The importance of lean and agile in delivering value for customers

Delivering value for customers is crucial in today’s market, according to Catharine Granger – CEO of Dubai-based advisory firm Trajan Consulting.

Granger spoke at GITEX Technology Week 2020 held in Dubai – a mammoth tech convention that featured: more than 300 startups; over 200 investors & venture capitalists; more than 300 speakers; and exhibits from more than a thousand businesses including tech giants such as Etisalat, Dell Technologies and Kaspersky.

Among the participants, Trajan Consulting is a consultancy based in Dubai, with services spanning finance, accountancy, lean six sigma, agile working, benchmark studies, risk management and supply chain advisory, among others. Granger used GITEX as a platform to stress the value of lean and agile operations.

“A lean organisation is one that understands the importance of customer value and focuses its critical processes on increasing it,” said Granger. She went on to highlight the current market conditions, where Covid-19 and its economic impact are changing consumer preferences from one day to the next. Speed and flexibility are of the essence in this scenario.

“Success in today’s global marketplace hinges on the ability to deliver value, both to your customers and employees. Companies must find ways to move faster and deliver higher quality products and services while providing the structure and stability to develop a healthy organisational culture.”

Granger has an illustrious background, with experience at Toyota, Microsoft, UBS and Nestle. She co-founded Trajan Consulting in 2008, and now operates as a consultant and mentor – helping entrepreneurs embody lean principles in their business. Over the years, the consulting firm has served a number of clients, including the likes of Amazon and BP.

More recently, the firm launched a new specialised division for the GCC region, focused on helping companies with adopting lean and agile principles and embracing the cultural changes that goes along with it. “We offer an integrated approach to projects, bringing together the required disciplines, project managers, and specialists. The new division aims to assist the heads of companies to eliminate all non-value-added activities and waste.”

“We've already had a substantial amount of interest during GITEX in Dubai this week,” concluded Granger.

Lean traces its origins back to the ‘80s, when Toyota launched the concept in its car assembly plants. In the methodology, eliminating waste from processes is central to design and execution. Agile has its roots in the world of software, but has over the years grown to become a mainstream approach across all types of change delivery. The approach is popular for its focus on flexibility and short-cycled philosophy of delivering results.