How to Develop Agency Processes

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.

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.

1. Preparation

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.

2. Set 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.

3. Identify Projects Milestones

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.

4. Facilitating Process Design and Documentation

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.

• Set the context: This involves debating the business problem, vision themes, business aims, charter of the team, etc. The process being discussed should fit well in the overall context
• Define the process: Depict the objective or the intent and what are the process targets. This includes what to trigger the process to begin and the process inputs, process steps, and outputs to expect
• Set key performance indicators: This starts with for instance reviewing the marketing Agency process targets to define what suggests the process is on track. This step can be optimized by using automated reports.  That’s not all, the step should lay the gauge for quality output. Also, at what point the process will be measured and the data 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. 

5. Set Team Structure and Responsibilities

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.