The way we work needs an upgrade

The way we work needs an upgrade. Over the years, employees have found themselves in a myriad of new challenges from learning how to incorporate new technologies in their workflows to navigating the ever-changing landscape of return-to-office and hybrid workplaces. In addition, the disconnect between how different teams and companies have chosen to collaborate and handle this has reintroduced inequities in working environments. 

This year, companies and teams can respond to these challenges by implementing agile working environments, introducing structure to support the use of AI in the workplace. This can help create equitable collaboration environments where employees have the same opportunities whether in the office or at home. 

How to establish agile work environments 

Many companies and leaders have said goodbye to the idea that Agile is only meant for software development or technology teams. In fact, many teams have incorporated Agile as part of their efforts to collaborate seamlessly from a mix of locations.

Despite the influence Agile has had on many of our modern ways of working, teams are still trying to figure out how to best collaborate together across departments and locations. Look to the Agile values as guidance to help your teams along this journey:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools: There is no one-size-fits-all approach for how we work. What may be an ideal collaboration interaction for one team member may differ for the next one, and it’s important to provide individuals with flexible ways to communicate, collaborate, and make decisions, rather than relying on top-down instruction.
Working software over comprehensive documentation: This is a phrase in the Agile Manifesto that demonstrates how teams measure progress today, by showing how something works rather than just documenting it. Focus on developing products and services in multiple iterations over time. Allowing teams to continuously test what they’re working on, and make changes as needed, will result in a more refined and successful end product or result. 
Respond to change over following a plan: Prior to Agile, any changes that came up during an initiative caused significant penalties and cost teams time and money that ultimately prevented progress. Today, teams need to work in a way that allows for uncertainty and learning. Encourage open, continuous dialogue between teams and stakeholders so adjustments and feedback can be implemented in real time. 
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation: In the past, customers or stakeholders were bound by contract terms established between them and a team up front. If something came up or had to change during an initiative, it was the team’s problem. Agile allows teams to eliminate that belief and instead know that they’ll learn and collaborate with their stakeholders along the way. 

Companies will continue fine-tuning their unique processes to increase effectiveness, collaboration, and outputs. While these will look different from team to team, establishing Agile ways of working across departments and teams will result in higher-quality results as well as greater value for stakeholders. 

AI’s role in everyday work

AI has the power to expand our ideas and give teams time back to focus on the most impactful work. At Lucid, we think about the use of AI in four different categories:

Generative: Used to generate text or images in response to a prompt
Assisted: Used to improve existing content
Interrogative: Used to provide an answer to an explicit question
Inferential: Used to provide a recommendation to more open-ended questions

We’ve seen companies adopt the first three types more broadly in the past year. However, we expect inferential AI will be a huge focus this year in a way that will support teams in the beginning stages of a project—ideation, research, and experimentation.