If you’ve been a marketing project manager for years, but are looking to take your efficiency to the next level, you may want to consider an Agile marketing approach. Agile marketing is a collaborative method of marketing that involves teams working together to complete high-level projects, analyze the impact, and then make measurable tweaks to improve ongoing results.
Implementing Agile marketing into your day-to-day schedule isn’t all that complicated if you have a plan. To make the transition easier, we put together this guide of what a day in the life of an Agile marketing project manager might look like. You’ll notice an emphasis on the following Agile principles:
- Collaboration – An Agile project manager needs lots of opportunities to communicate with team members and stakeholders.
- Flexibility – You never know what issues or opportunities will arise on a given day.
- Iterative problem-solving – Meetings and task lists aren’t just busywork, but opportunities to learn and improve.
An Average Day for an Agile Project Manager
9:00 am
You arrive at work, ideally refreshed from a good night’s sleep. Begin by taking a look at your calendar to see what is scheduled. This will help you organize your day around any collaborative meetings. You’ll also be able to see if there are any urgent items in your operations request tracker.
9:15 am
This is a good time to check your email to make sure there are no urgent items that need your input. Unfortunately, if you’ve committed to the life of a marketing project manager, there’s a good chance something will have come up overnight.
9:30 am
Use this time to address the urgent issues, so you can get them out of the way. Once you’re done, take a deep breath and return to your scheduled to-do.
10:00 am
Check up on your project sprints. Clean up any outstanding items. For finished projects, conduct a completed work report and get to know the data. See where there’s room for improvement.
10:30 am
Once you’ve finished up your initial morning routine, you’ll usually be faced with a project team meeting. (If you’re really committing to the Agile approach, you may even have transitioned into daily standups – and hopefully they will have made your meetings shorter and more productive!)
As a manager, it’s up to you to review the projects at hand and figure out what has been completed and what still needs to be completed. If everything is on schedule, you’re in luck and can move on to a new project sprint report. If things are off schedule, though, you’ll have to work together to figure out a solution for getting them back on track.
11:00am
Write an email updating all stakeholders about the current sprint project, and everything that was covered in the meeting.
12:00pm
This is a great time to look at older sprints that could use some adjusting for better results. Analyze data on longer term projects to see what’s working and what’s not, then create a plan for improvement. Be sure to track all these results and tweaks, so you can refer to them on future projects.
1:00pm
Head to lunch. But don’t eat at your desk! It’s bad for your mental health and productivity.
Maybe even chit chat with a fellow Agile marketing project manager. You can share ideas and lessons you’ve learned from past projects. Remember: collaboration is key to Agile marketing.
2:00pm
After lunch is a smart time to review production support requests and work with your team to solve the issues.
3:00pm
Yes, it’s time for another meeting. This is a good opportunity to discuss what you’ve learned from your latest project sprints, so you can implement successful tactics moving forward. It will also help you get a better understanding of your team’s capabilities. Be sure to come prepared with meeting points, concrete numbers, and action items.
4:00pm
Help team members with their testing and tasks.
5:00pm
Set up your calendar and to-do list for tomorrow, so you can get started first thing. Be sure to leave the office by 6pm. Too much overtime is not productive and can lead to burnout.
Of course, every Agile marketing project manager’s schedule and timeline is different, but the bulk of the operations are the same: lead sprints, measure results, tweak accordingly, keep teams on track, and communicate with stakeholders.
At Planview AdaptiveWork, we make the Agile marketing process easier with our highly flexible and easy-to-configure collaboration software. Schedule a live demo to learn more.
