Organizational flexibility in times of crisis
Flexibility, ability to adapt and react fast to the changing demands and environment are no novelty but the current market situation related to COVID-19 pushes every organization to the limits. Luckily for us, we have always stood our ground saying that agility is the key to our business success and it pays off now when our clients need a reliable and trusted partner who can switch priorities fast and respond to their objectives without blocking their business plans.
At Appunite, approximately 100 people work at the moment and this number is growing. On a daily basis, it is sometimes hard to spot if the flexibility of our software development company is on the right track but in situations such as the current one, we can test our approach.
When the COVID-19 crisis began, one of our clients, Zumba, came to us with an immediate matter. Zumba® is the largest branded fitness company in the world – reporting more than 15 million weekly participants, in 200,000 locations, across 186 countries. Zumba® blends contagious world rhythms with easy-to-follow choreography for an effective workout that empowers participants to become their best selves - mind, body and soul.Due to the social distancing and closure of fitness facilities their business faced a serious challenge.
In terms of protecting their instructors and maintaining Zumba classes in the time of the pandemic, they had an idea to develop a mobile application that serves as a tool that allows instructors to set up and host livestream classes in which the participants could join from their home. In a normal situation, there would be plenty of time for organizational matters between us and the client, but this was an emergency call that required immediate attention and action. So we rolled up our sleeves and got to work. We have a long business relationship with Zumba and we couldn’t leave our partner in need.
What was the result? In no time, have we built the team, planned work, set communication and we were ready to go. Graphic designs, development, testing and deployment.
How did we manage to do so?
Agility
Our key to staying flexible is agile management. In project management (here you can read more about it) as well as in day to day operations.
Quick reaction and change of priorities · Fasten work planning to ensure delivery of a new product · Reorganization of the team in just a couple of days
Teamwork
A term that is often used as a buzzword. But in our case, it makes all the difference. We put a lot of focus on that matter because only when a team solves problems collectively, it generates more productivity and can react and act faster in terms of any challenge or change. In SaaS development company like Appunite, it is crucial.
Additional meetings to synchronize clients and our teams · Team partition into small workgroups that work simultaneously on different parts of an application
Mindset
In our opinion, software development services are not just about checking off the tasks from the list. Instead, we focus on what’s truly important for a client's business. This way, we are more eager to change priorities fast without a feeling of our plan falling apart.
Concentration and understanding of the situation · Despite numerous changes, a team made an effort to keep their morale and effectiveness boosted
Summary
The result of those efforts is a brand new member of Zumba’s mobile apps family - “ZIN Studio™” that lets Zumba® instructors host livestream classes! You can check it out on Google Play and the App Store.
The times are challenging for many organizations and like never before it is important to have someone who will be there for you and help you adapt and respond to the market needs swiftly. If you need help adapting your services or products to the current market situation, write to us and describe your problem. We’ll do what we can to help with web and mobile app development for the startup you run or the enterprise you work for. Stay safe!
