In the year to come post-COVID, flexibility for marketing leaders will be more important than ever. By creating an organizational workflow, radically prioritizing company and customer needs, and seamlessly executing projects, companies can easily transition from old work styles to new ones as needs arise.

On November 9th, our panel of experts gathered at Flexibility Over Stability: Creating an Agile Workflow for Marketing Alignment in 2022 , a virtual event, to share their tactics for finding flexibility in constantly changing workflows and establishing balance for employees, managers, and customers.

Check out the main takeaways from our discussion on November 9th:

1. Pivot toward customer needs

Darriel Dawne from SAP spoke about the demands of the customer informing the needs of the company. In listening to what did and didn’t work for their consumers, SAP was not only able to please their customer, but also broaden their own scope past their former capabilities.

“In the past, we had done a lot more content creation for the sake of creativity as opposed to consumption,” Darriel explained. “Understanding what our customers needed really helped us be better and smarter at what we do.”

2. Plan for the unplannable

When it comes to planning, don’t get too rigid. “In order to build in agility, you have to be able to have perspective,” said Jaime Punishill of Lionbridge. “I have a high level plan, some flexibility built into my system, and I’ve instrumented the information coming in so that I can adjust my plan accordingly.”

Jaime’s flexibility and understanding that even the best plans change means that unforeseen roadblocks are an accepted part of his day-to-day. When employees are prepared to adapt, it creates constructed flexibility for the whole organization.

3. Move on and learn from failures

What happens when a program is no longer working? Move on, says Holly Pauleyo of Equinix. By accepting that not every plan is a success, a better plan will grow from what didn’t previously succeed.

“Having digital capability has given us flexibility to either succeed or fail fast,” she said. “We have really sped up in making those adjustments and those decisions quickly, and we’re able to adjust a program or move on from it.”

4. Work with team members’ strengths

Nicole Oliha discovered on her first day of her new job that no one on her design team was creating work they were proud of or would include in their portfolio. “We needed a north star,” she sNaomi Liu of EFI looks for more than generalists when building up her team. “I like to structure my team in a way where everyone can execute a campaign end to end, but everybody is a subject matter expert in their own area of expertise. It’s allowed us to really flex because we don’t have to externally source anything.”

Making sure that employees feel confident in their work can make all the difference with flexibility. It means knowing that you have someone who knows the problem before it’s a problem.

5. Radically prioritize for a brighter future

In the non-stop world of marketing, it’s vital to prioritize what matters most. Darriel believes in radical prioritization.

“Is this the most important thing I can be doing right now?,” Darriel tells the audience to ask itself. “Does this meet my customer’s needs? Am I doing it this way just because we always have? You have to fearlessly look into your bag of tricks and ask yourself what actually works.”

Curious to learn more about our discussion with Workfront and our expert panelists? Access the full event content by filling out the form at the top of this page.