MediaCom, which employs 8,000 people in 125 offices across 100 countries, has signed up to a new coaching programme provided by Manchester-based digital product studio Code Computerlove to develop a new framework of organisational effectiveness using Agile principles.
The transformation programme has seen MediaCom create a new Agile Leadership Team and undertake advanced Agile training, enabling the business to cascade the new working practices to employees on a local level across the globe.
In addition to the remote training workshops, 14 Agile coaches from Code have been assigned to provide ongoing support to the Agile leadership team as the pilot rolls out. Coaches will initially work with teams within MediaCom UK, which will be extended as the programme unfurls.
Sue Unerman, Chief Transformation Officer at MediaCom, says: “Leading MediaCom, the UK’s largest media agency through agile transformation is a huge challenge. Without Code it would have been impossible. Their advice, coaching, training and enthusiasm cannot be faulted, and I would highly recommend them to anyone. We have seen the benefits for better efficiency, reduction of wastage, customer service scores and crucially better staff engagement and happiness.”
MediaCom joins Code’s other client partners which include Sky Gaming, AO.com, Tui and Ebay who have turned to the digital product studio for various team effectiveness services, which were officially launched by the agency this year.
Code’s Managing Director Louis Georgiou, who is heading up the service, said:
“The difference between the success or failure of a digital transformation strategy often comes down to whether business leaders have effectively taken their people on the journey with them.
“Enterprise level businesses are creating large internal product teams at a fast rate and many organisations are accelerating their four or five year transformation plan within months to meet the new needs of post-Covid consumers. But with such deep and rapid change, this means that the skills and processes teams need to operate effectively need to change rapidly, and often fundamentally, as well.
It’s not about just ‘doing the right thing in the right way’ in terms of approach but that employees are also engaged in the processes.
“Some change can happen ‘people up’ – but the best transformations happen when the senior leaders recognise a need to change and meet their people halfway down. To do this they need the tools to be able to evolve new ways of working that involve team feedback at all stages. Ensuring people are involved from the start will promote engagement throughout the process and help leaders to understand how their employees feel about the change and impacts within their teams.
“And this is where we’re adding value. We understand how to get the most out of teams and people when aligned to a digital business vision and we’ve developed a framework for assisting senior leaders to drive organisational effectiveness.
“By helping businesses assess where a team is in its maturity, measuring their team performance against how effectively they are achieving their goals, we are able to coach in areas where organisations need most support.”
Louis added: “We’ve always historically provided coaching support for our clients and partners, but we’re now expanding our coaching and training division as a cornerstone of our offering. The speed at which we’re attracting clients shows there is huge demand out there for support in all areas of team effectiveness. This may be for a new product team, where they need training in product fundamentals and in establishing ways of working; agile coaching or specialist discipline training.
“The common denominator is a need to optimise methods of working to ensure the best decisions are being made collaboratively across multiple disciplines and teams are nurtured to achieve greater outcomes.
“So while the pandemic has brought a need for change to the fore, this shift is also for forward-thinking businesses who are moving towards optimising operational and innovation processes to get ahead.
“We are really pleased to be supporting MediaCom on this exciting programme of change. The Agile Leadership Team, led by Sue Unerman, are transforming the organisation in line with their ‘People First’ philosophy and experiencing the benefits already.”
