Finding Better Ways: The Atlanta Fed's Agility Journey

Just as Henry Ford reorganized automobile production to speed the assembly of vehicles, the Atlanta Fed pursues organizational agility to foster efficient operational systems in an era of accelerating change.

Ford is credited with creating the moving assembly line, which lowered the time and cost of production. Although the approach has become standard in many manufacturing plants over the past 112 years, Ford Motor Company-the same company that introduced the innovation-announced in August 2025 that it had redesigned the assembly line to make the assembly process 15 percent faster.

"When we talk about being more agile as an organization, we're talking about eliminating barriers to action," said Shacresa Fletcher, an Atlanta Fed project management expert serving as the Bank's chief internal consultant on change management. "We are transforming the way we work, transforming our mindset about change and the way we approach change."

The Atlanta Fed embraces a philosophy of seeking constant improvements in its mission to strengthen the regional economy and the communities that make up the economy. By engaging the concept of continuous participatory change, the Bank intends to be prepared for the challenges and opportunities presented by new technology and regulations, all the while being a responsible steward of public resources.

"We have a core operating system that allows us to lean into best practices around decision-making, how we meet, how we organize around work," said Jennifer Gibilterra, an Atlanta Fed vice president and corporate secretary to the Bank's board of directors. The Fed has a history of taking a cautious approach since the work the central bank does intersects with people's financial lives-from making sure they receive a direct deposit to supervising their bank to make sure their savings aren't at risk. But caution doesn't mean intransigence.

For example, the Fed consolidated its check processing operation to remove some of the costs and delays involved with processing and transporting checks. The Fed initiated the downsizing in December 2001, when it presented Congress with a proposal to authorize the use of electronically produced substitute checks, a law now widely known as Check 21. Congress enacted similar legislation in 2003 and President George W. Bush signed the act into law that October. Since 2010, the Atlanta Fed has been the only Reserve Bank that processes paper checks, down from 45 locations in 2003.

The operating system Gibilterra referenced traces its heritage to a review the Atlanta Fed's strategic planning team had started in 2018. Michelle Duke, the Atlanta Fed's director of financial management and member of the strategic planning team that guided the review, said the time was ripe to review the Bank's operating system in place across the Sixth District, which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

"We were in a healthy economy, welcoming a new president, and it felt like the perfect moment to reflect on our future direction across the entire District," Duke said. "Our prior strategic plan was built around business areas. The new plan was designed around District-wide operational goals, something we could all contribute to, including organizational agility. This was the transformational change we identified for ourselves. The tools we continue to learn and implement are now deeply embedded in our DNA."

The centerpiece of the operating system is an organizational structure that fosters agility in how people approach work. The Bank's method relies less on hierarchical control, with its chains of command and ossified procedure, and instead promotes nimble decision making. The specific means of doing this include increasing access to information, encouraging active participation in developing ideas, and empowering employees to make prudent decisions, Fletcher said.

The Miami Branch of the Atlanta Fed illustrated the concept of agility in action when planning for a new piece of equipment in the cash processing facility. One question involved whether to select a motorized conveyor belt or a system of rollers on a worktable to help move cash bundles. Rather than having managers make that decision, the entire team of staff and leadership collaborated to discuss pros and cons of a belt versus rollers. The group decided collectively that rollers were a failsafe solution and selected a plan for a worktable with rollers along the center.

Shawn Gorrell, an Atlanta Fed director of innovation and agility, summed up the Bank's managerial approach as intended to facilitate nimble, non-hierarchical decision-making: "Organizations have to build adaptability into their DNA."