At Box UK we have years of experience using Agile ways of working to deliver software projects, and are fully aware of the positive impact this approach can have on business performance. Through the application of Agile techniques, for example, we’ve helped clients get their products and services to market more quickly and efficiently, while ensuring the solutions we deliver remain closely aligned with their business and user goals.
It’s clear to me though that, now more than ever, the Agile thinking from which our projects benefit so much has an important role to play far beyond the development industry.
Organisations up and down the country were thrown into a state of uncertainty following the EU referendum result and two months on this uncertainty, to a large extent, remains. At times like these it’s often all too easy to put everything on hold and bury your head in the sand. However, that is actually one of the worst things you can do, with the potential to result in ground lost to the competition, along with any loyal customer base or proven revenue streams you may have built up.
Instead, to manage the uncertainty that is everywhere at the moment you should be continuing to seek out lucrative new opportunities, while taking steps to contain risk. Returning to Agile, this can be achieved by breaking your wider strategy down into smaller, immediately-actionable chunks of work, where value can be easily communicated and measured. Coupled with an iterative framework that enables you to review progress after each piece of work is delivered and adjust your future plans accordingly, this approach provides you with the flexibility and focus needed to make a big impact in a short space of time, while retaining the necessary levels of governance to ensure security and stability.
Through an Agile approach you can ensure that you make educated decisions based on empirical data, without exposing your business too greatly in any single area. Ultimately, with the long-term outlook currently an unknown, today for the majority of organisations strategy has to be tactical, and focused on winning individual battles rather than the war. Agile is perfectly suited to facilitating this – and if you want to know more about why, take a look at our battleships game.
Speaking from experience, we’ve used this more tactical approach to great effect on a number of Box UK projects, some of which started out without a clear end-point. By understanding the project vision, however, we’ve been able to build up a clear picture of requirements and ensure that the highest-priority items are worked on first, to maximise the value delivered. As a result, on many of these projects we’ve exceeded delivery targets, and achieved top customer satisfaction scores across the board.
So, rather than slowing things down, keep moving – but do so in an Agile, iterative fashion that allows you to uncover and define what’s important as you go.
At Box UK we have a strong team of bespoke software consultants with more than two decades of bespoke software development experience, specialising in Agile consultancy and coaching services. If you’re interested in finding out more about how we can help you, contact us on +44 (0)20 7439 1900 or email info@boxuk.com.
And if you’re looking for further ideas on how you can respond effectively to #Brexit, see what members of the Box UK team have to say here.
