What Is Agile Working?
Infiltrating the corporate environment, New Ways of Working (NWoW) is transforming workplaces globally. Hybrid working is dominating the scene, offering a split-time approach between the office and home. However, other elements such as ‘how’, ‘when’ and ‘where’ people work are also vital in creating an efficient, productive and enjoyable work environment. As more and more people are working outside of traditional office settings, agile working is becoming more popular among professionals who crave flexibility. But what is agile working?
Flexible Workplaces
Unlike hybrid working, agile working is still in its early days of adoption but it’s gaining traction. Big names such as Lloyds Banking Group and Unilever have been promoting agile working, having far-reaching global implications. Many businesses see agile working as a tool to increase employee productivity and work satisfaction through mutual trust and flexible working practices. Agile working can help companies and employees work more effectively by tailoring work to individual needs.
Agile working definition
One of the most widely used definitions states that:
Agile working is about bringing people, processes, connectivity and technology, time and place together to find the most appropriate and effective way of working to carry out a particular task. – The Agile Organisation
Agile working encompasses four main aspects of work – time (when do people work), location (where do people work), role (what do people do) and source (who carries out work). These elements are then adjusted to each person individually to fit their needs and working style, maximising everyone’s potential and increasing productivity.
While agile working tries to address multiple issues, the most widely discussed is location. An agile approach to work introduces employees to ‘location independent working’. It means that you can venture out away from your desk in the office and explore different locations that may suit your preference.
Want to know more about the different styles of remote working? Check out our blog: Flexible Hybrid And Agile Working Explained.
Benefits Of Agile Working
Recent changes in the working environment and its undeniable benefits are accelerating the adoption of agile working. Key benefits of agile working include:
- Flexibility: not only it allows current employees to have a better work-life balance but a flexible working environment attracts a wider pool of professionals and retains talent. With agile working, companies can grow and develop their most important resource - people!
- Productivity: a flexible approach to work opens the door to efficiency and productivity. Research uncovered that agile businesses experienced up to a 20% increase in productivity after introducing agile working.
- Sustainability: giving your employees a choice to work from any location at any time means that they don’t need to commute long hours, reducing their carbon footprint. Companies can save on rent by downsizing to smaller office spaces, which also helps them meet their sustainability goals.
Essential Technology For Agile Working
Technology plays a key role in growing and adopting the agile working model. Continuously improving digital tools simplifies the process of working from anywhere. Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) technology has risen to the occasion, ensuring the same level of professionalism and sophistication regardless of your physical location.
Work is a thing you do, not a place you go to anymore. No longer is the laptop the answer to everything. The correct peripherals are as important as your main device such as high-quality audio, video and tools that allow an immersive experience. – Chris Southern, General Sales Manager at Midwich.
Enabling agile working, essential technology such as monitors, video cameras and microphones must be top-notch! It can be difficult to choose the right technology for your business and employees when there's no one-size-fits-all approach to agile environments.
To facilitate the change, Midwich has created the Agile Working Portal where different working environments are presented with the recommended technology. Carefully chosen by Midwich’s in-house technology experts, our Agile Working Portal provides solutions that bring flexibility, productivity and sustainability to companies.
Stay competitive, stay agile – visit the Agile Working Portal!
Agile working is making a mark on the modern professional environment, reflecting the shift in how we see work. Focusing on flexibility and performance rather than a physical location, agile working brings the future to the workplace.
