Include Your Team When Evaluating Agency Software

This Forbes article by Avi Dan relates to building a great creative team. But this isn’t just for doing creative – it’s really for solving any puzzle or problem.

When I implement an agency management software solution, I invite people from all areas of an agency – to review, question, and provide the ‘what ifs’. If you want people to use something, give them a voice. And listen. Inclusion and careful consideration of their feedback will go a long way. They won’t feel victimized by some decision that accounting or the partners made for the hope of better performance and reporting.

There is no reason for victims.

Boring things like process and procedure do have real a purpose in any organization and should induce a positive outcome. They provide the framework so the daily hum of an agency has a level of predictability and is logical to everyone.

Why are we doing this?

Introducing agency management tools, along with a ‘new’ process – without input – is usually a disaster.

Putting time and money into tools and process without engaging your agency staff is a waste. And if you’ve done it unsuccessfully once, I can guarantee they will be even less inclined to participate should you look for yet ‘another solution’.

In the article, points number four and five are important:

4. Get naïve feedback. “Beginner’s luck” can facilitate creativity – with a twist. A lot of brilliant ideas don’t start this way, but become so when remarked on by a novice or an outsider. Experts sometimes tend to think in lockstep, and denigrate ideas not their own. Reach out for naïve advice beyond the usual suspects and liberate your creativity.

5. Fail quickly, cheap – and often. Creative organizations understand that success and failure go hand in hand, and therefore they are not intimidated by the prospect of failing. The willingness to absorb failure is liberating and encourages creativity. Simply manage the economics of failure to make it acceptable.

Get feedback – even though you know your business well, when’s the last time you sat in a production artist or coordinator’s seat? They’re the ones doing the work, using the tools and are really important sources of information (why did X happen?). Ensuring tools and processes work for them is essential. They know things you can’t even imagine…

Fail quickly – there’s always a transition to be factored in when introducing new tools or process. Didn’t think of transition? Step back and determine if it is transition – letting go of old, ‘trusted’ systems and using new ones – or if there are situations that you didn’t consider. Review those situations immediately. If the tools or process aren’t working as they were designed / trained /deployed, pull your team together and determine if you need to re-boot.

It’s far better to re-boot, or put off a plan that wasn’t thoroughly vetted than to launch half-cocked – which is usually due to a self-imposed deadline.

This is for the long-haul. No one wants to do this more than once.

I believe in a completely integrated solution to manage agency work, to track projects, to document what’s going on, to assign tasks – everything in one place. Multiple and/or redundant systems don’t provide the level of transparency everyone needs to assure everything is running smoothly.

I also believe that everyone is a stakeholder. Everyone is responsible. That means every individual is accountable for clearly defined instructions, content, budgets, schedules – and doing their part updating / making notes / passing along information – in a shared, structured environment.

That is where transparency in process resides.

You get that transparency through compliance. You get compliance with a system that everyone can use, knows how to use it, and who were given a voice in the evaluation and decision-making process.

They become owners of the process and systems your agency has paid for.

Success.

Advantage Project Schedule and Estimate Templates ... And More

I know it’s Sunday, but let’s start the week talking about those pesky issues like creating a quick schedule or estimate. How are those templates project schedule and estimate templates working for you?

Are you even using them? Do you know how they work and the value they lend to efficiency?

Using templates is the fastest way to build a schedule or estimate. (I’m a sticker for scheduling / assigning / allocating hours for every project).

And for that matter, have you customized your forms? Do you know all the wonderful (well, wonderful for me - I like accurate documentation) things you can create in the custom forms area?

A lot of great ways to document, track and manage your work.

If you need some help, just let me know. I’ve created a ton of templates and can help you make the most of Advantage.

Hiding Like a Clam or the Joy of Mediocrity

I read this piece in FastCompany yesterday about the worst-performing employees who are usually ‘happy as clams’, and it calls to mind the use of agency tools/technology/software to manage work.

One of the huge benefits of these tools is the ability to see all the work that has been assigned; and some tools provide deeper information on resource/capacity planning. So in an instant, you can review how busy everyone is – what they’re working on, how many hours they’re allocated by the day/week/month, vacations, etc.

Handy stuff. And in my experience, imperative for truly managing resources.

The flip-side – and I’ve experienced this too – is that employees can feel we’re watching or controlling them. Oh, please.

True. And not true. I am not Big Brother, and I’m certainly not your Mother. But I am here to make sure stuff gets done on time. That also means staying on budget as well as meeting the criteria of the brief.

What using these tools diligently will reveal is one of perception versus reality. Some people appear really busy, and don’t turn out a heck of a lot of work. Others just plow through one project after another.

And most of the time you cannot tell one from the other. Therefore you set expectations, and then you review the results.

As the article states:
"Mediocre performers can do a really good job of hiding under the surface. Most are experts at busywork, which they bury themselves in to appear busy.”

This isn’t spying, but rather getting a clear idea where every client (or agency) dollar is going.

And these tools reveal a world of other things as well. Is everyone an ace in Photoshop, Illustrator or html? Some are better (and faster) than others. There can be hardware or software issues that can bring even that ace to a grinding halt. Maybe they’re disorganized, or simply screwing around too much.

When time estimates (therefore budgets) are consistently blown, you need to investigate further. As a manager, it is your job to find out what’s going on – or your part of the problem. (More on that later…)

If you have a well-trained staff, have super hardware and software and some still can’t cut it, then it’s time to have a chat.

It could be something as simple as too many distractions – or perhaps they just don’t want to work all that hard and this is an easy paycheck. The clams. The ultimate in mediocrity.

Get organized, get on top of your projects and let the clams drift to a tide pool elsewhere. 

Define Process Before Deploying Agency Management Tools

I re-read this position paper on process by David Baker the other day and have to share it with you.

If you are considering (and you should) implementing agency management software/tools/technology to better manage your workflow, read David Baker’s paper. I haven’t met Mr. Baker, but truly admire his work – and he shares a lot of it on his website.

Any system, from a simple internal form and email to an integrated solution can be a time consuming waste without a process. Basic rules that everyone follows.

Process defines what tools you will use, who will use them, how they are used, the handoff and follow-up.

And compliance. From the top – down.

An investment in agency management technology can be expensive. Developing a solid process is insurance for your investment.

And if you’d like some help (re)defining your process, assistance on selecting the right technology fit, or just want to chat about how things are going in your agency or marketing department, contact me.

First call is free.​

Does your Client Require Collaborative Software?

Is your client asking for better access to information? Real-time updates? File-sharing?

Are you pitching a client that requires a collaborative system to be in place – and functioning – before they even consider your agency?

Clients want a better working relationship with their agencies. They don’t want to wait for updates, and feel (either right or wrong) that more collaboration leads to greater efficiencies.

For an in-house department, you need to work closely with your ‘internal clients’. Often, they feel you work for them and they deserve to know – right now – what’s going on with their projects.

I know, sometimes you want them out of your hair so you can work. But read on. This is good for you…

In comes…ta da! Collaborative software.
It’s a common space to not only share, but aggregate information that provides all users with real-time data and reduces redundancy, errors, and captures that basic stuff that can fall through the cracks.

These days, more and more clients are requiring their agencies to provide an increased level of collaboration – through systems that document progress and share files as you work through a project.

There’s a lot more transparency with these systems. Therefore, everyone needs to be on their ‘A’ Game and…best behavior. That means – you must use the software as it was intended – entering updates, uploading files, or whatever your defined process requires. And I mean diligently.

We’ve all done a version ‘collaboration’ through email for years. There are servers full of terabytes of old CYA email – a lot of it with attachments. Time to put that data in one place that was designed for collaboration.

With these programs, there is no need to search through email; documents on your desktop or server; or in one or more ‘systems’ you currently use. What a waste of time.

A Forbes article says this:

“Apparently most of us prefer to communicate via email rather than face-to-face or over the phone – the average employee spends 28 hours per week writing emails and searching for information mostly contained within emails. Choosing a tool that facilitates natural interaction among individuals instead of the static nature of email is the first step to adding value and driving efficiencies in managing everyday tasks…” (emphasis added)

28 hours. Way too much time. And I know that email is THE hardest habit to break.

But get with the program and reduce all that extra work. Get everything in one place – and make sure everyone with [appropriate] access contributes. Collaborators from Creative to Accounting are entering data relevant to the project. From specs, to schedules, to estimates and updates – all the way through to billing.

Whether it’s an internal or external client, collaborative tools make the exchange (and tracking) of information more efficient, and more….collaborative.

Are you using collaborative software? I’d love to hear from you.​

Inappropriate Tools

No, this isn’t some guy who hit on you at a bar.

This is about taking something that was meant for a specific purpose and using it to perform a different task.

Like using a knife as a screwdriver. Or the heel of a shoe for a hammer. Or Excel for everything.

I like Excel. Heck, I love Excel. But it has its place.

There are plenty of agencies and in-house marketing departments out there using Excel for everything from Job Forms and Briefs to Schedules, Budgets, and Reports. This creates a lot of redundancy – and therefore, a lot of data-entry.

That’s fine if you have a couple clients and a few jobs. But it’s a nightmare with dozens of clients and hundreds of jobs.

Worse yet, everyone is using their own version of forms that you originally created - with a lot of time and consideration - for the purpose of consistency.

Yet many agencies still turn to Excel for most, if not all, of their daily agency management.

Imagine a solution where you – and your team – input data that’s relevant to what they do every day (all that stuff you have to track and measure – like timesheets), and it’s all gathered in one place.

Reports gather all that data in one place, and you can search or slice-it-n-dice-it any way you want.

There is software out there that does exactly that. If you need some help researching solutions, I can be of assistance.

If you truly feel that Excel (or any office / Google Docs / cloudware program) is the solution, I can help you build a better process.

No matter how simple or complex the solution you choose, you need structure (that means process), a little bit of training, and compliance to make it really work for you.

Oh, and that guy at the bar. He is inappropriate.

Fixing Advantage – or Just About Anything

It doesn’t matter what you use, from Advantage to Workamajig, I can predict that if the agency management software you are using isn’t ‘working’, there’s more at issue than the software itself.

Blame the software. Always the first response.

In my post a couple days ago, I asked for questions/issues that you are having with Advantage, in particular. I happen to know the software very well – that’s why.

But the lessons here apply to any technology solution you are using.

I received an email from a project manager in an agency who is doing ALL of her updates after work. And these updates take her two to four hours a night. She’s really sick of it, and looking for a different job because she wants her life back.

What? Advantage is a database program, and everyone in her agency has access...that is specific to their role. She should be able to see, from her computer, the progress of her projects and make adjustments during the course of the day.

So we chatted, got online and I took a look at how she was using the software.

In her project schedule, every line entry was unique and required direct input; tasks were assigned to some employees (not everyone was available to assign); no time per task was allocated (therefore no automated resource planning). She input due dates only – manually. And only key dates.

Everything was straight data-entry.

Then she prints out her schedule every morning and during the day, hand-writes changes. After work, she spends her evenings updating everything ​from her hand-written notes.

This is one person in a 200-person agency. There are eight PMs. Each uses the technology differently.

They reduced a comprehensive database to an Excel spreadsheet.

Training on the appropriate use of the technology; developing a process to use it; and compliance in its use. That’s the magic formula for successfully using agency management software. 

We then went where she had never gone before – how to use the software – appropriately.

Schedule templates, allocated hours for tasks, assigned employees (this required getting HR to set up everyone in their proper role). Pushing tasks out to employees – and requiring them to use their task list – plus having staff update it themselves (Gasp! which means they mark it ‘complete’ – no, that is not hard). Now, this PM wouldn't have to update everything. Herself. Every night.

Wow, they’ve been paying for this technology for years, and never used it as it was intended.

Here are their next steps: Review the setup – which really needs an overhaul. Nothing had been done since they installed it – seven years ago. Review roles and designate them appropriately. Set up appropriate tasks for the schedule (and condense it down from the 700+ that had been created) and build templates. It makes for fast work of getting all projects (large or small) in the system.

Then last, but not least, train and enforce compliance. You need management’s full support here, because this is where the whining comes in. You will actually be asking your colleagues to be a part of the solution. It’s only a mouse-click for crying out loud. Not any harder than an IM to their friends about lunch.

And I only covered project schedules here. Think of what you can do when you get the entire agency on board?