Directing the Agile Organisation: A Lean Approach to Business Management

Business systems do not always end up the way that we first plan them. Requirements can change to accommodate a new strategy, a new target or a new competitor. In these circumstances, conventional business management methods often struggle and a different approach is required.

Agile Business Management is a series of concepts and processes for the day-to-day management of an organisation. As an Agile manager, you need to understand, embody and encourage these concepts. By embracing and shaping change within your organisation you can take advantage of new opportunities and outperform your competition.

Changing the way you and your business operate

Using a combination of first-hand research and in-depth case studies, Directing the Agile Organisation offers a fresh approach to business management, applying Agile processes pioneered in the IT and manufacturing industries. Agile Business Management is divided into four domains, which each require change to the way your business operates.

• Chapter 1 looks at your role as a manager. How will your responsibilities change under Agile Business Management? What techniques can you use to manage your staff?
• Chapter 2 discusses your organisation’s relationship and interaction with its customers. What are their needs and goals, and how can you work together to achieve them?
• Chapter 3 provides the organisational context in which Agile Business Management operates. It discusses lean management structures and the techniques to manage different types of staff, teams and organisations.
• Chapter 4 looks at how you and your team work the “agile way” and describes tools and techniques to help optimise workflow, exploit change and manage customer requirements.

The book closes with a look at associated financial models that support your Agile organisation, the processes you can use to run an Agile Business Management transformation, and the first steps to take towards that transformation.

Directing the Agile Organisation will be of interest to managers and senior executives who want to improve business processes in order to remain competitive in today's market.

About the Author

Evan Leybourn is a speaker, coach and leader in the field of Agile Business Management. He has held executive, board and advisory positions in private industry and government, and has worked with clients developing lean business practices across Australia, South East Asia, Europe and America. He also runs professional development courses for clients and has spoken at several industry conferences on Agile Business Management, corporate governance and business intelligence.