All project managers probably own the PMBOK and quite possibly Rita’s RMC guides. While all the basic project management fundamentals still apply in a digital marketing environment, below I’ve outlined five mission-critical points to keep in mind when trying to maintain an agile digital setting.
Urgency
How many times does a project manager see the four dreaded letters, “ASAP?” While this tends to be the bane of a project manager’s existence, remember that clients have their own internal priorities that they are addressing. The big things to be careful of here are striking a balance between speed, accuracy, quality, and resource management. Accuracy and quality tend to be at odds with urgency, so proper planning and processes are critical to success. Additionally, resources are fixed in an Agile environment, so verify project priorities continuously.
Originality
We all know the importance unique content plays in SEO efforts. But sometimes there’s a need to step back and question whether what’s being produced is truly valuable to the reader or simply an attempt to optimize or meet some perceived need for deliverables. This is a dangerous game because if readers don’t find the content engaging, what is really being delivered? Even if the search engines like the content, the only guarantee of long-term success is providing value to readers. In other words, don’t produce crap simply to achieve an arbitrary volume of work. Rather, concentrate on…
Engaging Content
Whether it’s written content, banner ads, or a complete website build, one major goal is to be interesting and relevant to the user. Be sure to allot time in the project cycle for research and design, and consider what the goal of each portion of the project is. Is it to provide information? Have the user buy or subscribe to something? Whatever the end goal, this is where a talented team really gets the opportunity to stretch their creative legs. Be sure to give them space to achieve this.
Accuracy
Mortal enemies with urgency if careful process planning is not adhered to, accuracy results from following strict process development steps from project inception to execution. At Launch, projects kick off with an internal Team review of the client. This begins with understanding the client’s goals. From there, scope and deliverables are reviewed and the project is launched in the project management workflow system. Different aspects of the project can either run linearly or in concurrent streams.
So, how does this all lead to better accuracy? Because the same process is strictly followed each and every time. Now it would be a lie to claim that Launch has never broken some processes, but SWOT analysis and design spirals allow for constant improvement in accuracy
Execution
All projects have a probability of completion. In an Agile environment, the time horizons from kickoff to completion are highly compressed. In the digital marketing space, the primary drivers are due to the fact that timelines play right into relevance. For example, New Year’s promotions in January aren’t very relevant. In order to achieve acceptable completion horizons, Launch has a flat management structure. This allows each team member to take on the responsibility of “Direct and Manage” for their respective efforts. This results in every member being their own Subject Matter Expert, allowing direct collaboration across multiple departments.
