5 Tactics to Adapt Your Business to a VUCA World - Holaspirit

Very trendy, very real, VUCA is short for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous, usually applied to the context we live in. VUCA stands ... SolutionsDocumentyourorganizationImplementsharedgovernanceManageprojectscollaborativelyAlignteamswithOKRsPricingResourcesBlogFindacoachHolaspirithelpcenterGlossaryofAgiletermsAboutContactusContactusBookademoLoginSignUpLoginSignUp5TacticstoAdaptYourBusinesstoaVUCAWorldTosurviveandthriveinaVolatile,Uncertain,Complex,andAmbiguousworld,businessesmustchangehowtheywork.Purpose,Transparency,andAgillityarekey.Management&Governance7minutereadJoyceKetteringJuly21,2021Youarereading:5TacticstoAdaptYourBusinesstoaVUCAWorldJoyceKetteringJuly20,2021Tweet ‍Notsolongago,"fiveyearplans"wereathing.Apopularthing.Long-termplanning,fixedobjectives,verticalstructures,andhierarchies,youknowthedrill.Maybeyouworkedunderthosestructures.Butsomethingchanged...significantly.Callitanexhilaratingjumpintechnologyorglobalization,butthingsdefinitelyspedupandbecamenotsoeasytopredict.That'swheretheVUCAacronymcomesin.Verytrendy,veryreal,VUCAisshortforVolatile,Uncertain,Complex,andAmbiguous,usuallyappliedtothecontextwelivein.ThesefourcharacteristicsofourVUCAworldarenotoneandthesame,buttheytendtocomehandinhandindifferentdegrees.Themorecomplexandvolatileanindustryis,forexample,thehardertopredictand,therefore,moreuncertainitwillbe.Whatvariesmainlyishowmuchyouknowaboutthesituationandhowaccuratelyyoucanpredictthepossibleoutcomes.Here'sachartfromtheHarvardBusinessReviewbyNathanBennettandG.JamesLemoinethatillustratesitperfectly:‍TheconceptofaVUCAworldwasintroducedbythemilitarybuthasbeenwidelyadoptedbyorganizationsandfor-profitcorporationsasastartingpointforstrategicleadership.Wait...VUCAisastartingpointforstrategicleadership?Yes.Yes,itis.TocarryoutasuccessfulbusinessstrategyinaVUCAenvironment,leadersmustembracewhattheydon'tknow,andacceptthatthingsmayquicklychange. Thishasbecomeahugepartofstrategicplanning.Todealwiththevolatility,uncertainty,complexity,andambiguityofthebusinessworld,thestrategyandimplementationofanyworkplanneedtobeflexibleenoughtoadaptandmaneuver.ThisiswhereAgileworkcomesin.WorkingAgile(orInvertedVUCA)WenowknowwhatVUCAisbutstillhavenoclueastohowtodealwithit.Uncertaintyisapartoflife,butit'snotthatgreatinaworkenvironment.ThisiswhyinaVUCAenvironment–wheretasksvary,peoplerotate,andthemarketiscompetitiveandthereforedrawsourconstantattentionastohowitchangesandwhereit'sheaded–anAgileWorkMethodologyiskey.There'ssomethingwecouldcallinvertedVUCA,orsimplytheothersideofVUCA,thatliststhetypeofvaluesthatcanhelpbusinessleadersnavigateuncertainty:Vision(orstrategicforesightandgoodleadership),Understanding(thankstodataanalysis,brainstorming,empathymaps,marketresearch),Clarity(theabilitytosimplifyandcommunicatewithotherstosolvecomplexproblems),andAgility(theabilitytoadaptandrespondtochangequickly)Tobuildthesevaluesintoanorganization,collaboration,trust,andtransparencyarekey.Andthesedon'tcomeontheirown.McKinsey(2020)statedinanarticlewrittenattheheightofthecovid19pandemicthatmanycompaniesadoptedagilepracticestocopewithchangingbusinesspriorities.Theyconcludedthatcompanieswithagilepracticesembeddedintheiroperatingmodelsmanagedtheimpactofthecrisisbetterthantheirpeers.Why?If,asMcKinseystates,anorganizationismadeupnotonlyofteamsbutofanetworkofteamswithinapeople-centeredcultureguidedbyapowerfulcommonpurposetoco-createvalue,thenteamsneedtobeempowered.Ifateamisempowered,itisabletomakeitsowndecisions,failquicklywithlowerrisk,andlearnfast.Theseteams:trusteachother,havecommonobjectives(likeOKRs),completeopennessastoongoingprojects,andahighercommongoal(apurpose)whilstworkingwithsmaller,clearlydefinedrolesandfocustostayontrackandkeepvariablesundercontrol.AllofthisputtogethermakesacompanymuchbetterpreparedtofaceVUCAsituations.Short-termgoals,self-organizeddata-drivencollaborativeteamswithsmallachievabledeliverables,andthecapacitytomaketheirowndecisionsallowustomoveatafasterpace.Rememberthefiveyearplanswementionedatthebeginning?Sayadefinitegoodbyetothem.GoodbyetoLong-TermGoals?Yesandno. Big,time-consuming,yearly,orlongerscenarioplanningcyclesseemoutdatedandunrealistic,nottomentionawasteoftime.Thisdoesnotmeanthatweshouldnotsetobjectives.Actually,OKR'sareagreatandmoreflexiblewaytodothat.AndeachteamneedsitsownKPIstomeasureitselfanditsperformance.Sowedon'treallyscratchoutlonger-termplans,butwedosetwaymorecheckpointsonthewayasathermometerandatooltoadaptmorequicklytochange.So,WhatDoesAgileLookLikeinPractice?Agilewasoriginallycreatedforsoftwaredevelopmentteamsinordertoinnovatefasterwhilekeepingupwithcustomerneeds.Today,Agilemethodologieshaveexpandedtheirreachtobreakdownorganizationalsilosandboostcross-functionalcollaboration.Whatdoesitchangeday-to-day?Cleartasks,communication,andweeklyorbi-weeklyobjectives.Usually,teamswillmeetdailytobrieflystatewhatthey'llbeworkingon;atthebeginningofwhatistypicallycalledasprint,therewillbeaplanningsession,andattheendofthiscycle,aretrospectivetoanalyzetheworkdone,learnfrommistakesandplanforward.Clear,visualizedworkflow.Forthis,aKanbanorTaskBoardcouldbeusefultooptimizetheflowofwork.AtypicalKanbanboardwillusestickynotesandhaveatleastthreecolumnswherethefarleftisthebacklog,themiddleisinprogress,andthefarrightisthedonecolumn.Iteasilycommunicatestheworkstatusofprojectsandsupporttickets.There'splentyofonlinetoolslikeTrelloorAsanaforthisbutifyouwanttolinkyourprojectstoyourorgchartandlinkoperationswithgovernanceanddecision-makingprocesses,Holaspiritisthetoolyouneed.Constantiterationandtesting.WhatistypicallyknownasBetaCulture,whereaspiringtoperfectionistheworstpossibleenemy,and,instead,iterating,testing,andsteadilyapproachingabetterfinalproductismuchmoreproductive.Constantfeedback.Bothexternalandinternal.Inretrospectives,viasurveys,usabilitytests,useractivitydata,younameit.Butlisteningtowhatisreallygoingonkeepsusdowntoearth.FiveActionStepstoIncreaseVUCAPreparednessInordertosurviveandthriveinaVUCAworld,anorganizationrequires:aclearvisionofwhyitexistsandwhereitwantstogo,strategicthinkingandleadershiptogetitthere,witheveryteammemberpullinginthesamedirection,analyticsandroutinestomeasureprogressalongtheway,acorporateculturethatbreaksdownsilostodealwithcomplexityandambiguity,agilitytorespondquicklytochange.Toachievethat,organizationsmustbedeliberate.Werecommendyou:clearlydefinetheorganization'spurposeandmakesureeveryteammemberunderstandsithostworkshopstoco-createengagingobjectivesatorganizationalandteamlevelhostshortweeklytacticalmeetingstodiscussongoingprojectsandreviewkeymetricsshareavisualorgchartanddocumentrolessoeveryonecanseewhodoeswhatadoptaninclusivedecision-makingprocessthatallowsyoutounderstandmorepointsofviewbutstillmakefastdecisions,inmeetingsorasynchronouslyTheHolaspiritwebapphelpsyoudoallofthat.Ifyou'dlikesomeonefromourteamtoshowyouhowandhelpyousetupyourorganization,booka30-minutedemonow.‍vucaantifragileresilienceagileTweet WRITTEN BYJoyceKetteringHeadofGrowth&Content@HolaspiritFOLLOWFormerinternalauditorforFortune500companiesandmusicproducerfornooneinparticular,Joyceisanentrepreneurwhoenjoyslearningnewthingsandcreatinghelpfulcontent.MoreinthesamecategoryLeadershipinSelf-OrganizedTeamsHolacracyPractitionerTrainingGettingEmployeeBuy-InforSelf-Management