Change and Agility: Two Sides, Same Coin
It's somewhat hard to imagine an agile bank, given the size, complexity and conservatism of financial institutions. But an agile bank isn't necessarily the fastest, but rather, is one that is fleet-footed, along with being nimble and flexible. It's a marathoner, not a sprinter.
A bank can be agile in different ways. A range agile bank is nimble enough to scale up (or down) its various capabilities as the situation demands. In banks that have modernized their core systems, even business users can tweak certain processes on their own, without calling for help from IT staff. These banks can also add or drop products and channels quite easily. This is what range agility brings.
A time agile bank is one that is faster off the blocks. Once again, modern core platforms impart time agility, enabling banks to launch new products in a matter of weeks or less, when earlier they would take years.
There's a symbiotic relationship between agility and change. By definition, an agile bank is surrounded by and is constantly creating change; and only an agile bank can manage change successfully. Often, it is a change driver that makes the bank realize that it needs to become more agile. This is why it is very important for the bank to spot change drivers early, as well as identify those factors that will enable it to mount an agile response to change. Sometimes this change identification and response mechanism may involve big decisions, such as the introduction of service automation or a new banking channel. Hence, it is crucial that the management of change and agility receives adequate attention from the top, and is backed on the ground by departmental teams responsible for ensuring smooth communication, implementation and transition. Also, best in class technology and analytics solutions can be a valuable asset while formulating change management strategy and decisions.
