The standard for project management

6.4 BUSINESS PRACTICES

The willingness and ability to create new competences within an organization when the need arises is a mark of 

organizational agility. These do not have to be earth-shattering changes and could be less disruptive in an organization 

that is focused on agility and the results it provides. Transparency and open collaboration are absolutely key.

As cross-functional teams deliver value, the teams and individuals might encounter problems with various support 

functions in the organization.

As team delivers value on a regular basis, finance departments may have the opportunity to capitalize the product 

differently. If the team has contracts with other organizations, procurement departments may need to change those 

contracts to help the other organizations deliver value frequently and synchronize with the team.

Once teams start to work in a cohesive and cooperative manner, they will challenge internal management policies. 

Human resources may notice individual incentives make less sense, and managers may struggle with the performance 

appraisals of self-organizing employees. In each case, these are opportunities to review the degree to which existing 

practices support agile ways of working.

As organizations progress to greater agility, there will be obvious needs for additional business units to change the 

way they interact and perform their responsibilities. The changes that have benefited other areas of the organization 

should now be embraced so the effectiveness of the entire organization can be realized.

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Section 6