Where does the "Agile" in Agile Marketing come from?

• Through this manifesto better ways of developing software were found:
• Individuals and interactions instead of processes and tools
• Working software instead of comprehensive documentation
• Cooperation with the customer instead of contract negotiations
• Flexible planning instead of rigid planning

The Agile Manifesto also includes other "12 Principles of Agile". The Agile Manifesto has thousands of users and it is hard to find a development team that does not use at least 95 percent of these agile principles.

Following this formal definition, many of the existing project management frameworks have been transformed. Methods like Scrum, Kanban, Scrumban, DSDM, XP and many others are considered applications of the agile methodology because they comprehensively reflect the values and principles of the Agile Manifesto.

What are Scrum, Kanban and Scrumban?

The waterfall project management approach

In order to understand Scrum better, one must first understand the term "waterfall" - although managed it is the project management approach most often used by marketing teams.

The waterfall methodology is characterized by breaking projects down into segments, sequential milestones where a segment can only be started when the previous one is completed. In the waterfall model, before the project starts, tasks are assigned to individuals and/or teams and the progress of the project is recorded in a Gantt chart, while each milestone must be reached.

This classic approach is not bad, but works better in areas such as construction, manufacturing, and repeatable services, because the rigidity of this model is limited in its ability to work and be applied in a changing field such as marketing.

There are two major dangers when the waterfall model is applied in marketing:

The gathering of requirements

The waterfall model expects a customer to know exactly what he wants and to do so in the early stages of planning and development. This quickly became the crux of the matter for software developers. Asking a customer what the requirements for the software are is good, but the resulting software will change several times. This is very difficult to implement with the waterfall model and is also time-consuming and demoralizing for the team working on the project.

Timelines

Waterfall models usually have a timeline, which is measured in months or years. Large marketing campaigns usually have a timeline of at least 6 months. In such long timelines, the planning and delivery phases are separated by a further time span. During this long period of processing, many things change - whether you like it or not. A waterfall model unfortunately does not take these changes well. Often, work that has already been completed has to be discarded and you find yourself in earlier segments of the project.

The waterfall model costs marketing teams or marketers too much time until the campaign or other project can be brought to market or to the customer.

Scrum – ein Agile Framework

Scrum is an agile framework developed by development teams and is one of the most popular agile work management practices. Scrum is based on the idea that fast, focused sprint teams are more flexible, iterative and agile than top-down approaches such as the waterfall model. In the Scrum framework a small team (3-7 people) plans short bursts or sprints of work. Sprints typically range from one to three weeks and consist of a certain number of tasks and subtasks selected by the agile team from a backlog of tasks and requests.

The team then works together to complete all tasks in the sprint to produce and test at least one minimally viable product (MVP) (the goal of the sprint). Daily Scrum meetings, supported by a Scrum master, provide a suitable framework for the team to discuss progress, dependencies and potential roadblocks. At the end of each sprint, the team holds a sprint retrospective meeting to discuss what worked well and less well in that sprint.

The next sprint is then planned based on internal and external feedback. The entire Scrum framework repeats itself with a strong focus on continuous improvement and with the next release, the next improved iteration of the MVP.

Kanban - the Japanese agile framework

Kanban is a Japanese word that translates as sign or billboard. In the 1950s, Toyota developed a system to improve manufacturing efficiency. This system used visual markers to record resources, thus eliminating queuing in production manufacturing. Toyota called this system "Kanban".

In essence, Kanban is an agile framework that depends on visual queues. This means that demand comes before supply. In summary, the idea of the Kanban process can be expressed by a proverb:

"If there is a hole to fill, fill it, otherwise stop shoveling."

Kanban quickly became ubiquitous in the manufacturing industry and is now an integral part of Just-In-Time (JIT) and Lean Manufacturing. Later on, Kanban was adapted by software developers to their processes and was thus added to the list of agile practices. Kanban consists of a central storyboard with sticky notes (or a digital equivalent), which represent valuable items - often called stories. The board is divided into columns (also called swimlanes), based on a team backlog, that indicate different progress statistics, including "in progress" and "completed". The team determines so-called WIPS (work in progress limits) based on the available working time and only displays work points in the "in progress" column if the WIP allows it.

It is very important to note that Kanban is not subject to any deadlines or time regulations, such as Scrum, because the work is continuously added to the Kanban board. Thus, when processing tasks, you move along the columns until the work points are completed.

Modified Scrum – the Agile Lite approach

Modified Scrum is a kind of "Agile Lite" approach that most project and marketing teams find more suitable for their workflows and needs based on its adaptability. This approach allows marketers to add elements of the waterfall model - very specific deadlines and project milestones - to the Scrum framework. This is done by using the storyboard and swimlanes of the Kanban, if desired. Because Scrum meetings, backlogs and priorities are as useful for a marketing team as they are for a development team.

Sprints or iterations, in their purest form, are not always the right way for marketing teams. That's why most marketing teams decide to plan a project in a waterfall model first and then translate that into a more visual and agile approach.

The Agile Terminology

Agile and Scrum - Terms and definitions

Scrum

An agile framework in which a small team works as a unit to achieve a common goal. The contrast to a traditional sequential project management approach. Invented by software developers. In practice Scrum is mostly used in the modified version -modified Scrum- by Agile Marketers.

Backlog

An ever-expanding list of work requirements, tasks or subtasks assigned to an Agile Marketing team. Backlog tasks are often called "stories". These are prioritized by due dates, hours and/or task items.

Sprint

One, two or three weeks (usually) during which an Agile Marketing team works together to complete a predetermined list of tasks/stories from the backlog.

History

A high-level definition of a work request, project task or subtask. Each story is assigned a score based on the estimated number of hours of work. Requests, requirements, tasks or projects are converted into stories before being integrated into a sprint by backlog.

Epic

An overarching initiative that spans multiple stories and can span many sprints. In agile marketing, a multi-stage campaign could be called an Epic.

Storypoints

A treasure unit which is assigned to a story (tasks or groups of subtasks). Points usually correspond to hours. Agile marketing teams, however, create a point system that measures the complexity and hours required to complete a story.

Storyboard

A visualization of the work derived from a Kanban. Storyboards are usually created manually, with whiteboard and sticky notes or digitally in work management solutions. A storyboard consists of at least three columns (also called swimlanes) that show the progress of the work in a sprint or several sticky notes that represent the individual stories in a sprint. The cards are moved across the board in the storyboard to show the progress in a sprint.

Swimlanes

Columns that divide a storyboard into different states. Typical swimlane names are, from left to right, "New", "In progress", "Waiting for approval" and "Finished". Sticky notes show the progress in the swimlanes during a sprint.

Kanban

A visual work management approach that uses storyboards, swimlanes and WIPs to ensure that resources, demand and supply are balanced.

Roles in the Scrum approach

Scrum Master

The Scrum Master filters the tasks an Agile Marketing team receives, manages the backlog and facilitates all Scrum meetings. This role is not necessarily a leadership role. In fact, it can be a rotating role that anyone in the Agile team can be given once. The Scrum Master handles the "How" of a project.

Projekt Owner

This is called the product owner in Agile Development and project owner in Agile Marketing. This person is the leader of the team. This role is often filled by a CMO, director or manager. The project owner oversees the "what" of a project. Often, however, the assignment of this role is unnecessary in Agile Marketing.

Requester / Customer

These are also often referred to as clients. The client is an applicant. A requester can be internal, external, individual or group. These people are stakeholders in the project requested by the Agile Marketing team.

Team member

A team member is anyone who makes an individual contribution to the Agile Marketing team. This includes the Scrum Master. One person can be a team member of several Agile Marketing teams.

Scrum Meetings

Sprint planning meeting

This meeting will be held a few days, or at most a few hours before the sprint

What happens in the meeting?

• Scoring/prioritization of backlog items
• Determination of individual and team availability
• Determine the items that the sprint will contain
• Distribution of certain tasks within the team (usually on a voluntary basis)
• Setting the goals for this sprint

Sprint Review

A meeting held at the end of a sprint to review the "what" (which work was addressed).

What happens in the meeting?

• Inviting the product owners and stakeholders
• Presentation of the results/progress of the sprint
• PowerPoint presentations are not allowed!

Daily Standup oder Daily Scrum

A quick meeting (<10min), which is held at the beginning of each day in a sprint.

In this meeting each member of the team shares:

• What was done the day before
• What will be done today
• the obstacles they face

Sprint Restrospective

A short meeting (<1h), which takes place soon, after or in conjunction with the Sprint Review, to review the "How" of the Sprint.

What happens in the meeting?

• Comparison of projected and actual results
• Discussion of the setbacks and successes
• Setting targets to improve future sprints
• Discussion of the functioning and non-functioning activities
• Making relevant adjustments to improve the next sprint

Preparations for Agile Marketing

The implementation of Agile and the introduction of a Modified Scrum approach in the company requires significant changes, also in the way a team sees and organizes its own work. So what must be done to ensure that nothing stands in the way of implementing Agile in your own company?

Securing the leadership buy-in

Without the buy-in from the management of the company, it will be difficult to get the necessary support to make Agile work.

Getting the team on board

If the team cannot understand the added value of acting agile, it will be hard to win them over. The value of an Agile approach to their own work must be perfectly clear to the team. The team members should be involved in the decision making process. In the case of resistant team members, one should understand their concerns and help them to find a role in the Agile process that matches their skills and, more importantly, their personality.

Composition of teams and distribution of roles

The ideal Agile team size is between 3 and 7 people. One person is assigned the role of Scrum Master - here it should be noted that this can also be a rotating role. Assignment of the project owner. In the best case a person to whom progress is already reported. If the Agile Team becomes larger than 7 persons, it can be split into smaller teams again.

Agile Marketing team formations:

Creative Service Team

With this team composition, smaller Agile teams should be built based on the different solutions that support them:

• A team that only deals with marketing automation
• A team that deals with CRM and the project management solution

Cross-functional product marketing team

With this team composition, smaller Agile teams should be built based on the different solutions that support them:

• A team that only deals with marketing automation
• A team that deals with CRM and the project management solution

Marketing Operation Team

This team focuses on a specific target market. A product marketing team with several smaller target markets is ideally composed of small agile teams consisting of a content marketer, sales enablement specialist and market analyst.

Each team works only on the projects and enquiries that are relevant to its own target market and each individual in the team works only on its part of the project.

This team formation is the least agile. However, it can be an option as it is more effective and efficient than traditional team formations.

Planning desired workflows

Before you can start using the Agile methods and processes, it is important to map the lifecycle of your own work and make the necessary changes so that Scrum can be integrated into the workflow without problems. From the request to the delivery, you determine yourself which path your projects will take and what these paths contain.

Development of interdepartmental coordination

To ensure continuous collaboration with other non-agile departments and/or projects, a way must be found to ensure visibility and communication within these distributed teams. To achieve this, a standard process for the submission of work requests and real-time visibility of the project status for all teams must be created. If the work is managed by a software solution, it must be able to manage both agile and traditional projects.

Creation of a standardized requirements process 

A single process must be developed to provide the Agile team with all relevant work requirements.

To ensure that no requests disappear or slip through and that all work is prioritized for future sprints, it must be clear from the outset that incorrectly submitted requests will end up in the backlog. No matter if they are submitted via an online form, a shared table, an email to the Scrum master/product owner or a request queue that it transfers to the work management system.