4 Proven Ways To Make Your Business More Agile Immediately

Do you want to make your business more agile?

One of the best analogies out there when it comes to the decision making processes of companies is the one about boats. A big business is like a cruise ship. For it to change direction, it needs to do so slowly and steadily, taking big looping turns before it can start its new course. But a small business is like a speedboat, one that’s up for the ride, urging you to crank up the music, throw a rubber ring off the back tubing, and make a 180 degree turn at the drop of a hat.

We’re not saying small businesses have it easier than their bigger competitors, but in this instance, yeah, they have the upper hand. They have the ability to pivot quickly, be more agile, make split-second decisions and be more proactive. Fewer people means fewer two-pennies worth getting thrown in.

To help you use this to your advantage, we have pulled together some tips on agile organization design that will help you make a faster decision and boost your growth.

Keep Your Employees Engaged

The most important asset you have is your team; those on the front lines and in the trenches; those who thrive when it comes to customer service and relationships. Think about it for a second. These are the people constantly engaging with your customers and clients, meaning they have a smorgasbord of useful information. Use this to your advantage. Use this information to spot trends and market changes and then react quickly.

Use Your Customers Better

Another great tool small businesses have at their disposal is being able to directly engage with their customers. This is good because it gives you an opportunity to learn from them, get their feedback, see where you can improve their experience and then quickly implement these changes. It would take an age for this information to filter up the ranks of a big company, but not for you. Get their feedback and assess how this can help you improve.

Make Your Business More Agile

There are no two ways of putting this: to be a successful small business, you need to be an agile business, and that means using the sort of software that will let you capitalize on change and not just respond to it. It means going through your processes and procedures so that they reduce any bad habits that might have cropped up. It’s about reviewing your systems so that they help your team complete tasks in a more efficient way.

Keep An Eye On The Competition

One of the smartest things any business can do is monitor their competition because, trust us, they are monitoring you. But that’s not all. To stay ahead of them, you need to know exactly what they’re up to. You need to be following their social media profiles, reading their blogs, what they are up to in the community, who their clients are, and what part of the market they are focusing on. This isn’t to change what you do or what values you have; it’s to help you better predict what changes might influence your market.