There are times when a key is thrown into your content marketing machine and you can't tell who started it. Nothing looks different, but suddenly you're rushing to meet deadlines, editors are stressed, and the phone number list whole process has become frantic. It's time to take a step back and figure out where the workflow is. Instead of the phone number list usual laborious process of troubleshooting your entire content management process, shake things up using a simple tool taken from Agile marketing practices – the limits of Work In Progress.
WIP limits cap the number of projects that can be in a particular phase at a time, ensuring a continuous flow throughout the phone number list project lifecycle. This agile limit works even if you don't use Agile methodologies globally, so even the most traditional phone number list marketing teams can benefit. Since this is an unorthodox approach to content management, it will almost certainly lead to unidentified inefficiencies in your phone number list content workflow.
Open the dam
WIP limits prevent the accumulation of too many tasks at any stage of the phone number list publishing process (eg design, coding, testing). Agile Marketing does not offer a hard and fast rule for a WIP limit, as it can vary significantly for each phase from team phone number list to team. The first part of this test will help you determine what your WIP limits should be.
Configure your WIP test
Collocated teams may find it more useful to use an old-fashioned whiteboard for this part, as it's a physical representation of a somewhat intangible process (you can also play with lots of colored sticky notes) .
For those who work with remote colleagues or freelancers, a Trello board can be helpful. This free and intuitive software lets you view the phone number list same kind of vertical pathways you would create on the board, with the added joy of dragging each piece of phone number list content as it progresses:
Write down all your content marketing projects so you can easily group them together. Use sticky notes for a whiteboard or individual cards on a Trello board. You can see that we've labeled our Trello cards with different colors based on content type. This can help you see not only what part of the phone number list process is dragging, but also what types of content tend to get stuck in a particular place. Once all content is identified, move each piece of content into its correct lane based on where it is in the content publishing process.
Monitor the board
It's tempting to look at your initial chart and jump to an instant conclusion. This snapshot can indeed help identify your immediate pain point. But to be able to set accurate WIP limits, update your board for at least a week or more depending on your team's typical release cycle. As new content is planned, create a new card or sticky note and place it on the left side of your board. Each time it passes from one phase phone number list to another, move it to the next lane.
If you use the Agile practice of daily stand-up meetings, organize them around the phone number list board and make sure everyone updates cards or notes as they work on them. If you don't have a daily meeting, the content manager should check the board daily to make sure it's up to date and note any traffic jams.