There are many ways to deal with VUCA. Agile methods can help. The first step should be to create an environment in which everyone involved can talk to each other openly and on an equal footing and transparency is created about all information, goals and activities.
Fixed feedback cycles can also be helpful. The length of the feedback cycles depends on the team and should be determined together. A feedback loop every two to four weeks is certainly a good start.
In addition, it is important to stay focused. If everyone involved knows their goals, daily work can be aligned with them. If our work does not contribute to the goals, we should at least question it.
The PDCA cycle
In a VUCA world, everyone wants to be able to react quickly to changes, minimize their own mistakes, avoid dependencies and continuously improve. The PDCA cycle helps us with this.
PDCA stands for "Plan - Do - Check - Act". This method has already denmark consumer email list been briefly introduced in a previously published blog post , but we would like to go into it in more detail. PDCA is a four-step method for implementing change that focuses on continuous improvement.
Plan/Plan
In order to plan at all, you have to be clear about the goal - the focus. What problems need to be solved, what fundamental work needs to be done to achieve this, what knowledge is needed and how can you measure whether you are on the right track?
Tun/Do
The next step is to put your plans into action. Always remember to take small steps - this reduces the risk of undesirable developments.
check
Planning and implementation are not best practices, but a logical consequence. This is where things get interesting. "Check" is probably the most important phase of the PDCA cycle and you should therefore give this phase enough time. You inspect your actions and check whether there is a need for change and what this might look like.
action/act
Now you want to apply the new knowledge and implement the whole thing again accordingly. You have learned something new and will now use this cycle iteratively.
Graphic: The PDCA cycle - Plan - Do - Check - Action
The PDCA cycle is also a core practice of Kanban, is used in SAFe and can also be found in Scrum. The whole thing depends on a certain regularity, which means you have to stay on the ball and thus keep going. Being agile doesn't mean "faster" or "better". But agility - and above all agile methods - help you to gradually find your way in an unknown world characterized by risks and rapid change.
And how does your team or organization deal with the challenges of the VUCA world?
You can find more exciting topics from the adesso world in our previously published blog posts .
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