Agile leadership has become an essential approach for creative agencies looking to stay nimble, innovative and competitive in today‘s fast-paced digital landscape. Borrowed from the world of agile software development, an agile leadership style prioritizes flexibility, collaboration, experimentation and continuous improvement.
By adopting agile leadership principles, agency leaders can build more adaptive organizations that are better equipped to respond to change, deliver standout creative work, and attract and retain top talent. Research shows that agile firms grow revenue 37% faster and generate 30% higher profits than non-agile companies.
So what exactly does it mean to be an agile leader? Here are 12 core principles that every agency leader should embrace in 2024 and beyond:
1. Empower autonomous teams
Rather than relying on rigid hierarchies and top-down decision making, agile leaders empower small, cross-functional teams to work autonomously. Each team should include members with diverse skillsets who are equipped to take a project from start to finish with minimal oversight.
Give your teams the freedom to self-organize, set their own priorities, and figure out the best approach. Provide clear objectives and guardrails, but avoid micromanaging. Studies show that autonomous teams are more productive, engaged and innovative.
2. Encourage experimentation
Agile leaders recognize that the path to big breakthroughs is paved with small experiments. Rather than striving for perfection right out of the gate, encourage your teams to rapidly prototype and test new ideas. Some will flop, but others will yield valuable insights that propel the work forward.
Normalize failure as a necessary part of the creative process. Celebrate teams not just for their successful experiments, but for how much they are learning. For example, 3M famously allows employees to devote 15% of their time to experimental projects, which has spawned innovations like Post-It Notes.
3. Break big projects into smaller chunks
Massive, long-term initiatives are the enemy of agility. Instead of setting a distant deadline and hoping for the best, have teams break big projects down into more manageable pieces that can be completed in short sprints, typically lasting 2-4 weeks.
This modular approach makes it easier to track progress, gather feedback, adapt to changes, and avoid costly mistakes. For instance, rather than designing a entire new website in one shot, an agile team might focus first on creating a clickable prototype of the homepage to test with users.
4. Communicate constantly
Frequent, face-to-face communication is a hallmark of agile teams. Rather than waiting for problems to pop up, agile leaders encourage ongoing dialogue to surface issues, share updates, and build alignment.
Stand-up meetings, where each team member shares what they accomplished yesterday, what they plan to do today, and any blockers, are a popular agile ritual. Other tactics include regular retrospectives to reflect on lessons learned and collaborative work sessions to jointly problem-solve.
When in doubt, overcommunicate. It‘s better to keep everyone in the loop than to have people working in the dark.
5. Embrace change
Change is a constant in today‘s business environment, and agile leaders don‘t just accept this reality – they embrace it. Cultivate a mindset of continuous evolution, where you are always looking for ways to optimize and improve.
Don‘t be afraid to course correct if you discover a better path forward, even if it means abandoning sunk costs. And be open to feedback and ideas from anywhere in the organization – great insights can come from unexpected places.
6. Deliver value continuously
Rather than holding your breath for one big ta-da moment, find ways to deliver value to clients and customers on an ongoing basis. Focus on shipping small, incremental improvements and gathering real-world feedback to inform the next iteration.
For example, rather than revealing a major brand refresh all at once, you could roll it out in phases – updating the logo and website first, then gradually introducing new packaging and collateral. This allows you to test and optimize as you go.
7. Prioritize people over process
While having the right systems in place is certainly important, an agile leader‘s primary focus should be on empowering people. Build diverse teams of "T-shaped" individuals who have deep expertise in one area but can also collaborate across disciplines.
Invest in your people‘s growth and development through ongoing training, mentoring and stretch assignments. Encourage healthy conflict and dissent – it‘s a sign that people feel psychologically safe to share their honest opinions. And don‘t forget to celebrate wins and milestones along the way!
8. Visualize the work
Agile leaders know that the best way to track progress is to make the work visible. Teams should use physical or digital kanban boards to map out each piece of a project, with cards moving from "To Do" to "Doing" to "Done".
This transparency helps quickly identify bottlenecks and keep everyone aligned on priorities. It also provides a sense of momentum and accomplishment as cards steadily advance across the board. Just be careful not to overload the "Doing" column and risk burning out your team!
9. Measure what matters
While vanity metrics like social media followers or press mentions can be exciting, agile leaders focus on the numbers that truly impact the business. Establish a set of North Star metrics for your agency, such as client retention rate, average revenue per client, or net promoter score.
Then, have each team identify a handful of performance indicators that ladder up to those topline goals. Regularly review these metrics to track progress and inform prioritization decisions. For example, if client retention is slipping, you may need to invest more in account management and customer success.
10. Foster a learning culture
In an agile organization, learning is everyone‘s job. Encourage your teams to seek out new perspectives, skills and tools to stay ahead of industry trends and deliver maximum value to clients. Host regular lunch and learns, send people to conferences, and provide access to online training.
Also, don‘t be afraid to look outside your industry for inspiration and insights. Some of the most innovative ideas come from cross-pollinating knowledge across fields. For instance, an architect might inspire new ways of approaching a design challenge, or a neuroscientist could shed light on how to influence consumer behavior.
11. Lead by example
As a leader, your team will look to you to model agile behaviors. Be open about your own failures and lessons learned. Admit when you don‘t have all the answers. Actively seek feedback and be receptive to constructive criticism.
Demonstrate work-life balance and avoid glamorizing burnout culture. Empower your reports to make decisions and give them credit for their successes. Your example will set the tone for the rest of the organization to follow.
12. Stay customer obsessed
At the end of the day, the goal of being an agile agency is to deliver exceptional value to your clients and their customers. Every decision you make should be guided by a deep understanding of their needs, challenges and objectives.
Encourage your teams to spend time talking to customers, observing them in action, and testing ideas to better meet their needs. Share client feedback and insights across the organization so everyone can benefit. And regularly ask yourself and your teams: "How does this help the client achieve their goals?"
By keeping the customer at the center of everything you do, you‘ll be well equipped to adapt to shifting market conditions and stay ahead of the competition.
Putting agile leadership into practice
Becoming an agile agency doesn‘t happen overnight – it requires a significant mindset shift and lots of practice to get it right. Start by aligning leaders around a vision for what agility looks like at your organization. Then, begin introducing agile practices with a small pilot team before expanding to the rest of the company.
Celebrate early wins to build momentum, but be prepared for setbacks and growing pains along the way. Agile is a journey, not a destination.
Need some inspiration? Here are a few examples of agencies who have successfully adopted agile ways of working:
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Digital agency Work & Co has fully embraced agile methodologies to deliver award-winning products for clients like Apple, Google and Mercedes-Benz. Autonomous teams of 4-6 people are dedicated to each project, moving quickly from prototype to real-world deployment.
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R/GA, a full-service creative agency, has reorganized its 2000-person company into a network of 27 nimble "studios" focused on specific client needs, from experience design to AI consulting. This model allows them to quickly spin up custom teams for each engagement.
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Media agency Essence has built a culture of experimentation, with employees given "permission to fail" as they test out new ideas. This approach has yielded industry-leading work for clients like Google and Airbnb.
The agile agency imperative
In a business environment that‘s only getting faster and more complex, agility has become an imperative for agencies of all stripes. By embracing agile leadership principles, you can build an organization that is resilient, creative and relentlessly focused on delivering client value.
It won‘t be easy, but the payoff – in the form of happier clients, more engaged employees, and a healthier bottom line – is well worth the effort. So what are you waiting for? It‘s time to get agile!
