Training

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