As agile as a meerkat – thriving in a turbulent environment through AGILITY

Posted on 27 November, 2021 at 08:55

The past is an illusion they say, nonprofit organisations must learn to live in the present and embrace the challenges that come with their current environment. What you lack in flexibility and rapid responsiveness as an organisation, you must learn from one of the smartest mammals in the world, meerkats.

A closely related species to humankind, our dear counterpart, the meerkat. Smatter than they look, complex coordinated behaviour, and very much agile. One of the few mammals that take on different roles depending on the circumstance, and that is one distinct feature that makes meerkat mobs incredibly versatile in the wild. They live in unified family groups and work together in numbers. among the adults, it is their duty to go on the hunt for food, each taking turns to be on the lookout, watching the skies for birds of prey, such as hawks and eagles that can snatch them from the ground. A sharp, shrill call is the signal for all to take cover. With several lookouts on duty at one time, there is enough protection for the remaining mob to go about their day-to-day activities. What more can define AGILITY? 

Even when hunting, they work together and communicate with purring sounds. Agility is about having the ability to respond to change, especially in complex and uncertain environments. Meerkats understand the environment they live in. They live in deserts and they go on without water. They get all the moisture they need from the insects and grubs they eat. They respond rapidly and are very flexible to adjust their individual roles and are able to wear many hats. 

At least once every human should have to run for his life, to teach him that milk does not come from supermarkets, that safety does not come from policemen that “news” is not something that happens to other people. He might learn how his ancestors lived and that he himself is no different but the crunch of his life depends on his agility, alertness, and personal resourcefulness. The same applies to organizations operating in this fast-changing environment. Traditional ways of organizational structures and operations have been showing shortcomings for some time now because of the vast changes in technology and the digital world. To truly improve productivity, quality, and resource utilization, organizations should adopt an agile mindset and approach.  

Working together as a team to adjust to environmental changes and challenges gives organisations more power to overcome the obstacles. Two heads are always better than one. If organizations understand that as much as meerkats do, then efficiency can be achieved in a short space of time.  Job rotations are necessary to make sure that even in the absence of the other, the job gets done.  The proposition of the new PVO amendment bill is one example that should teach organisations to always be in a standing alert posture like the meerkat, watching out for threats, sometimes opportunities. This ability allows an organization to respond rapidly and flexibly without causing more damage than harm. There is a great need for the continued survival of nonprofits in Zimbabwe and other developing countries. Like the meerkats, you do not look at how scary or big your problem is, but your capabilities to overcome.

Agility for an organization means the ability to adapt to a changing environment based on feedback from direct stakeholders (e.g. donors, sponsors, and partners), and the strength of its organizational culture. A relatable example would also be the covid-19 pandemic, which changed workspaces in most organizations. Agile organizations that comprise cross-functional, self-sufficient teams that collaborate efficiently, maximizing results even with fewer resources, and fewer chances of survival, managed to withstand covid-19 throws.

Why Go Agile?

Improved Employee and Stakeholder Engagement

At the core of agile principles lies the spirit of collaboration. Agile teams have a clear view of how their work fits into the bigger picture—this lets team members collaborate more creatively and purposefully.

When all team actions have a defined purpose, it creates a sense of autonomy and ownership. Ownership and a broader project context enrich the job experience: employees are empowered to contribute and solve problems. A team’s tangible impact on all aspects of a project enhances productivity and promotes innovation.

When there’s a purpose and meaning ingrained in every employee action, motivation and engagement soar.

Increased Quality

The agile approach calls for work to be completed iteratively—each iteration (sprint) is a fully working release of a product or service.

The team needs to test it to deem a release working, which naturally results in better quality in the following iterations. On the other hand, the traditional method of project delivery might produce errors discovered in late phases. This is because testing happens near the end of project delivery when the product is complete. With a near-complete product, the amount of testing necessary to check often results in a delayed-release or low-quality product.

Improve Operational Effectiveness

By constantly refining product development based on feedback, organizations with agile principles at the core exhibit greater operational effectiveness.

To further streamline their work, agile teams can use OKRs (objectives and key results). OKRs are trackable deliverables of high-level initiatives. For example, the organization’s objectives can be to achieve high revenues and increase profitability; the key results of these objectives can be expressed as specific goals (e.g., commence sales in another country or increase gross profit margin by a defined percentage). The graphically illustrated progress of OKRs helps ensure good project organization and streamlined output delivery.

Whenever glitches or bottlenecks occur, the agile setup lets teams make project adjustments swiftly and early on. When there’s a need to pivot (completely change the direction in which the work is going), agile teams can quickly redefine their approach before wasting significant time on faulty or ineffective features.

Save Costs and Reduce Spending

The combined benefits of the agile approach offer numerous cost-saving and growth opportunities for businesses.

For example, by restructuring teams to be self-sufficient and cross-functional instead of working in the traditional hierarchical model, companies can delegate the employees left after reducing management layers to new and innovative tasks that facilitate organisational growth.

When teams become better at working together, utilizing, and managing resources, cost-saving opportunities will quickly emerge.

By Rutendo Chinzou
KFM  Financial Management Consultant
www.kfmconsultants.com