions with the other teams and with the rest of the organizations, there is every possibility that Agile Teams would go Rogue and create problems for the organization.

This is where Astute Leaders and Hands on Managers can make the difference between unnecessary meddling and smart monitoring.

Indeed, even the Monitoring of Agile Teams can be done by other agile teams so that there is a 360 Degree Interactions between the various teams in the organization and thereby, minimize goof-ups and missteps in delivery.

Embracing the New Normal

Last, as mentioned earlier, Agile is the methodology that is taking over the corporate world and hence, it is our suggestion to corporates and especially those that are now in the midst of adjusting to the New Normal of Virtual Workplaces to embrace it.

Moreover, even when they move back to Physical Working, the transition is made easier since there are no lags between setting up all over again and resuming work is concerned.

To conclude, the business world is in the throes of a transition to newer ways of working in the New Normal and Agile fits in nicely.

Article Written by

MSG Team

An insightful writer passionate about sharing expertise, trends, and tips, dedicated to inspiring and informing readers through engaging and thoughtful content.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Articles

Benefits of Healthy Work Life Balance

MSG Team

Is a Four Day Workweek the Answer to the Epidemic Of Stress And Burnout?

MSG Team