So Danielle has helpfully briefed us on some of the key advantages and disadvantages of agile marketing.
If you’ve read it and still got this far, you’re probably thinking that agile is worth your consideration right now!
However there are some things to bear in mind before you move on with implementing an Agile approach.
Agile usually works best when a team works on the same project(s) together, and dedicates 100% of its time to Agile. This may not be completely realistic depending on the nature of your business, however it’s something to strive for.
Can you say the following about your company culture?
- It’s open to an experimental approach and is happy for marketing to try new ways of working in order to produce better results.
- It’s open to trial and error.
- Successes are often (if not sometimes) scaled.
- It’s open to change.
- It has open internal communications channels.
Can you say the following about your marketing approach?
- A considerable proportion of our marketing is focused on digital.
- We’re customer centric, rather than product centric.
Can you say the following about your team, or a team within the marketing department? (If not, can you assemble a team that ticks these boxes?)
- The team contains a good mix of skills and backgrounds.
- Everyone on the team is open to trying new things, and not afraid of failure.
- Everyone on the team is open to being transparent about the work they’re doing.
- Everyone on the team is available for daily team meetings (ideally in the same location, although this is not crucial).
If you can say ‘yes’ to all of these, you’ll probably be in a good position to give Agile a try. If not, it’s still possible to try out elements of Agile but you’ll probably find it difficult to go all the way. The best advice, regardless of how ready your team and organisation seem to be, is to start small and then scale following success. This will be the most palatable option for a potentially resistant board, and it’ll mean that any failure is unlikely to have a huge impact on the organisation.
To learn how to implement an agile framework, you can buy our full report. Alternatively, a copy will be made available to all senior marketers who apply to
try one of our Leaders roundtables in the first half of 2017
.
In particular I’d recommend the February roundtable, “the marketing department of the future”. Seems like a great chance to talk Agile, don’t you think?
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