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Agility…. the holy grail of the modern workplace

Success today requires the agility and drive to constantly rethink, reinvigorate, react, and reinvent. Bill Gates

 

For new businesses and start-ups, agility can be easier because they are more flexible. They don’t have many processes and are not more traditional in their ways of doing compared to more established businesses.

We are not saying that well established businesses cannot be agile. It’s very possible for them if they are strategic in doing so. They can even become more agile than expected.

Agility has been embraced by various organisations to drive change across their people and their leadership structure. In one global study, 94% of companies say that collaboration and agility are critical to their success. Another report shows that companies with highly-agile executives have 25% higher profit margins than their peers.

 

So, what is agility?

As defined by Agile Alliance, agility is the ability to create and respond to change in order to succeed in an uncertain and turbulent environment. It means organisations that are dynamic and move along with the changes in their industry.

An agile organisation is one that is stable at its core but can quickly change to meet any needs of the environment.

 

What is the importance of agility?

  1. An agile organisation is more likely to be innovative. This is because they are more likely to think outside the box and outside the established ways of doing things. A lot of businesses will focus so much on attempting to be innovative, but they don’t think about agility. To have one, it’s almost always necessary to have the other.
  2. Creates an agile culture in the organisation. Employers need to work on ensuring that they cultivate behaviours that exemplify agility. For example being adaptive to change, creative and easily able to move along as change occurs are all values of an agile organisation.
  3. Leads to better organisation of staff. This is a concept important to agility in the workplace. Staff come together when needed and in ways they see appropriate for specific situations rather than following the traditional ways. They create an opportunity for brainstorming and discussions.
  4. Helps organisations stay focused. Sometimes a business isn’t able to be agile nor innovative because it’s so bogged down in the details. Rather than focusing so much on the unnecessary details, it can be valuable to focus on a few primary, critical objectives. These don’t necessarily have to be long-term. Often in agile organisations, the approach is more short-term when it comes to specific objectives.
  5. Leads to accelerated delivery. They say if you want something done fast, give it to a busy person. How many of you need to get things done faster? Now significantly multiply that need for speed when you’re dealing with a crisis scenario. Agility helps us deliver faster and efficiently because people look for faster and easier ways of handling tasks.
  6. Agile organisations increase their productivity. Many of us are trying to do more with less. When times are tough and budgets are cut, agile and lean businesses can still deliver on their promises.

 

Agility and Growth Mindset

For an organisation to achieve agility, there is great need to adopt a growth mindset, which is very different from a fixed mindset. Here are some differences between the two:

Fixed mindset

Growth mindset
Avoids failure Desires continuous learning
Desires to look smart Confronts uncertainties
Avoids challenges Embraces challenges
Sticks to what they know Not afraid to fail
Feedback and criticism is personal Puts lots of effort to learn
They don’t change or improve Feedback is about current capabilities

 

Agility for Individuals and Teams

Organisations need people in order to succeed. In the same way, agility in organisations cannot be achieved if the individuals and teams in these organisations are not agile. Below is an outline of ways an individual can integrate agility in their daily life:-

  • Set goals. Give your life a direction by creating and setting goals. Ask yourself what you want to achieve at the end of every week, month, and year.
  • Be flexible and innovative. Identify the barriers that prevent you from hitting your target and change your strategy if there is a need to.
  • Plan ahead. Spending a few minutes managing your schedules and checking your progress won’t hurt your time. Planning ahead can be a life-changing habit, so make this a routine!
  • Manage goals. Make your goals manageable. By breaking your goals into chunks, you’re making them more realistic and achievable.
  • Be committed to your tasks. Block out a specific time in a day or week to work on your tasks. Know what needs to be done, what needs to be fixed, and what your goal for every task is. Make this a habit and stick to it.

 

As a team, agility can be achieved through some of the following practices:

Acceptance — As teams work on new projects or solutions, there can be a lot of challenges on the way.  If things don’t work out the way they should, it’s important to identify the reason behind it, accept the failure and then think of a new way to avoid the same failure from happening again. Don’t hesitate to change approach if required.

Trust —Team leaders can help establish trust by creating a workplace where everyone feels comfortable about sharing their new ideas, and giving their opinions with openness and respect.

Communication.  Agile teams don’t think alike and everyone has a different idea. When these ideas are shared and discussed in one room, it can spark curiosity and creativity to the team.

Patience. Agile teams do not need to rush into things at the expense of seeing the greater outcome. They should trust the time and the process as they are working on a common goal and success.

Learning. Agility is innovation and openness to new information. Agile teams should be encouraged to think outside the box and work closely with their clients so that they can innovate and find better solutions to the clients’ needs.

 

Our goal is to increase your organisations ability to adapt to the changing times and prepare teams to respond to these changes.

How is your organization fostering agility?

 

 

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Self-aware teams and leaders perform better – it’s a fact!

High level of self-awareness means really understanding who you are, why you act, communicate and respond as you do, truly knowing your strengths, weaknesses, positive and negative emotions and what motivates you.

When you are self-aware, it is easier for you to understand other people and be aware of how they view you. It also allows you to notice how your behaviour impacts others around you so that you can adapt accordingly. High levels of self awareness equals high emotional intelligence and that is one of the most important factors to success.

Improving self-awareness is a life long journey, but a journey you can accelerate at any time. One thing for sure is that throughout your career you will either work as part of team or you will lead a team. Self-awareness can be a game-changer for either!

 

Self-awareness for leaders

High levels of self awareness as a leader is the foundation of a strong character, where leaders lead with purpose, trust, authenticity and openness. Leaders have a clear understanding of who they are and what they need most from other people to build a successful team.

Self-awareness ensures leaders can identify the gaps and weaknesses in their management style, clearly shows up the areas in which they are effective and where they might need additional effort and focus. Such leaders positively motivate their employees, inspire and engage their teams to perform better, are constantly looking at ways to improve their leadership skills and nurture a more supportive and effective business culture.

 

Self awareness for teams

Teams with high levels of self awareness feel accountable for each other’s success, and willingly provide support and candid feedback to help each team member be their best.

Self-aware teams are:

  • More likely to spend time debating, discussing problems, and making decisions
  • More likely to address unacceptable team behaviors promptly
  • More likely to give each other tough feedback
  • Less likely to have “undiscussables” that the team can’t talk openly about

These team members talk honestly and openly about team and individual team members’ strengths and challenges. And, because team members trust each other, they assume positive intent when the tougher conversations happen. Therefore, authentic and candid feedback is more easily heard and valued. It feels okay to be imperfect or to experience setbacks. It is less scary to be vulnerable.

 

Creating these teams takes time, but is well worth the effort! Think about how your team is going to pull together through our current crisis and invest in raising their self awareness now.

Email us at info@lanterntraining.com for more information.

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Workplace Diversity!

What is workplace diversity?

Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between individuals in an organisation. Diversity not only includes how individuals identify themselves, but also how others perceive them. Diversity within a workplace encompasses race, gender, ethnic groups, age, religion, personality, sexual orientation, citizenship status, as well as other distinct differences between people.

Importance of workplace diversity

  1. Mutual Respect Among Employees

Whether employees work in groups or teams comprised of co-workers with varied work styles or who represent different cultures or generations, a synergistic work environment should become the norm. Employees who recognise the many strengths and talents that diversity brings to the workplace, gain respect for their colleagues’ performance.

  1. Conflict Reduction and Resolution

Employees who acknowledge others’ differences often find similarities, particularly when there are common goals, such as production and quality. Respect for co-workers either reduces the likelihood of conflict or facilitates an easier road to conflict resolution. Workplace diversity preserves the quality of employees’ relationships with their co-workers and their supervisors.

  1. Business Reputation Enhancement

Diversity in the workplace is vital for employees because it manifests itself in building a great reputation for the company, leading to increased profitability and opportunities for workers.

An organization known for its ethics, fair employment practices and appreciation for diverse talent is better able to attract a wider pool of qualified applicants. Other advantages include loyalty from customers who choose to do business only with companies whose business practices are socially responsible.

  1. Job Promotion and Employee Development

A global marketplace opens doors for employees of different ages, physical and mental abilities, and ethnic backgrounds to build global profit centres. Employees interested in learning multinational business strategy and who are available for possible expatriate assignments may also find new career opportunities.

  1. Increased Exposure to Different Kinds of People

Employees learn from co-workers whose work styles vary and whose attitudes about work vary from their own. Traditional-generation workers learn new technology and processes from workers who belong to the tech-savvy millennial generation.

  1. Variety of Different Perspectives and Creativity

People are more likely to have a variety of different skills and experience.

Employees will have access to different perspectives which is highly beneficial when it comes to planning and executing a business strategy. When you put together people who see the same thing differently, you are most likely to get new ideas thus improving the creativity of your workforce.

  1. Better Decision Making thus Increased Profits

When employees with different backgrounds and perspectives come together, they come up with more solutions which leads to more informed and improved decisions making process and results.

Delayed processes impact the ways of the business and in turn affect the profits.

  1. Reduced Employee Turnover

Diversity and inclusion in the workplace cause all employees to feel accepted and valued.  They become happier in their workplace and stay longer with the company and in turn, the company has low turnover rates.

Tips for managing diversity in the workplace:

Prioritise communication

To manage a diverse workplace, organisations need to ensure that they effectively communicate with employees. Policies, procedures, safety rules and other important information should be designed to overcome language and cultural barriers by translating materials and using pictures and symbols whenever applicable.

Treat each employee as an individual

Avoid making assumptions about employees from different backgrounds. Instead, look at each employee as an individual and judge successes and failures on the individual’s merit rather than attributing actions to their background.

Encourage employees to work in diverse groups

Diverse work teams let employees get to know and value one another on an individual basis and can help break down preconceived notions and cultural misunderstandings.

Base standards on objective criteria

Set one standard of rules for all groups of employees regardless of background. Ensure that all employment actions, including discipline, follow this standardised criteria to make sure each employee is treated the same.

 Invest time in helping teams work together

Team building, whilst important, has moved on. Invest in developing your team’s self-awareness and helping them to appreciate why others in the team may be different. Globally recognised programmes such as Lumina Learning (https://luminalearning.com/), can completely transform the way your teams work together.

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Tips on delivering the best presentation

Presenting can be tough especially for those of us not born with natural eloquence. To be a better public speaker, one has to develop a personal speaking style. You can do this by packing the presentations with enthusiasm, unique data and having plenty of jokes and short stories relating to the topic.

 

How do you deliver a great presentation?

Practice

Rehearse your lines in various positions – standing up, sitting down, with arms open wide. The more you mix up your position and setting, the more comfortable you’ll feel with your speech. You can also do a practice run for your friend or colleague and evaluate areas that you need to work on. The more you practice, the more your confidence grows.

 

Arrive Early

It’s always best to allow yourself plenty of time to settle in before your talk, preferably 45-60 minutes before your presentation. Extra time gives you a chance to check the room out and make sure the layout is the way you want it, to test and re-test all the equipment and ensure that everything works for you. Don’t trust the sound guy or computer tech who says, “I checked everything and it works fine.’’You also get a chance to do some meet and greet and this makes the attendees feel more at ease.

 

Smile

Smiling replaces anxiety with calm and makes you feel good about your presentation. Smiling also exhibits confidence and enthusiasm to the crowd. This tip works even if you’re doing a webinar and people can’t see you. Just don’t overdo it!

 

Work on Your Pauses.

When you’re nervous, it’s easy to speed up your presentation and end up talking too fast, which in turn causes you to run out of breath, get more nervous, and panic! Pausing helps to emphasise certain points and to help your talk feel more conversational. If you feel yourself losing control of your pace, just take a nice pause and keep cool.

 

Actively Engage the Audience.

People love to talk and make their opinions heard. Asking the audience what they think, inviting questions, and other means of welcoming audience participation can boost engagement and make attendees feel part of a conversation. It also makes you, the presenter, seem much more relatable. Don’t be put off by unexpected questions – instead see them as an opportunity to give your audience what they want.

 

Be Entertaining.

Even if your presentation is packed with useful information, if your delivery bombs, so will your session. Include some jokes and light-hearted stories in your presentation to help you feel more comfortable especially when presenting a great deal of heavy information. .However, it’s important to maintain a balance.

 

Attend other presentations

Attending some of the earlier talks by other presenters give you a chance to scope out their presentation skills and get some context. Deconstruct their speech by highlighting their approach, tactics and execution. You can always borrow something from other speakers that you can use in your own presentations.

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