This Is Why Fortune 500 Companies Use An Agile Approach To Process Improvement

Some of the most well-known companies in the world use an Agile approach to improve their processes. IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, AT&T — they all use an Agile approach.

Why is that?

It’s because the current pace of tech innovation can change an industry quickly, or even revolutionize it.

Large companies that have been in business for decades often realize that they aren’t prepared to adapt just as quickly. So they begin to look for ways to respond to changes in the market.

This is where an Agile approach really shines.

An Agile approach is all about being able to work more collaboratively, to release something sooner, to get feedback faster.

It helps large companies to streamline their processes and respond when they see changes happening.

What Happens When Companies Scale

The reason these large companies want to streamline their processes is becausethey’re large companies.

To get to that size, they have to create processes. They have to put systems in place.

They have to have repeatability.

That helps them scale and grow consistently, creating the massive company you see today.

But sometimes those layers of processes can cause inefficiencies.

Maybe there are too many forms to fill out to get anything done quickly.

Or maybe employees have to submit a request to group review and then wait for a committee to meet and get back to them. Those type of unnecessary or inefficient processes tend to be born as a company scales upwards.

They’re a common side effect of growth.

Back To Basics

So I advise them to take a look backwards.

In many cases, they have to get back to the basics in order to streamline their processes. Does someone really need to fill out a form and send it to a review team, or can they just send an email to the right person in the department?

Could they just walk down the hall and knock on a door instead?

We often refer to this as untraining.

We need to untrain people from those familiar, but inefficient, processes and systems.

We want to challenge them to think more creatively, to be innovative, to look for new ways to do things.

The Challenges Of Silos

If those kinds of inefficient processes go on for too long, they can create silos where people do the same thing day in and day out for years.

They don’t think outside of that box they’ve been placed in.

I had something similar happen when I was working for a large corporation.

There came a point where I felt like I was actually losing my ability to think creatively, because it just wasn’t necessary.

I was so used to following the systems and processes that were laid in front of me that when I found myself in a situation where I had to create something, I found myself staring at a blank computer screen with no idea where to even begin. I feared that I had lost my capacity for original, creative thought.

Thankfully I noticed that, and I’ve worked to regain my creativity.

Just like you would exercise at a gym to stay physically fit, it is important to exercise your mind by finding inspiration and sources that trigger you to think differently to stay mentally sharp and creatively fit.

Engaging in industry conferences, talking to other people in the industry, listening to other people talk about ideas, and reading about new ideas can all help.

Your environment has a large impact.

So how do corporations not only avoid creativity drain in their employees, but rather foster an environment for innovation? Part of that is providing an environment that encourages more of an entrepreneurial mindset. An environment where it’s safe to fail because trying new things is the only way to discover new innovative approaches. If you look at the smaller startup companies, they’re just out there doing whatever it takes. They’re winging it and seeing what works.

It’s in their nature to be innovative and Agile.

Now, larger companies can’t really just wing it, but they do need to think more like entrepreneurs. They need to look for the most efficient ways to do things, and Agile is at the heart of that.

Increased Speed To Market

I’ll give you an example.

Some of my best work was with a vendor out of Ohio named Proteon. We were migrating a website to their platform and we asked them how long that usually took. They told us it was about a three to six-month process.

We didn’t have six months. We didn’t even have three.

So instead, we used an Agile approach and looked at it from an entrepreneurial perspective.

What was the minimum viable product we could get out, and how quickly could we do it?

That led us to use an iterative approach to the website.

We got all the customer-facing features out in the first launch, and then we worked to migrate the entire backend content management system later. We were able to go live in two weeks, instead of the original three to six-month projection.

That’s an 80% increased speed to market.

That’s what an Agile approach can do for you.

And that’s the reason that so many Fortune 500 companies are using it to improve their processes. It allows them to work more efficiently and combat the negative aspects of scaling.

It brings them back to their entrepreneurial roots and helps them to adapt as markets change.