In-house SEO teams often face the challenge of their recommendations and projects being deprioritized by other teams. It can feel like their work gets lost in the shuffle, leading to a fear of missing out (FOMO) on important optimization opportunities. However, there is a solution to this problem – an agile approach to project management.
Agile project management is a methodology that allows teams to self-organize and collaborate more effectively. It breaks down project work into small, incremental segments called iterations or sprints. This allows for easier assignment, management, and completion of tasks within a short period of time. Unlike traditional waterfall-style project management, where all the work is completed upfront and customer feedback is gathered afterward, agile is more iterative and incorporates feedback and improvements throughout the process.
Agile has its roots in the software development world but is increasingly being embraced by major technology teams for its ability to enhance business value and efficiency. The key elements of agile are planning, delivering, and learning. It is founded on 12 principles, including daily collaboration between business people and developers, continuous attention to technical excellence and good design, and regular reflection on how to become more effective.
To integrate with an agile team, it is important to understand their workflow and participate in key meetings. The individuals involved in the agile process include the product manager, release train engineer, and project manager. Daily stand-up meetings provide updates on team progress, grooming meetings discuss the level of effort required for each task, refinement meetings align on requirements and adjust ticket level of effort, sprint planning meetings plan the upcoming work, backlog refinement meetings organize and prioritize the backlog of tickets, demo/showcase meetings demonstrate functional features, and retrospective meetings reflect on what went well and how to improve.
As a business stakeholder, attending these meetings and providing clear and quantifiable acceptance criteria in your tickets can help ensure your SEO requirements are not missed. By actively participating in the agile process, you become part of the team that works on the actual work and can influence the development cycles to prioritize your SEO changes.
Implementing an agile approach may take time to acclimate to, but the more you engage and communicate with your teammates, the easier it becomes. By following this approach, you can say goodbye to FOMO and start getting your SEO work done through the power of agile processes.
