
Jim is an engaging and highly knowledgeable instructor. Following his training sessions staff were quick to apply their learnings. They are happily on the Agile journey, going from “doing” to “being” Agile. Jim’s ability to understand and customize to his client’s needs and to listen to staff made his sessions all the more compelling.
Susan Cline, Executive Director Marketing and Communications, NAIT
I have created two standard classes for Agile Marketing. The two-day certification class is designed for individual contributors and first line managers. The one-day Agile Marketing for Leaders class is designed for Directors and above.
Both classes are available onsite or as synchronous online (Zoom) classes. If done as a Zoom class, the class will be broken down into 2-hour or 4-hour segments over several days.
For pricing information and available dates, please contact me.
Agile Marketing Certification Class
This class is designed for individual contributors and first line managers. Certification on completion of this course is provided by the International Consortium for Agile. The learning outcomes for this course can be found here: https://www.icagile.com/Business-Agility/Operating-with-Agility/Agility-in-Marketing
I’ve delivered this course many times and the average rating is 4.9 out of 5 stars.
Here is the Agenda:
Session 1 – Introduction, Alignment & Structure
What is Agile Marketing? Values, process and benefits
Why Agile Marketing? And why in your organization?
The concept of the Six Disciplines and Four Shifts
Discipline 1 – Alignment
Exercise 1 – Find Your Why
Discipline 2 – Structure
How most marketing teams are structured today
The benefits of Cross-functional teams
Exercise: the pizza game
Homework – Alignment conversations
Homework – Alignment Poster
Session 2: Scrum for Marketers
Basics, scrum terminology
User Stories, tasks and delivery increments
Exercise: write some user stories
Sprint planning
Daily Standups
Sprint Reviews
Sprint Retrospectives
Evolving Scrum
Homework: Hold a Sprint Planning session
Session 3: Kanban and Scrumban for Marketers
Introduction to Kanban
Visualize the workflow
Limit work in process (WIP)
Measure and optimize flow
Make process policies explicit
Implement feedback loops
Improve collaboratively
Introduction to Scrumban
Mashup or methodology?
Evolving Scrum using Kanban practices
Homework – add WIP limits and process policies to your Kanban board
Homework – decide which are you going to use: Scrum, Kanban or Scrumban
Session 4: Validated Learning
The importance of iteration
The importance of tempo
Organizing a validated learning team
Building and prioritizing a validated learning backlog
Exercise: build your first validated learning backlog
Homework: Get at least 1 test running
Session 5: Adapting to Change and your first Retrospective
Disaster preparedness
Opportunity preparedness
Adapting to changes in the marketplace
Responding to competitive challenges
Exercise: ROAM and the Risk assessment model
Exercise: Your first retrospective
Homework: Create a retrospective results poster
Session 6: Creating Remarkable Customer Experiences and Review of Validated Learning progress
Marketing as the steward of the customer experience
Building customer experience teams
Exercise: Documenting a customer journey
Homework: Get at least 2 tests running and create a plan for what would it take to run 5 tests per week
Session 7: The Four Shifts and your second Retrospective
What are the shifts in beliefs and behaviors that help Agile marketing teams get the most out of their Agile implementation? Here are four:
Shift from a focus on outputs to a focus on outcomes
Shift from a campaign mentality to a mentality of continuous improvement
Shift from an internal focus to a customer focus
Shift from top-down decision making to decentralized decision making
Exercise: second retrospective
Session 8: Sustaining Agile Marketing and Your Custom Adoption Plan
Sustaining Agile Marketing
⁃ Relentless improvement
⁃ Radical transparency
⁃ Focus on outcomes
⁃ Embedding Agile in the culture
The 12-week adoption plan
Exercise: How are you going to adopt Agile marketing? What’s your plan (on a napkin)?
Agile Marketing for Leaders Course
This course is designed for directors or higher. The specific intent is to cover the organizational challenges in implementing Agile Marketing, including how to avoid some of the most difficult change management issues.
The agenda for the course is as follows:
Session 1 – Introduction to Agile Marketing
Module 1 – The What and the Why
What is Agile Marketing? Values, process and benefits
Why Agile Marketing? And why in your organization?
The concept of the Six Disciplines and Four Shifts
Exercise 1 – Find Your Organization’s Why
Module 2 – Alignment
Why alignment is critical
Exercise: Alignment conversations
Module 3 – Structure
How most marketing teams are structured today
The benefits of Cross-functional teams
Ways to organize cross-functional teams
Homework: Should you try a cross-functional team? If so, what does that look like?
Session 2 – Applying Scrum, Kanban and Scrumban to Marketing (leader’s perspective)
Module 4 – User Stories, Deliverables, and Delivery Increments
How marketers write and use user stories
Deliverables and delivery increments
Exercise: write some user stories
Module 5 – Replacing Campaigns
Why campaigns don’t work
The portfolio approach to replacing campaigns
Continuous Improvement
Validated learning
Exercise: the marketing model canvas
Session 3 – The Four Shifts
Introduction to the Four Shifts
The importance of the four shifts in cultivating an Agile mindset
Module 6 – From Outputs to Outcomes
The importance of shifting the mindset from outputs to outcomes
The relationship of customer behaviors to outcomes
How to blend business outcomes with marketing outcomes
Exercise: Identifying your initial set of outcomes
Module 7: From an Internal Focus to Customer Focus
Getting beyond “happy talk” customer focus
Customer Journeys and touch points
Exercise: Identifying critical customer journeys
Marketing’s role in working with other parts of the organization
Exercise: Next steps and commitment
Session 4 – Leadership in an Agile Organization
Module 8 – Intent-Based Leadership
Introduction to Intent-based Leadership by David Marquet
Establishing Clarity – guidelines and tools
Building Competence – three areas of focus for marketers
- Business thinking
- Risk assessment and mitigation
- Influence without authority
Embedding de-centralized decision making into the culture
Exercise: Implementation plan and commitment to de-centralized decisions
Do you still offer this class? Any near Madison WI?
I’m offering Agile marketing certification class in Atlanta July 26-27. After that, we’ll probably offer a class in San Francisco this Fall. You can find classes on AgileDad.com