Agency Processes are important to every Agency. Without them, you’ll experience challenges such as inconsistent deliverables and results, extra work to fix causing inefficiency everywhere, and lack of confidence in everything. You find that Agency progress is stagnant. The fear of the unknown stumbles new development.
Feb 14 2020 ● 4 min read
Processes bring organization and productivity. Despite how creative you are in executing business without processes your business is well as dead. When every project contributor is familiar with the tasks ahead, work is as good as accomplished.
An agency process is the established framework and a set of procedures that an agency uses to reach its objectives. These processes include a number of organizational aspects such as roles and responsibilities of teams, key stakeholders in meeting a goal, technology to use, etc.
Only the Agency process can define workflow. If your Agency has no process defined, this is something you should give priority. Whether it’s marketing Agency process you want to set up or it’s a PR Agency you are operating here are the procedures to follow.
This is the first step and it involves analyzing existing tasks. For instance, if yours is a marketing Agency, list down all the tasks involved to complete a marketing project. It also here that you identify the stockholders, Agency policies, goals and objectives.
This step aims to understand the core affair of the project and how it integrates with the Agency structure. The most important thing is this step is gathering as much information as possible. It involves liaising with other stakeholders including some clients.
It essentially requires to conduct a kick-off meeting with the right people. While you seek information internally, you’ll also get the chance to prepare the staff psychologically. Your internal meetings should aim to cover project scope, used strategies, and internal responsibilities.
On the other hand, clients meeting should encompass requirements, milestones, timeline, and clients’ goals.
Setting the goals for a project is another important step. Having clear goals will help you define a smooth to the projects. These goals will consider customer expectations. The set goals describe what the Agency should achieve. The importance of this is that achievement-motivated people pay attention to Agency processes and will take the necessary action to fulfill goals. They can figure out expected hinderances and prepare beforehand as well as anticipate success.
The best approach to setting goals is to use the SMART method. It means the goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. Specific goals mean clear and express. They should be measurable to allow tracking the progress. Knowing the progress is a great motivator.
Moreover, achievable goals are attainable. Therefore, despite they are stretching abilities they still remain possible. The relevance of set goals means they matter to the Agency and they align with other objectives. Lastly, timeliness describes the ability to meet the project target date.
Defining milestones will help you to know if you are heading to the expected direction. They describe the start and end of activities. You can look at them as phases with crucial decisions, project phases, and procedures.
Ideally, milestones represent a sequence of events that occur incrementally until the end of the project. They are useful to both new and used contributors as they not only show direction but they indicate a certain process accomplishment.
Milestones are work points that will necessitate requirements review and approval. They are what an Agency will use to know what is achieved and what is lagging behind. This is because they entail setting the start date and end date. The actual completion date should be compared with the target end date to establish if there is efficiency.
Milestones are minimal control points for those outside the Agency like sponsors. They are useful in determining the viability of Agency projects.
This involves getting people onboard to document best practices. It includes identifying the key people involved in an Agency process. To have the best industry practices, you should check with other similar Agencies.
Process design aims to establish what the process produces, inputs and parameters that target success. It indicates how the Agency gets the work done, and the support to come from people and the technology. So facilitation is important to bring people who matter together. It essentially shows that it won’t be a one-person viewpoint but the whole team.
Though some people may see group involvement as a time-taking activity, it helps to quicken the process as well as refine the quality of the results. Moreover, it establishes ownership early enough For successful facilitation of process design, here is the framework to use.
As a way of endorsing what’s agreed upon, there is the need to document. The documentation will serve as a guide. It’s therefore vital to document in a template. It will be useful to both internal users and external users. You may consider using reporting tools.
Now that the Agency process is spelled out, it’s time to determine who does what. It starts by asking, who will be involved and to what extent? Though the roles required will depend on the nature of the project, there are some common roles. Such include the project principal, the project strategist, project manager, developer, and marketing specialist.
How a project team is structured significantly contribute to how it functions. An important factor is the reporting relationships. It’s what will tell if you allow discussions or wish to keep business representatives at arm’s length if this is what will developers make good progress.
Initially, you may need a high-powered team to define the business solution. Then, next will be a broader team to deliver the defined solution. There will also be line management to steer it. The Agency needs to identify the core team to be involved throughout and those to come when required. Once the team structure and responsibilities are set, it's important to establish a project review process. This process involves regular evaluations and assessments of the project's progress, milestones, and deliverables. It allows the team to identify any issues or challenges early on and make necessary adjustments to ensure project success. The project review process should include clear communication channels, regular meetings, and documentation of feedback and recommendations.
Published on Feb 14 2020
WRITTEN BY
Gintaras BaltusevičiusGintaras is an experienced marketing professional who is always eager to explore the most up-to-date issues in data marketing. Having worked as an SEO manager at several companies, he's a valuable addition to the Whatagraph writers' pool.
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