This document discusses how Mediacurrent, a digital agency, has adopted an agile approach out of necessity to better meet client needs. It outlines the benefits of the agile model, including increased revenue, better cash flow, and improved morale. It also addresses how pivoting an agency to agile requires aligning roles, creating a measurement culture, and redefining terms. The overall message is that agile has positively impacted Mediacurrent by allowing them to iterate quickly based on client feedback and adapt to changing requirements.

1. How We Win With Agile
Pantheon Partner Day

2. | 2
Today’s Team
Adam Kirby
Director of Marketing
Paul Chason
Managing Partner

3. | 3
Today’s Agenda
I. About Mediacurrent
II. Agile by Necessity
III. Running an Agile Agency Model
IV. The Impact of Agile on Mediacurrent
V. When Agile Won’t Work
VI. What Agile Changes in an Agency
VII. How to Pivot to Agile

4. | 4
Who We Are
Mediacurrent is a full-service digital agency that
implements world class open source software
development, strategy, and design to achieve
defined goals for enterprise organizations
seeking a better return on investment.

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What We Do
● Drupal since 2007
● Atlanta, GA HQ, with global reach
● 80+ full-time experts
● Top 5 contributor to Drupal.org
● 10+ Agile Scrum Certified Product Owners
● Clients are large enterprise high-profile, global
brands
Strategy
DesignSupport
Training Development

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Agile by Necessity

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Clients Don’t Like Being in the Dark
Photo by Alan Cabello from Pexels
“I want to be able to tap you on the
shoulder at the end of the day to find
out what you did.”

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● Most clients don’t know precisely what they need.
● They’re looking to us for advice.
● The discovery process continues beyond the
formal discovery phase.
● Shifting concerns, stakeholders and tech fit a
goal-based model better.
Focusing on Goals, Not Deliverables

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Ad-hoc SOW’s Kill Momentum

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How Can Skeptics Be Convinced?
Educate buyers early.
Use analogies for those who have difficulty grasping abstract concepts.
Progress doesn’t have to look “finished”.
Deliverables are mile markers toward goals.
If you aren’t measuring often, you’re often not evolving with your market.

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Market Validation
93%
Of CMOs who employ
Agile practices say
their speed to market
for ideas, campaigns,
and products has
improved. (Forbes/CMG
Partners)
Of senior execs agree
that "organizational
agility" is essential to
achieve digital
transformation.
(Achieving Greater Agility,
Forbes Insights, 2017)
Of CMOs said making
the switch to Agile
helped them deliver a
better product that’s
more relevant to their
end user. (Forbes/CMG
Partners)
Of 100k international
surveyed software
developers use Agile
in their work. (Developer
Survey Results, Stack
Overflow, 2018)
80%84%86%

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Agile Agency Model

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Reality
● Iterate until budget is consumed.
● Detailed planning at start
ensures alignment.
● Demo-able progress at end of
each sprint.
Doing This Right?
Textbook
● No detailed plan before starting.
● Iterate until Stakeholder
requirements are met.
● Demo-able software at end of
each sprint.
VS

14. | 14
We’re building a house with features that
are constantly being improved based on
the needs of the resident.

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Agile Roles & Stakeholders
Educate newbies
Ensure everyone understands
their responsibilities
Clarify roles early and often
Product Owner
Digital Strategist ScrumMaster
Project Manager
Team & Stakeholders
Design/Development
Client Stakeholders

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Reduce Communication Chaos
Identify Stakeholder Backups
Facilitating Communication is
Key
Teach Effective Documentation

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Initiative
Must-haves
Client-signed sprint plan and
demo approvals
Open, intentional
communication
Retrospectives & optimization

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Agile’s Impact on Mediacurrent

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Increased Deal Flow
Less time for SOW preparation.
Requirements gathering and estimation isn’t painstakingly detailed.
Reduced engagement risk.
Conducive to long-term relationships.

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Waterfall
● Fixed fee
● Long planning cycle
● Variable revenue
● Intense resource planning
● Disproportionate risk
● Directionally bound
Agile
● Short planning cycles
● No overburn
● Even resource and financial forecasting
● Recurring revenue
● Consistent communication
● Spend more, get more
Better Cash Flow
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
RISK
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun

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Production Team Likes Agile More
Work is validated earlier and often.
Less guesswork related to direction and expectations.
Tasks are carved out in smaller chunks.

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Impact on Marketing
Reduced Risk
Increase Speed to Market
The Ability to Say “Yes, but…”
Transparency in Marketing & Other Teams
Rapid Testing

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Impact on Marketing
VS
Research Write Design
Idea
MVPReview
Iterate
Iterative Content Production

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Agile Can Go Sideways

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Agile Won’t Work When...
● There’s an unequipped client.
● Stakeholders are missing.
● KPI’s don’t exist.
● Too many projects per team member.
● Unclear project scope.
● The agency can’t take off the catcher’s mitt.

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How Agile Can Change the Agency

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Agile Changes the Game
Creating more
revenue capacity
Swimming
upstream
Not just a
“shop”
Predictability
Speed to market Morale Transparency

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Pivoting Your Agency to Agile

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● Assign Product Owner and
Scrum Master roles.
● Asses and update job
descriptions and career
paths.
● Jumpstart the pivot with
certifications and continuing
education.
Aligning Roles
?

30. | 30
Create a Measurement Culture
● Understand your client’s revenue model.
● Think beyond pretty design and cool tech
stacks.
● Define requirements that are based on
business problems.
Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

31. | 31
The Agile Toolset
● Scrum PM tools
● Delivery tools (IDEs, design software, strategy)
Marketing DevelopmentStrategy
Redefining Contract Services Terms

32. | 32Photo from Green Bay Packers - packers.com
Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase
perfection we can catch excellence.
—Vince Lombardi

33. Thank you!
@Mediacurrent Mediacurrent.comFacebook.com/mediacurrent @Mediacurrent