June and July are ideal months to target major deployments and head into the summer with some breathing room to refresh, learn new skills, and plan to close the year with a bang.

But Digital Trailblazers know that following any major deployment comes the harder parts of leading change management programs to increase adoption, capturing end-user feedback, and promoting activities that drive business outcomes.

Add one more major objective to this list – marketing the team’s successes. DevOps, data science, security, marketing, and other contributors to a program and its deployment want to feel appreciated while participating in driving the targeted outcomes.

Why marketing the team’s success is so important

Forgetting to market the team’s successes will leave them feeling like they are running on the hamster wheel of deployments with no recognition and potentially without reward. That’s because if executives don’t see the marketing efforts, they can easily forget the team’s hard work months later when they review individual performance.

Equally important is that marketing the team can also have an amplifying effect on change management programs and delivering business outcomes. Everyone wants to be a part of a winning team.

Who should take charge of this effort? Digital Trailblazers, of course! If you’re leading a digital transformation initiative, you know one major deployment is only a step in the journey.

Below are several ideas Digital Trailblazers can consider when marketing their team’s successes.

1.Schedule open demos with Q&A

Marketing activities should start even before deployments by scheduling open demos with Q&A from end-users, stakeholders, and others interested. I prefer having all sprint reviews open and inviting anyone to join and participate in the sprint cadence demos. “The top agile teams turn their demos into theater where the audience can participate with Q&A,” I wrote in a blog post on how feedback loops drive powerful culture change in agile and digital transformation. However, more conservative teams may choose to have separately scheduled demos for end-users and stakeholders. The key is to get people involved and celebrate the small wins en route to a major deployment.

2. Plan a celebration with awards and recognition

An obvious marketing option is to schedule a celebration that includes team members, end-users, and stakeholders. Allowing people to celebrate together is an important culture boost – but it can go a lot further when Digital Trailblazers recognize individual accomplishments. It may be too early to truly celebrate a “win,” as I prefer announcing success only when change management activities yield business outcomes. But Digital Trailblazers should still reward top performers who exemplify the cultural principles the organization targets, and deployment celebrations are ideal opportunities to provide this recognition.

As many teams are hybrid working with remote working individuals and globally distributed teams, Digital Trailblazers must consider inclusive options that work for everyone. Consider keeping refreshments simple and sending food baskets or ordering dinner for remote working individuals. I recommend setting up virtual conferencing stations for celebrations spanning several offices and encouraging people to stop by and say hello to their colleagues.

3. Publish a dashboard of KPIs and their status

Digital Trailblazers should consider marketing, change management, and delivering outcomes as mutually reinforcing objectives. One way to do this is to create and automate a dashboard that showcases the target KPIs and how their trends, starting from weeks before the deployment, through change management, and until outcomes are achieved. One best practice is to include a news section in these dashboards to announce activities and to market ways teammates continue to deliver improvements or enhancements.

4. Interview and publish end-user testimonials

Digital Trailblazers should also review the playbooks on how marketers promote product launches and upgrades. One important activity is scheduling time to interview end-users, especially the supporters who will likely provide valuable insights and testimonials. Capture the testimonials on video and publish them on training pages and wherever stakeholders and end-users are likely to see them.

5. Schedule learning sessions with end-users

Another option for aligning marketing with change management efforts is to build them together in end-user training sessions. The training part of the sessions should teach the how, and the marketing should focus on the why, what’s next, and how to get involved. I recommend showcasing the team members during these sessions – put faces on the team behind all the hard work and, ideally, bring some of them along to participate in the training. Humanizing the team is a good way to promote the culture and teamwork.

6. Host an idea brainstorming session

Jamie Thomas, cofounder and CEO at Cognito Forms, says fostering an inclusive environment where every idea is valued cultivates creativity and sparks enthusiasm. “Every quarter, we ask everyone in the company to pitch and vote for their favorite innovation ideas. These innovation periods have led to significant product updates that leadership had not yet considered. The impact on our employees is a better awareness of how hard it is to go from idea to reality and the steps involved. Their mindset shifts to look beyond where we are to where we could be and empowers everyone to innovate.”

7. Publish photographs from a team bonding activity

Consider planning a team excursion, an outdoor activity, or joining a non-profit event. Every location with multiple team members should plan and photograph their activity. Digital Trailblazers should publish these photos because happy and exciting teams breed enthusiasm and support.

Digital Trailblazers – don’t forget to celebrate your own wins! Check out my other post on five summer activities to accelerate your technology leadership.