Webinar: Agile 101 for Communicators
The pandemic has pushed Agile Ways of Working (WOW) beyond tech teams to the entire enterprise. With the challenges it has posed, agility is key for organizations to survive and thrive. In our latest webinar, “Agile 101 for Communicators,” we explored the basics of agile and its importance for communications professionals.
Understanding Agile for Communications
Embracing agile ways of working is crucial for driving communications campaigns during your organization’s transformation. Learning to plan communications and adopting best practices of agile ways of working can drive efficiency and prioritization. Our webinar provides a taster of Agile Ways of Working and how it can benefit you and your team.
Our guest speaker, Erum Quddus, Founder of The Agile Storytelling Company, specializes in Agile transformation communications. With over five years of experience as an agile communications leader and 20+ years in financial services and fintech, Erum shared insights on being a communications practitioner in an Agile environment.
Q&A with Erum Quddus
Tools for Agile Ways of Working
When asked about tools to aid agile ways, Erum suggested three practices: working in 2-week cycles or sprints, adopting a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach, and using Sticky Post-It Note Planning with tools like Trello or Kanban. Additionally, tools such as Rally, Jira, or Confluence help teams plan, manage, and track work collaboratively.
Erum emphasized that communications teams should integrate their work into any tools used internally, such as Rally, Jira, or Confluence. This ensures a unified view of work and capacity across the business, which is essential for becoming a predictable organization.
Integrating Communications Planning
Our communications planning tool is designed to create plans with colleagues, stakeholders, and content providers. It is used in sprint planning or, if using SAFe, in PI Planning (or big room planning). Activities from this plan should be added to the internal tool (e.g., Jira) used by the organization, ensuring consistency with other work.
If your agile team uses DevOps, using a separate communications planner would not duplicate work. Instead, it complements the tools used by the DevOps team, maintaining a single version of the truth for the company.
Feel free to get in touch with Erum for further questions at erum@theagilestorytellingcompany.com.
About VMA GROUP
VMA GROUP is a leading international recruitment and executive search specialist, focused on supporting the communications, digital, and marketing communities. Our practice areas include communications, corporate communications, internal communications, change communications, PR, media relations, financial communications, CSR, public affairs, investor relations, marketing, digital marketing, and agency services.
We are known for providing expert consultancy services and advice, backed by in-depth knowledge of the professions we recruit for. Our thought leadership and benchmarking studies are valuable resources for the communications and marketing industry, aiding planning and decision-making for organizations of all sizes.
In the UK, VMA GROUP has offices in London and Manchester, and in Europe, we have offices in Amsterdam and Brussels. We work with organizations and individuals globally. VMA GROUP is committed to equal opportunities and is a Diversity Pledged Recruiter.
