2020 was the year no one could have predicted and along with all of its unprecedented challenges came one very important lesson for businesses: it’s critical to be able to adapt to rapid change.
But insights from 350 global business leaders on navigating change published in Vena’s 2020 Industry Benchmark Report revealed that a majority of businesses weren’t operating with an agile planning process. In fact, 64% of businesses did not change their operating model during these challenging times, leaving many unprepared to pivot to the new way of working as a result of the challenges stemming from the pandemic.
In order for businesses to go from surviving to thriving, there are significant benefits to embracing agility at scale.
How an Agile Operating Model Can Help Your Business Balance Risk and Growth
Your operating model is a view into how your organization runs your business. But as the pandemic taught us, it is vital for your operating model to be a dynamic and adaptive model that drives greater agility throughout the organization and aligns your entire business into a single vision.
Now more than ever, as you call upon your finance team to drive your business forward with multiple stakeholders, the need for real-time access to reliable, up-to-date financial and operational data will only continue to increase.
Read on to discover three ways to enable an agile operating model within your organization—one that connects people, processes and systems—so all your teams will be well equipped with all the planning tools they need to mitigate risk and ensure growth for your business today and tomorrow.
Wondering how to set the stage for finance-led change? This blog breaks it down for you.
1. Integrate All of Your Data Into a Single Source of Truth
In order for your business to be adaptive and responsive to change, you need to be set up with a holistic view of your business data so you can identify the key business drivers across every function and level of your organization. But you can only get to that view when data silos are eliminated, giving you full access to all the accurate and real-time data you need within one secure system.
Seamless data integrations can help automate tedious manual processes, freeing up time for your finance team so they can focus on uncovering business insights. So, when you’re looking for an operating model that makes the most of your data and ensures data integrity, transparency and governance, make sure all the data integrations you need are easily supported.
With timely and trustworthy data from a single source of truth at your fingertips, you’ll always be prepared to pivot at a moment’s notice.
Go here to discover how you can dive deeper into your business data with Vena’s Extended Planning.
2. Mitigate Risk and Plan for Any Scenario
Looking ahead and charting a course for your organization with the most accurate, up-to-date data will be key in helping your business move forward. Take it one step further with automated agile forecasting and ad hoc reporting tools. This will enable you to model future scenarios and quickly analyze variances so you can easily see how the choices you make today will impact the bottom line tomorrow.
Regular rolling forecasts will also help you hone in on the most important KPIs for your business. If you’re looking to accelerate your business planning and forecasting accuracy with automation and advanced analytics and bring your data to life, agile forecasting and reporting tools should definitely be a functionality to consider in your operating model.
Learn 4 best practices for preparing your business for the future. Read this blog.
3. Create Cross-Functional Collaboration and Set Priorities for the Entire Organization
Changing your operating model to an agile reporting model—with clear strategies and priorities in place—is integral to creating organizational alignment for your business, especially during times of change. It also helps streamlines processes to improve business efficiencies, identifies gaps in workforce planning and allows for the flexibility to build dynamic teams centered around common goals.
Want to know why it’s important for businesses to reallocate skills and talent during times of change? Click here.
Your Roadmap To Success
It’s clear that an agile operating model can make all the difference between surviving and thriving during times of change. As businesses adapt to the new normal, you’ll want to make sure your business model aligns your entire organization. This will help your teams respond to shifting priorities quickly as everyone continues to work towards hitting business goals and building out your roadmap to success.
Find out why you need to try the new Vena Preview today. Learn more
