Applying the Agile Principles to Develop Work Systems: A Case of the Office of the Director, Institute of Molecular Biosciences, Mahidol University

Abstract

In the modern world, organizations are required to provide faster responses and constantly strive to gain a competitive advantage. The purpose of this article was to apply the agile principles to develop the work systems of the Institute of Molecular Biosciences’ Office of the Director at Mahidol University in order to help the Institute to be one of the world's leading institutes in molecular biosciences. It is believed that applying the agile principles to the Institute’s work systems will help prepare its personnel to have necessary skills and mindsets and be competence in today's fast changing world. Thus, this article proposed 3 main steps in applying the agile principles to the Institute’s work systems: 1) analyzing current vision, mission, and goals and identifying problems that will prevent the Institute from reaching its goals; 2) developing a strategic action plan for applying the agile principles to the current work systems; and 3) creating an organizational culture that embraces and adapt to changes. Applying the agile principles to the Institute’s work systems cannot achieve success without 1) increasing employees' awareness of the organization need for change; 2) engaging all stakeholders in the change process; 3) having effective communication strategies; 4) focusing on empowering employees and change teams; 5) setting specific key performance indicators and monitoring and evaluating the success regularly; and 6) promoting the agile mindsets in the Institute’s employees, especially working flexible to achieve high-performing results, increasing employee responsiveness, and taking continuous effort to maintain high customer satisfaction levels.