Keeping Pace With Agility

With more and more discussion about customer co-creation, product development 2.0 and the inclusion of collaborative technologies into the CRM stack (CRM 2.0), it is important to understand how the adoption of these methods impacts the established business processes and the overall culture of the organization. Customer information flows through an organization on a prescribed basis, generally in “real-time”, “near-time” or on “scheduled” intervals. In some organizations, the customer’s expectation of action out-paces the reality of the information flow. Simply put, customers expect organizations to respond to demands faster than the established business practices allow. As organizations begin to look to new customer interaction models and technologies, they need to also take a step back and take a look at the entire business. Are the “scheduled” processes, such as once-a-year market research programs, adequate to capture the customer’s wants, needs and desires? Probably not in this brave new world. However, is “real-time” customer information important if it is going to take several months to address customer issues or incorporate new features into the product?
With the introduction of any new technologies into the organization, there generally needs to be a corresponding change in the business processes, work practices and corporate cultures to ensure success. It is no different with any of the “2.0″ initiatives (be it web, CRM or product development).