In this article we look at the process of marketing project management, the history (and problems) of waterfall project management, and why agile marketing project management and experimentation is the future for marketing growth.

People, Process, Technology

The People, Processes, and Technology (PPT) framework is widely used around the world to describe the 3 key elements of a successful company or team. Originating from the world of change management, and adapted from Harold Leavitt’s 1964 paper Applied Organisation Change in Industry, it has been adopted as a business practice "near-mantra" that is now widely used around the world in information technology, cybersecurity and management consulting. It has become the classic framework to assess and improve team and organisational performance.

The people, process, technology framework is often referred to as the Golden Triangle and visualised as an equilateral triangle to emphasise the balance between each element to create a strong foundation.

It is also referred to as the Three-Legged Stool, imagining that if one leg is bigger or smaller it will make the chair unstable and cause it to wobble.

The back-to-basics approach emphasises how business success often comes from maintaining a balance between people, process and technology. At the same time, the equation is complex and won't ever remain static; a change in one element requires the other two to respond in order to maintain balance. How people, process and technology interact is the key to improving outcomes and driving efficiencies.

People

Who is involved?

Ask a marketing leader about the people in their team, they'll likely tell you how people are the most critical element of marketing team success. They'll describe decisions behind team structure, and the specific details of hiring, and how people costs are often the largest item of marketing budget. Leaders will spend time on ensuring personal development, training, events, certifications and more. Without people, nothing gets done.

Technology

What they work with?

Ask a marketing leader about their tech stack, and they'll be able to go into details about how HubSpot compares with Salesforce as well as their complete tech stack, from the marketing data warehouse to programmatic advertising, retargeting and ABM. They'll talk about new technology they're exploring - from chatbots and process automation to artificial intelligence.

Process

How does work get done?

Processes are repeatable actions carried out by people to create predictability and efficiency. Progress is obstructed without process. Ask most marketing leaders about the steps or actions taken to deliver on their goals, and there is a lot less insight.

Marketing project management and the technology paradox

If you were to ask most marketing leaders what makes a great team, most would probably say people, some may say technology. Very few would talk about process.

Speak to some of the world's best growth leaders however, and you'll discover they all talk about process.

Growth has nothing to do with tactics, and everything to do with process. Growth is not about the terminology or the tactics, it’s about a change in our mentality, process, and team.

Brian Balfour, VP of Growth @ Hubspot
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Growth is about implementing a rigorous, customer insight and data-driven process with sustained effort to remove friction

Brian Rothenberg, VP of Growth at Eventbrite
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The growth process is designed to be a positive feedback loop, to find small wins and optimizations across the business and then compound those over time as fast as possible.

Morgan Brown, VP Growth @ Shopify, ex Facebook
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In knowledge work our tools are the processes we use to approach and solve different types of problems

Andrew Chen, VC @ a16z, ex Growth @ Uber
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You can have highly competent people and state-of-the-art tech, but fail to grow and achieve KPIs because of inefficient processes. Process is the hardest of the 3 disciplines to get right, and its impact is often underrated.

How waterfall marketing project management became the norm

The inception of waterfall project management and task-based systems dates back to Frederick Winslow Taylor’s work in the early 1900s. His theory, known as Scientific Management (or Taylorism), centred around the idea that dividing work into standardised discrete tasks was the key to increasing process and project efficiency.

Waterfall project delivery follows a series of steps, executed in a linear fashion one after the other. The steps are typically Planning, Design, Implementation, Testing and Deployment.

• Planning: Discuss campaign theme and objectives at a high level.

• Design: Understand individual assets required (content, graphics, landing page & ad creation, tools, nurture sequences, analytics etc).

• Implementation: Creation of the above assets, including design and development work.

• Testing: Ensure everything works as planned, test user journey, device types, translations etc.

• Launch: Push live and launch to prospects and customers.

The problem with waterfall marketing project management

The problem with task-based systems is that they work best for predictable, frequently recurring projects. Unfortunately, today’s marketers operate under conditions of extreme uncertainty and constant change.

Agile marketing project management & experimentation

Marketers need to reduce the risk of spending time and money on content that people don’t read, and on campaigns people don’t engage with.

1. Perform – ongoing customer research

2. Gather – insights to generate new ideas & opportunities

3. Prioritise – insights to find highest impact ideas

4. Test – run fast, agile tests to validate hypotheses

5. Analyse – analyse the results, what works and what doesn’t

6. Systematise – create repeatable playbooks for successful activity

To conclude

Process isn't sexy or cool, but getting it right might just have the biggest impact on your team and company growth.

The real work is done in the shadows, alone, behind closed doors. Small, incremental improvements, as you put in the time.

PR & Marketing Consultant, Peter Morscheck