For years, development and technology teams used the agile mindset and its many practices to meet the needs of their customers, delivering greater value by emphasizing collaboration, experimentation, and continuous improvement. Inevitably, these powerful concepts are spreading to new domains as companies seek every competitive advantage in their own pursuits. From Fortune 500 corporations and government agencies to PMOs and HR departments, the potential of greater agility to support business objectives is convincing leaders to rethink their approaches, for the benefit of their people and their organizations.

In July 2017, Excella Consulting partnered with Silverline Communications to provide a case study for what many of Excella’s coaches were saying for years: that the benefits of greater agility should not limited to software or IT, but rather can be realized by any business or discipline that involves knowledge work in dynamic environments. Silverline, a small but growing marketing company in McLean, VA, was the perfect testbed. They were enthusiastic, engaged, and willing to make the commitments necessary to shift their mindset and evolve into an agile marketing firm.

This talk will bring together representatives from Excella and Silverline to discuss the different elements of the partnership and how the effort progressed over the many months, from the initial agile and Kanban training, to active coaching and working through the impediments, to eventually reaching a point where the coach stepped back and the Silverline team began to take the initiative into their own hands. We’ll also cover some of the key benefits realized (including winning an industry award for most innovative marketing company!), and following the presentation we’ll be happy to answer questions on how you can take similar steps in your own agile journeys.

For years, software development and IT teams have used the agile mindset and the many associated practices to continuously improve, and to deliver value better and faster in pursuit of their objectives. Inevitably, such powerful concepts spread to new domains as others seek every advantage in their own pursuits. This decade is likely to be viewed as the one where agility truly expanded beyond its humble manufacturing and technology roots, and became a fundamental strategic consideration across entire enterprises in nearly every industry and sector. From Fortune 500 companies and government to PMOs and HR, the potential of agile is convincing leaders and organizations to rethink how they approach their structure and delivery to better satisfy their stakeholders in increasingly demanding and competitive environments.

In July 2017, Excella Consulting (Agile IT) partnered with Silverline Communications to help them with their own agile transformation goals, providing them coaching support to transform Silverline into a true agile marketing firm. While many presentations cover coaching and transformations after-the-fact, this talk will provide an active, ongoing case study at the three month mark of the effort. This "In Progress" perspective will give the audience a view from the trenches of how agile can be applied outside of IT, as well as some of the early successes and challenges that can help provide fresh perspective into their own ideas, opportunities, and initiatives.