The Agile Communication Explosion has taken over the business world by storm. With the rapid advancement of technology, communication has become more efficient and effective than ever before. This new era of agility in communication is transforming the way businesses operate and interact with their customers.
Gone are the days when businesses had to rely on traditional methods of communication such as phone calls or face-to-face meetings. Today, companies can leverage a variety of tools such as email, social media, instant messaging apps, and video conferencing to communicate with their employees, partners, and customers from anywhere around the world. This level of flexibility has enabled businesses to operate at a higher pace while also improving their productivity levels.
Moreover, agile communication has also opened up new opportunities for collaboration between teams across different locations. Teams can now work together seamlessly without being constrained by physical boundaries.
In the meantime, I have seen many organizations that have lifted up with what they mean by agility. This does not mean that the agile movement was unsuccessful, or in part. It is said that it was underestimated what it means if you distribute guidance or change structures and process patterns. Without adapting them slowly. Or to take a look at whether all of this is adaptively in the sense of being “capable of external conditions”.
The complex integration of employees and customers
Integration of employees and customers is a complex concept that has a direct impact on the success of any business. The basic idea behind this integration is to create an environment where customers feel valued and appreciated, while employees feel motivated to provide excellent service. This can be achieved by creating an inclusive culture that encourages open communication, mutual respect, and teamwork.
One of the most critical aspects of integrating employees and customers is understanding their needs. Businesses must invest in comprehensive training programs that equip employees with the skills needed to interact effectively with customers. Employees should be taught how to listen actively, empathize with customer concerns, and communicate clearly without using confusing jargon or technical language.
Another important factor in achieving effective integration between employees and customers is transparency. Customers appreciate honesty about product features, pricing structures, and potential limitations or drawbacks.
The employee page is one thing. But even customer integration does not necessarily lead to more innovation. Customers often know more about their presence than about our future. If you integrate them into product and process development, it is time-consuming. If you ask them about your wishes, for example, they don’t want chatbots. Ki like chatting will not change anything. And so forth.
Maya is such a thing …
And then there is often an innovation gap: some are further behind than the companies, stick to the fax and post – or must not use certain solutions at all.
There is a reason why technology leaders don’t care about customers. And why Maya – Most Advanced But Yet Acceptable – can also be breaking in innovation. As well as the discussion about it.
So, the question is: Would the outside need to be communicated with and how much is sufficient, and how much time should be available for this? And when is it necessary to do it and when will it be obvious enough, provided that there is no decisiveness? Who seems to be most uncontrollable – who seems unable to accept it.
Mature is reflectivity
“Mature” is a term that is obviously despised by system theorists, at least there are many swearing and shameful contributions. It is usually impossible to assess organizations or people for maturity. And yet I think it is important to look at the communicative maturity of a group. How can this deal with contradictions? Do you want to learn from other opinions? Or is there only right/wrong or better/than?
If you lead, you have to throw previous decisions overboard more often, maybe even all the time. Ideological beliefs are quite a hindrance. It makes sense to separate private conviction from entrepreneurial benefit, otherwise, there will be no pragmatic ways.
Ideology may work well when the market is calm, but not with waves and storms. If many think everyone would lead some somehow, ideological impressions seep. Faith fights follow, for example about whether managers are needed at all. Also, executives who lead to the faith about non-decisions.
Of course, everything can only be understood in context. But there are also individual factors. Hospital teams have a similar context – and yet the communicative maturity of the teams there is different. Nevertheless, some can communicate better than others. Usually, because they worked on themselves.
Change leads to an Agile communication explosion at least temporarily
One thing is always true when it comes to agile communication and self-organized work. The change towards more team responsibility leads to at least a temporary communication explosion. And you have to be able to and want to afford them in terms of time, spatial, finances, and personally. The effort for this is almost hopelessly underestimated. If he is planned at all.
I owe the term agile communication explosion to Daniel Dubbel, whose podcast on the transformation of the DB Systel for a network organization you can find here.
The following situation shows the underestimation of agile communication: A classically hierarchically structured department with two teams gets a new manager. This is a proven fan of self -organization. Before that, the employees, specialists from IT and controlling, were assigned to the work. Even outgoing letters to important recipients were checked. Now it says: “Make”, you are specialists. The total uncertainty is the result. Now a lot of communication would be necessary, but unfortunately, the manager does not have to understand empathy (or mature?) What is going on …
Leadership is an important structural element
Building alternative management structures costs time, money, and consultancy. Role concepts shake identity. They have to be reflected. The leadership is even more true for distributed leadership. And then the meetings! In order for these to be efficient, practice is needed. Working methods: So that they are really understood, many loops and a lot of feedback are necessary
If you don’t have this time because day-to-day business has priority, you should keep your fingers off elaborate restructuring. The alarm bells should shrill with consultants if new structures just come on it – but nothing falls away. But even if it is made consistently, it has followed …
Every leadership vacuum creates chaos that you have to be able to afford. – Svenja Hofert
Interference in the organization of the structure is a particularly delicate operation on the open heart. “Spotify” is not an SAP rollout. Imagine a monastery with load-bearing columns. If they break away, the rest also collapses. Each leadership vacuum creates chaos that you have to be able to afford.
With all of this, the question remains of what it is actually about and whether what is about can not be achieved more quickly. With less communication, for example, and more management decisions.
Read Also: What Is Servant Leadership
It needs awareness of inevitable destabilization
Any change in the formal leadership cap creates a new need: to learn the other, alternative. Four levels must be passed through the learning. This process has a psychological component: If you learn that you have to learn again, you have to say goodbye to a piece of your previous identity. Destabilized, at least temporarily.
Resilient people are in the way, and less resilient are sometimes violent crises. System theorists would say that this is not a matter for the organization. But what about the duty of care that is legally anchored? Can you really leave people alone with it? I think not, but you need resources again for collecting.
An attempt to show this using the example of “agile roles”:
- Unconscious incompetence. Egon Müller has recently been an agile master and has to fill out this new role. How, he doesn’t know, but also not that he doesn’t know. Now he needs good feedback. He can’t handle it at first.
- Conscious incompetence: cheers, meal, now our region has arrived in the consciousness that he has no idea how it works. For example, he cannot give or take any feedback. That means something for his identity – they have to shape itself. He really wants that, but takes a lot of time for it.
- Unconscious competence: Now Egon is more and more successful. But he still has self-doubt.
- Conscious competence: After three years, Egon has arrived here, and looks back on an intensive time. He reflected a lot and knows that the trip is not over. All of this worked because he had a good accompaniment.
Let’s not forget: every solution creates new problems. You can think of which these are to a certain extent. But groups are emergent what exactly is created in them – nobody knows. An overwhelming from unusual, elaborate communication can paralyze them – and release them with other energies.
Moral fundamental discussions cost time – and are insoluble
A fluid network is quickly painted on the beer lid. But nobody paints what such a renovation means for the company. The associated change of concept can mean a communicative excessive demand.
And so some agile transformation has a side effect. It releases fundamental discussions about hierarchy or equality that get delicate because of the moral dimension. In the end, it is a similar discussion as in politics, and as emotional. Morality, however, is extremely explosive, because nothing divides. Then better again: to work, people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, agile communication can be improved in any organization by adopting an Agile framework. It allows employees to become more engaged, provides a structure for progress, and increases transparency among departments. The Agile methodology gives teams the ability to work collaboratively and quickly react to change while maintaining focus on the final product.
Agile Communication is essential for success in any business and with the help of Agile communication, it can be effectively utilized. Organizations should take advantage of this opportunity to enhance their collaboration and increase their efficiency.
