When would you say the best time to adopt a total work culture transformation would be? During a period of relative economic calm where you can change at your own pace and on your own terms? Or, when the world is about to be thrown into a time of unfathomable turmoil, the likes of which anyone of today’s working age will never have seen?
Direct Line Group somehow picked the latter. “You couldn’t make it up,” says Mark Evans, managing director of marketing and digital at the insurer. “So soon after we triggered [agile], we have a pandemic reaching the shores of the UK and we’re all working from home within 48 hours.”
To suggest that Direct Line switched from a standard working culture to an agile one in a couple of days is an exaggeration. In fact, the company had been dipping a toe in agile for several years, albeit limited to a separate digital silo.