One of the most fascinating features of customers in the digital age is their urgency.

They scroll through videos on TikTok very fast, they are used to smartphones that process information speedily, and they quickly move on.

Agile, a way of working that was introduced at Safaricom in 2020, was created with this modern customer in mind.

Under Agile, the aim when attending to customer needs is progress rather than perfection, which means creating a product or service to meet customers’ needs and then improving it on the go.

“Agile encourages us to fail fast, which means we can experiment rapidly with a prototype, put it to test, and if it’s working, we go with it. If it’s not working, we drop it as fast as we can,” says Faith Bogonko, an Agile coach at Safaricom.

She also describes Agile as the best way to break up very complex projects into manageable tasks.

“With co-creation, there is increased learning and ownership by employees,” explains Faith.

Agile has become, in Faith’s words, the company’s secret ingredient.

“It is what sets us apart. It’s our competitive advantage,” she says of the way of working introduced at a time the company was rolling out its new strategic direction to transition from a telco to a technology company.

In the Agile way of working, teams are scrambled to deliver the solutions customers need. The system is based on a manifesto written by a group of software developers in 2001 that has reformed how companies, especially technology companies, work.

Based on four values and 12 principles, the essence of Agile is to redirect companies from the traditional insistence on processes and systems to get people to work together for the ultimate benefit of the customer.

Among the key projects that this way of working helped deliver was the Covid-19 call centre at Safaricom, the M-PESA app and the Hustler Fund.

These services and products were provided to customers faster than they ordinarily would due to the breaking down of silos and increased collaboration of cross-functional teams.

When the new way of working was introduced in 2020, Faith Bogonko was among the first converts.

Faith is a Computer Science graduate who took the long route to join Safaricom. She started as a Customer Care agent taking calls to the 100 number. Two and a half years ago, she applied for a role as an Agile coach.

She intended to influence change from the inside and maximise her experience and knowledge from working in Customer Care and her education as a techie.

“Agile puts the customer at the centre of everything, whether it’s our goals, our structure, our technology, our teams. All the collaboration is customer-driven,” she says.

Agile coaches like Faith support Safaricom in the Agile transformation by coaching, mentoring, training, and facilitating employees. The Agile studio, which comprises a group of Agile coaches, is in the technology department, but its mandate is to support the entire organisation.

To make Agile work, Safaricom learnt from the Kenya Defence Forces how to reorganise its structures to generate synergies.

Employees now work in squads, tribes and centres of excellence to quickly innovate and give value to customers.

An Agile squad is a small team that works together to create and improve a product. Tribes are cross-functional teams that work on a product end-to-end, while Centres of Excellence are departments like Legal and Marketing that support the entire organisation with their expertise.

As they work, squads and tribes focus on solving the customer’s most critical need and then on delivering it as quickly as possible.

To supplement the Agile operating model, Safaricom is also leveraging technology by using automation, artificial intelligence, big data and analytics to improve the customer experience.

“Customers encounter Agile in the customised and unmatched experiences that we offer in our products. In fact, you could say that these products are powered by Safaricom, but really inspired by the customer,” is how Faith sums up Agile at Safaricom.

Watch the video to learn how Safaricom has incorporated the Agile Way of Working to understand customers’ needs.