Mediapost, an example of innovation in business organization

“A long time ago we understood that we needed a new type of flexibility and adaptability to grow and be able to reconcile innovation and results”

Ignacio Pi, Global Head of Mediapost.

An example of innovation in the organization of the company: the Mediapost case

Mediapost has opted for collective innovation as a key element in building an agile, adaptable, competitive and sustainable company model.

This transformation process began in November 2018, motivated by a competitive and volatile environment in which needs arise and change faster and faster. Innovating in this ecosystem has become a challenge. “A long time ago we understood that we needed a new type of flexibility and adaptability to grow and be able to reconcile innovation and results,” says Ignacio Pi, global head of Mediapost. “The world is moving exponentially at extraordinary speed, but companies still follow a linear process. If we continue to act as we have been, it is impossible to accelerate at the pace of society.”

It is in this context that its Acelera project emerges, with which Mediapost is committed to a transition towards a new way of working oriented towards internal innovation and supported by agile methodologies. Their goal is to become a company with a Dual organization, capable of differentiating exploitation from exploration.

Javier del Álamo, scrum master at Mediapost, explains: “Exploitation is the traditional part of a company, which we use when problems, needs or opportunities arise that our experience allows us to solve. Exploration, however, comes into play when the solution is uncertain or the problem is very complex. It responds to a redarchic organization: teams are formed where there are no bosses, everyone contributes and takes responsibility equally. This dynamic way of working is supported by agile methodologies such as Design Thinking, Scrum or Lean to present and correct proposals, in seven-day periods or sprints, until a prototype is found that can be tested in the exploitation phase”.

An example of creativity and collective innovation in a company

This process of collective innovation reconciles operational excellence with business transformation. The company has carried out a cultural transformation through the Acelera project by Cabrera Management Consultants, incorporating redarchy as a new work methodology that favors innovation and the solution of complex problems.

Practice
Accelerates Sprint
de Cabrera Management Consultants is a collective innovation process that reconciles operational excellence with business transformation, both in an integrated manner. Mass collaboration as a model of value creation and emphasizing the development of transformative leadership and the adoption of agile methodologies and new ways of doing digital things.

The agile combination of cross-functional teams, iterative sprints, and reliance on frequent customer and market feedback allows organizations to adapt and adjust much faster to the challenges of a new economic cycle. Agile companies have proven to be two to four times faster at responding to change than traditional companies.

The most important achievements

The Acelera project has allowed Mediapost to compress years of learning into just a few months, accelerating digital transformation with integrated agile teams, mass collaboration as a model of value creation and placing emphasis on the development of transformative leadership and the adoption of agile methodologies (Design Thinking, Lean and Scrum) and new ways of doing digital.

Important achievements have been derived from this project, including:

This type of cultural transformation has proven benefits : agile methodologies increase the ability to manage changing priorities by 71%, project visibility by 66%, and alignment between IT and business by 65%, according to CollabNet. The Business Agility it is the key to the success of companies such as Google, Facebook, Twitter or Amazon. It’s not a fad, it’s here to stay and bring about radical change in organizations.

For Ignacio Pi, the Acelera project it is having immensely positive consequences for Mediapost. “We have had to unlearn many things and make room for this new knowledge. The result is that we are now all eager to prepare new projects and Work as a team. I myself work as part of these teams. Networks are being created on a regular, daily and recurring basis, which is generating a lot of satisfaction.”

How we’ve worked together

To adapt this new work system, it has been necessary to optimize the performance of the workers, who have freed up 15-20% of their time to invest in the
Acelera Liderazgo project
. In addition, new workspaces have been generated, the “Acelera spaces”, with a different look that allows you to disconnect from your daily work and feel like you are working on something new.

And of course, the involvement of Mediapost employees has been necessary. “People are the key pillars of this transformation,” says Rafael Rivera, the company’s head of innovation and technology, “innovation revolves around them and we wanted to provide them with the methodology to make this change possible. The acceptance has been very good, there is a lot of enthusiasm”. “This model is advantageous for companies, but it also has a very positive effect on the employability of the people who make them up, who develop as ambidextrous professionals and acquire very useful knowledge,” says Del Álamo. “Acelera has been the engine of change, which has made us wake up.

Change is not a state, it’s a process.” And these processes have transcended the entire company. This is what Ignacio Rodríguez, Technical and Geomarketing Manager at Quantic, says: “I know that initiatives are emerging in all areas in the Acelera environment that either optimize current processes, or are totally innovative and of practical application. At Quantic we are talking about innovative technologies such as image recognition, IoT or indoor navigation, all within the field of geolocation and, of course, applied to marketing”.

Keys to Success

Today, Mediapost is a company that represents an example of creativity and innovation. Unsurprisingly, the challenges during the The Acelera Program was mainly related to protecting the innovation agenda from the pressures of the day and getting participants to change their usual ways of working, to keep up with the weekly schedule of delivery of activities.

To overcome the implicit tension between meetings, quarterly numbers, and devoting time and effort to new innovation initiatives, the determined support of management, who demonstrated courage in their willingness to try new approaches and provided unwavering support to participants throughout the process, was crucial.

Acceptance of the programme and the adoption of the new ways of working has generally been very positive. One of the advantages of autonomy is that it provides employees with a sense of collective ownership. In the words of the participants themselves, “It has been a truly transformative team journey, which has changed the way we think and how we see innovation”

Business Agility, is the key to the success of companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter or Amazon, it is not a fad, it is here to stay and produce a radical change in organizations. To survive in a complex and fast-changing world, companies need to detect, adapt and take advantage of new opportunities before their competitors.

Mediapost is a leading relationship marketing company. Its mission is to create and strengthen business relationships between companies and their customers through customized solutions based on knowledge, innovation, transparency, empathy and commitment. It currently has five business units: Quantic, Galanta, Vócex, Geomailbox and Directia.