Mention Communication—Think Organisation: Agile Communication in the Digital Era

This chapter draws on the discrepancy between new technological possibilities of communication and existing obsolete organisational structures. Hence, the author promotes a set of guiding principles towards a new agenda for agile communications and organisations. New technologies may encourage new forms of communication. However, as long as they are embedded in organisational structures developed in the early twentieth century, they will not unleash their full potential. While traditional organisational structures were built on principles such as planning and control accompanied by the perception of an “unwilling worker’s attitude”, new forms of organisation build more on the belief in individual motivation and creativity. As a consequence, strict rules should be replaced by empowering principles, as already demonstrated by small organisations such as successful start-ups. The author offers a list of ten guiding principles supporting self-organisation and self-responsibility, transparency, trust, openness and sincerity as well as trustfulness for future-oriented agile forms of communication and organisation.