In this time, sharing vision and context is critical. I find that marketers crave for and thrive with more context.
Cameron Van Orman is EVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Planview, the global leader in portfolio and work management solutions helping enterprises transform strategy to delivery. The company was just acquired by TPG Capital and TA Associates.
At Planview, Van Orman manages all global aspects of their corporate marketing, digital demand generation, customer marketing, and global sales development.
In this episode of Velocitize Talks, Van Orman shares his thoughts on the way we work, remote teams, and how the pandemic is changing marketing.
Agility in a marketing pandemic (1:47)
We had to reevaluate all our marketing, campaigns, programs, tactics and channels. Because we were Agile, we could pivot and we could change the focus.
Agile essentially promotes the idea of breaking up big projects into smaller ones. This more flexible project management method makes it easier to create adaptive and timely campaigns. If done right, Agile accomplishes the brand’s goals in a coordinated and collaborative effort—and does it fast.
Van Orman notes that if his marketing team had been operating during the pandemic in functional silos, they would still be negotiating and trading off various departmental objectives.
Remote control (3:23)
With remote teams, it is so critical that what is delivered doesn’t drift from what is needed.
During this stay-at-home work world, managers need to be transparent about the company’s goals. Luckily marketers are relatively well positioned to succeed within this type of remote environment. And efficiency is key.
A recent report conducted by Digital.ai found that 43% of organizations have increased their reliance on Agile methodologies in the wake of Covid-19. Clearly many businesses see Agile adoption and marketing as the answer to pandemic-related challenges.
Team work (4:41)
It’s a huge myth that Agile only works with co-located teams.
“Agile is more critical the larger and more distributed the team is,” says Van Orman. In that sense, he considers it far more impactful to teams which are more siloed.
Agile also tends to provide a more stable work environment during times of uncertainty and turbulence. To achieve that, there needs to be a great deal of communication and alignment.
Zoom with a view (8:40)
Not every interaction needs to be a formal Zoom call. People are getting Zoom burnout. Life may collide with business meetings and it’s OK.
As CMO at Planview, Van Orman recognizes the distinct challenges of working remotely. In this new world, for example, teams conduct virtual meetings and Zoom burnout is real. Harvard Business Review put out a list of how to combat Zoom fatigue. Even Psychiatric Times is studying it.
Now is also the time, unfortunately, when employees are worrying about keeping their jobs on top of everything else.
Best advice I’ve ever been given (10:00)
Don’t try to be right 100% of the time.
It sounds easy enough. But it becomes more difficult when you make a wrong decision and try to cover it up or fail to admit your mistake. That’s why Van Orman suggests owning it, and then following it up with the (hopefully) right decision.
To learn more about Planview, visit their website. Follow them on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter at @Planview.
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