Agile advertising and digital agencies can adapt quickly and flexibly to new developments. Proactivity is another keyword that is often used in the definition of agility. Nevertheless, every change process towards an agile organization raises important questions. Oliver Wüntsch explains what these are and what is needed for a successful agile transformation in the following article.
What are the current challenges for advertising and digital agencies?
Regardless of the industry, committed employees are looking for companies where they can realize their potential and contribute their skills to exciting projects. For example, modern employees expect clear answers to questions such as "Why do I go to work every day?" and "What is our vision?".
On the one hand, companies and managers need to meet the rising expectations of their employees. On the other hand, they need to find creative solutions for their customers' rapidly changing needs ever more quickly. This is because they expect an agency to be familiar with the latest technical possibilities and the wishes of consumers in the respective industry, to understand them and to be able to develop ideas and concepts for them.
Customer expectations in terms of product and service quality are constantly rising. Clever ideas relating to new technologies and innovative application scenarios are therefore in demand, for example in the areas of augmented reality or 3D printing. Agencies must also be able to implement the relevant projects in a timely manner.
The challenge for agencies is therefore to adapt to the ever faster innovation cycles. Those who are unable to keep pace with new ideas and business models will quickly lose out - and with them valuable customers.
Read more about the changing world of work in the age of digitalization here.
Why is agile transformation a promising way to meet these challenges?
In order to remain competitive and expand their success, agencies are required to continuously reinvent themselves and constantly cover new areas of knowledge. An agile structure and independent working methods can be very helpful here. Although the term "agile" has lost some of its meaning due to its almost inflationary use, managers in digital and advertising agencies should nevertheless consider the possibilities of agility for their business.
Agile working methods enable an extremely adaptable approach to the planning and implementation of projects. As customers are continuously involved in the development process of their product - if desired - the focus on results and therefore customer satisfaction is much higher than in conventional project structures. The results are a higher quality end product, fewer missed delivery deadlines and therefore more satisfied customers.
Due to the extensive self-management of employees and project teams, agencies can also save valuable time and capacity, which project managers can use for parallel projects. In addition, employee satisfaction increases. Thanks to the principle of personal responsibility and the associated decision-making power, they identify more strongly with the agency and get more involved.
In the digitalized world, the ability to change represents a significant competitive advantage for organizations. It is important for companies to adapt quickly to changing requirements, keep employees on board and integrate innovations.
Traditional change management is often no longer sufficient for this. Agile transformation can enable companies to continuously adapt and improve their strategies.
What is agile change management and what agile methods are there?
Agile organizations and agile teams are those that act quickly and flexibly in a constantly changing, uncertain environment and create added value for their customers. The mindset of agile working is set out in the form of four requirements in theAgile Manifesto:
- People and their interaction are more important than processes and tools
- Functioning software is more important than documentation
- Cooperation with customers is more important than contract negotiations
- Responding to change is more important than sticking to the plan
Agile approaches, principles and methods can be used in a variety of ways in agency change processes. A suitably qualified coach can help you to convert all of your company's structures to agile. The following are examples of three methods that are based on agile principles and can be used profitably in agencies.
Kanban
The agileKanban method is characterized by its high level of transparency in collaboration. All of the team's task packages - regardless of whether they are those of the managers or the rest of the team - and their status are made visible on a shared Kanban board. The aim is to achieve a consistent workflow in which tasks are prioritized and processed.
Scrum
Scrum is particularly suitable for closed teams working on a project. The Scrum team works in time-limited phases, known as sprints. After each sprint, there is a fully functional version of the product, which is improved and expanded with each sprint.
Lean Thinking
The principles and methods of lean management aim to organize processes more efficiently, i.e. with as little effort and waste as possible. The aim is therefore to reduce costs and shorten processes - for example by reducing unnecessary bureaucracy or errors in processes. At the same time, the aim is to achieve the best possible quality. This continuous improvement process is always focused on the customer. This means that their needs determine what needs to be improved. The aim is always to optimize product and service quality and increase customer satisfaction.
How can agile change management help to successfully shape agile transformation?
In the mission to make an agency more agile and therefore more flexible and customer-oriented, both classic and agile change management methods can be applied. Of course, it makes sense to give preference to agile approaches - but methods of "classic change" do not have to be left out.
As every company is unique, there is no single path to agile success. Instead, it is worth learning from other organizations and adapting their approach to your own situation. In this way, every agency can succeed in promoting gradual change and a culture of continuous improvement.
It is also important not to see change as something that is completed after a certain period of time. Change happens continuously and agile methods are associated with the requirement to try them out and continuously adapt them.
In order not to work blindly, but to recognize successes and discard mistakes, it is important to carry out quantitative measurements of your own work. For example, the responsible managers can determine the success and failure of individual milestones in advance using a scale. This can be used to assess in retrospect whether individual work packages and their outcome have met or fallen short of expectations. Success and failure in marketing can be measured using the reach of campaigns or the number of responses to a mailing, for example. The data collected in this way provides agencies with valuable insights into where improvements need to be made.
Agile change management with the goal of agile transformation of the company succeeds when all employees dare to address potential changes with their managers. Employees who constantly wear the "agile hat" and express their thoughts on which processes could be improved make an effective contribution to the company's success.
Visualization of the work is also essential. This serves to provide everyone involved with an overview of the status of activities. It is also helpful to document processes in a checklist that is gradually expanded. Supporting notes are used to record how certain situations are tackled - for example, the induction of new employees, the division of work during peak times or continuity planning. In this way, the value of this information for the organization is not lost.
You can find more information on how to successfully implement agile change management in your own company in this blog article. If you don't want to be content with just informing yourself, you can also hire an agile coach to support you in your transformation to an agile organization.
What characterizes agile companies?
The use of Scrum or Kanban alone does not make an agile agency. Instead, all agile approaches require critical analysis and step-by-step implementation. Furthermore, the path to agility does not start with the approaches and methods, but with the foundation of agile working: the working and thinking culture. After all, agility is a comprehensive culture and way of thinking, the implementation of which requires a uniform understanding of agility among all those involved.
Agencies that adopt an agile management approach have the ability to react flexibly, proactively and adaptably to change or to proceed in this way in order to introduce necessary changes. In this way, agile models support companies in finding their way and proving themselves in the increasingly complex business world. Agile working methods, which are designed to break up "encrusted" structures, are widespread in many such companies. This applies to project management, but also to the entire company management, i.e. the executives. Instead of rejecting change, they welcome it and create space for fast, efficient processes. Changes are not initiated by the management level, but by the employees. Scrum or Kanban, for example, are used for this at project level.
Agile organizations are dynamic, not static, in their corporate organization. They are subject to constant change processes and adapt flexibly to internal and external requirements. The corporate structure is characterized by flat hierarchies and self-organization as well as a particular proximity to the customer and iterative processes.
What are the advantages of agile change management over traditional change management?
Agencies need the ability to adapt flexibly in order to cope with the ever faster demands on markets and products as well as increasing customer requirements. Although change is also the goal of classic change management, it takes place in a context of stability and predictability. Change is seen as something that needs to be overcome as quickly as possible. The task of this type of change management is to make the turbulent phase between the initial state and the target state as short as possible.
The agile approach, on the other hand, does not recognize permanent stability. This is replaced by a state of constant testing and trial and error. The new normality is a permanent process of adapting to the uncertain environment.
The ideal agile change process
Step 1: Communication to employees
As soon as the cornerstones of a change story have been developed, it is important to approach the agency's employees with it. To do this, you should think carefully beforehand about how this should be communicated. For example, it is important to consider whether it is sufficient for managers to present the message or whether a joint kick-off workshop makes more sense. However, there should always be a clear starting signal with a wow effect. Employees should get the feeling that they are embarking on an exciting journey together.
Step 2: Create a basic understanding of agile transformation
Everyone in the company should have a basic knowledge of agile principles and methods, why they are important and how agility works. Blended learning concepts, for example, can be used to spread this knowledge and a feeling for what is involved in day-to-day implementation.
Step 3: Spread the agile mindset
An agile mindset in the company is a prerequisite for the success of agile methods. After all, there should already be a good error and feedback culture when it comes to working with prototypes. This can also be achieved in parallel: During agile work, an agile mindset gradually develops.
Step 4: Convert individual projects to agile methods
In order to implement agile methods at project level, it is important to think in advance about which tasks are suitable for working with agile methods. This includes less routine activities than tasks with a project character whose requirements are still unclear and for which it still needs to be clarified which methodology should be used.
Step 5: Use agile tools and methods in all teams
This step is not about converting all projects 100 percent to agile. Instead, you should try to apply at least individual agile elements everywhere. The aim is for all employees in all areas of the agency to develop the feeling that the way they work is changing sustainably.
Step 6: Introduce agile structures
Agile structures are characterized by their project and customer orientation. Employees and work teams are no longer managed top-down, but are connected to each other in a network. The teams are interdisciplinary and employees with different skills work together on a project or customer - even if they have different responsibilities.
Step 7: Establish networks
In order for the agile mindset to become more established, people in the organization need to be networked. The positive effect: the flow of information and working at eye level are improved and employees take on more personal responsibility. For example, it can be useful to bring together people from different departments who see a specific need for action (e.g. the need for a new process) in a self-organized working group.
Step 8: Develop a suitable personnel strategy
Especially if the company has previously followed clear hierarchies and rules, it is important that the HR department also recognizes the needs of agile change. It is important to actively look for new employees who already think agile and have experience with self-organization.
Step 9: Make successes visible and celebrate them
To keep employees up to date, you should ask yourself how and where you can best reach them. Where can the team and customers see that changes towards agile working are taking place in the company and that things are going well? Whether via LinkedIn, Facebook, a content hub or the company intranet - there are many options.
What requirements (readiness) should be met?
Internal awareness of the topic and the will to change are essential for agile change processes. Even if the former requires the latter, both are necessary to get all employees on board. A culture of mutual trust is also essential, within which there is room for individual creativity and initiative as well as room for mistakes.
The key to agile success is therefore managers who want change and who trust their employees, who give them the freedom to experiment with change and who support their team at critical moments. The second step depends on the employees. They should be curious and willing to experiment, think outside the box and also have stamina and a certain tolerance for frustration. People who want to develop ideas further and are capable of turning them into reality in a laborious process of trial and error are ideal.
