Agile Applied in Business

Ed Buckley is the CEO of Peerfit, a company that creates a streamlined way for people to connect their health dollars with fitness experiences people actually want to use. When COVID-19 hit, the company underwent a large restructuring process. Because of the unknown nature of the virus, the company needed something that could provide structure but allowed for flexibility later down the road. This is why Ed decided to work with AgileThought and consultant Christy Erbeck.   In this episode, both Ed and Christy share their 90-day reflections on how agile has worked for Peerfit and what it looks like when decisions are made within teams and not from a sole leader. Ed himself shares how this restructuring has freed him up to think about the future of the company and how the 90-plus employees within the organization are managing the agile framework.   Key Takeaways How AgileThought and Agile are applied in a business setting. What gets you here doesn’t get you there. This year you were forced to take a different approach. Christy, as an outsider, had to come in and really take a top-down approach to see where there was a duplication of efforts and how to streamline Peerfit more effectively. Ed had to reduce his staff by a significant amount due to COVID-19, he was going to lose some key players and needed to adopt a more “fluid” approach in discussion making. When you empower your people, you move faster. Reflections on how Agile has helped Ed’s business Ed feels free and can choose what actions to be involved with vs. letting his team handle it. Ed now has the opportunity to look forward instead of being stuck in his business and being the central point for making all the company’s decisions. Before, the company had very cleared departments or silos. AKA, the sales team, the account management team, etc. Now, they have three North-star teams and each team is attached to one north-star goal. How Peerfit restructured their team It was a messy process trying to figure out who should be on what team. Some team members were afraid that if they weren’t put on the ‘right’ team, they didn’t feel part of the organization. It is definitely a work in progress. However, Ed set up slack channels to help address concerns and keep people within the organization informed on upcoming changes. Clear communication has been key to helping everyone feel at ease and understanding who is on what team. In the beginning, the AgileThought team gave Peerfit a couple of options that they could implement and the pros and cons of each one.   Mentioned in this Episode: Peerfit.com Ed Buckley (LinkedIn) Christy Erbeck (LinkedIn)   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to [email protected] or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!