After a sumptuous meal on a
Saturday afternoon, the last thing I wanted to do was attend a lecture on agile
development. As I sauntered into the hall, it was fast evident that I was swamped
by seasoned agile practitioners as there was an alarming buzz around the latest
on agile. As a marketer, all I could do was gawk at those around me who
appeared to be speaking Greek and Latin.
The fundamentals of the subject
seemed uncomplicated with those around me engaging the lecturer in relevant and
contextual interactions. While the interactions were on, I would sneak in a
question to my neighbor. Who is a scrum master? What do you mean by Sprint? Elucidating
the concept in a tissue paper, he unexpectedly pointed out, ‘you could apply
agile development in marketing also.’ I made a futile attempt, justifying how
agile methodology could hamper creative and disruptive thinking. It however
didn’t seem to concern him. He continued, ‘The methodology fundamentally involves
breaking down of complex tasks. Agility provides speed, flexibility, continuous
learning, and improvement.’ He paused and turned to me for affirmation but instantly
recognized that I was completely lost. ‘Let’s discuss this during the break,’
he remarked.
As I returned home that evening,
I was envisioning how the marketing function could embrace agile methodologies.
After all, the job of marketers have transformed radically given today’s
digital reality. With the increasing emphasis on data-crunching abilities, the
function is touted more as a science than an art. Copy writing, creative
illustration and client-servicing to name a few skills have a new meaning today
with the infinite scope around client mandates. With the ever increasing number
of digital channels and tools as well as their continuous evolution, the marketing
function needs to rethink their future and should work towards becoming more
agile, iterating much more quickly to adapt to rapidly changing conditions.
My mind began to unravel what my
friend had explained. The marketing team could create a simple road map and
plan in detail those activities that won’t change before execution. The team
members could break the highest-ranked tasks into small modules, decide how
much work the team will take on and how to accomplish it, develop a clear
definition of “done,” and then start creating marketing collateral in short
cycles. The process is transparent to everyone. Team members hold brief daily
“stand-up” meetings to review progress and identify roadblocks. They resolve
disagreements through experimentation and feedback rather than endless debates.
They test the output with a few customers for short periods of time. If
customers get excited, the collateral may be released immediately, even if some
senior executive isn’t a fan, or others think it needs more bells and whistles.
The team then brainstorms ways to improve future cycles and prepares to attack
the next top priority.
1.Marketers who have adopted Agile are seeing
increased business performance due to faster delivery, enhanced focus on the
things that matter, and greater productivity from their teams.
2.The most unexpected benefit is
that employees working in agile environments report a greater overall sense of
satisfaction and pride in their work due to feeling more empowered, greater
clarity in how their role impacts the business, and a more collaborative work
environment.
3.Marketers are better equipped
to handle marketplace challenges and opportunities having built flexibility
into their business operations. This is positioning marketing leaders to
deliver sustainable growth for their companies.
