Agile Marketing tricks that worked for my team
The Agile Manifesto, which popularised several agile methodologies as an alternative to the traditional waterfall systems, is turning 20 this year!
The positive response from the software development companies and the increase in the number of project management software available made Scrum, Kanban, and Scrum-ban indispensable across various business functions. With new tools to organise, visualise and report their activity in line with the terms, ceremonies and rituals dictated by agile methodologies, most marketing teams have started experimenting with these new ways of working.
I say experimenting because I have rarely encountered teams that followed all practices and ceremonies. After a few iterations, most of them adapted the processes to suit their individual needs.
This article is not a recipe for success that every team can replicate, but a collection of agile tricks myself and the teams I’ve belonged to found them helpful and might be worth trying.
How it all started
During my time at IBM, I was introduced to this marketing world where agile was at the forefront, and I understood why. I did more than understanding it. I became a champion of it. Visibility, increased engagement, collaboration, a safe space for feedback and continuous improvements, what’s not to like?
My enthusiasm took a hit when despite preaching the benefits and showing real success stories, change was not easy to implement. Adopting a new way of working requires trust, team members committed to removing an existing pain point, achieving a goal that’s been unreachable in the past and lots of patience.
What worked for my teams
After some time spent figuring out what worked best for our team (mainly through trial and error), we ended up with this list of practices that resonated with us:
- Slack stand-up: after a few stand-ups that took way longer than needed, my team piloted written stand-ups. It gave everyone the chance to organise their thoughts, and it meant fewer interruptions as you could do it anytime before 11 AM.
- Retrospective: whether you’re doing Scrum or not, at least every once in a while, get together with your team and discuss your collaboration, what goes well, what could be improved and agree to implement changes.
- Servant leadership: change won’t happen from thin air, and teams need leadership support throughout the process.
- Board hygiene is everyone’s job: let’s not look at the scrum master, product owner to create and update cards, list, or tasks! Similarly, only editing the board before a stakeholder meeting isn’t helping the team be more efficient.
Like many of us, when it comes to agile, I’m still learning. If you know any tips or tricks that made your life or your colleagues’ lives easier, share them with everyone in the comments section!