Marketing 0

Develop Concurrent Process
The innovation project typically follows a waterfall or stage-gate
model, where every step from ideation to launch is done in sequence.
There is a checkpoint at the end of each stage. Therefore, the process

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cannot move on to the next phase before the predecessor is complete.
The multiple checkpoints make this approach time-consuming.
In agile marketing, the model is replaced by the concurrent method,
in which different stages run in parallel. Aside from the apparent
speed, the concurrent process has another major benefit. The
waterfall model is not suitable for large-scale and long-term projects
in which mistakes discovered late in the process could mean
restarting the whole sequence. The structured model is also very
rigid and does not allow for significant alterations once the project
kicks off. The concurrent process is the solution to these issues.
Since it is not sequential, every component of innovation—design,
production, business case—is taken into consideration early in the
process. Work is also broken down into small workstreams with
short milestones. Thus, potential problems can be identified and
fixed before the innovation is already too deep into the development.
But the concurrent process also poses some challenges to overcome.
The most significant risk is during the integration between
workstreams. Constant coordination within and between teams is
critical to make sure the workstreams are aligned and compatible.
Every incremental progress and change in one workstream must be
communicated so that adjustments can be made in other
workstreams. Agile teams must conduct a short daily meeting for this
coordination purpose. Since the meeting is brief, they must make
decisions quickly. Those that are new to agile might find it
challenging to do so.
In agile marketing, development phases are also done concurrently
with experimentation. The teams will never wait for the market
testing of a recently completed iteration. Instead, they continue to
move on with the next iteration. Hence, to influence the subsequent
development, the market test must be conducted rapidly in between
iterations.