Don't Make Me Turn This Car Around!

We heard it as kids, and vowed to NEVER say it to our own kids. Then we blurted it out as if we were pre-programmed to be our parents.

You know the scenario: poking, kicking, ‘make her stop’, ‘he’s looking at me’. And the response is, Don’t make me turn this car around!

So Mom makes a threat, and sometimes, makes good on that threat.

So when things are going sideways at the agency, management gets perturbed. Word of missed deadlines, warring factions over strategy, budgets are out of control, the client doesn’t review the ad until the day it’s due and has massive changes all percolates to the top.

The basic Blame Game. No one takes responsibility.

Management gets tired of this crap. And when you don’t take the initiative to fix it – like call the client and give them a hard due date, learn to compromise on a font treatment, or quit tweaking a job (and billing time to it) – then it’s your fault.

When it’s your fault and you just kick-back and go with the dysfunctional flow, the partners come up with *brilliant* ways to make the noise stop. And it’s usually not optimal. Just another layer of repairs over something that is broken.

Like spackle. Or Bondo. It's not optimal, but it covers the problem until the cracks grow and the metal rusts through.

All of those fantastic fixes that Managers, Directors, VPs and Partners throw out are an effort to do your job for you. They don’t know how to do your job, and I’ll bet you won’t like their way of fixing it.

But something has to be done.

Here’s the takeaway: If you don’t stop kicking your sister, Mom will take you home.
The VP of Operations will introduce a New Process. No questions asked. No ice cream.

Now go and fix your system. If you don’t know how, contact me. First call is free.

 

Ask The People Doing The Work

If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a thousand times. C-suite, Veeps, Directors, Managers – all making decisions on solutions based on their vast knowledge of how stuff gets done in an agency.

Bet they didn’t ask the people who are actually doing the work.

I know, because I’ve been there.

Something is awry. Throw something at the problem. Like software. Or a New Process.

Layers upon layers of awesome solutions thrown at problems – often at a significant cost to the agency – and always at a significant cost of employee time. Time spent to figure out what the heck to do with that new, awesome solution.

So the people doing the work find ways to make that solution work. To fix things. That’s what solutions are supposed to do.

But without a deep understanding or even a simple evaluation of what’s going on, those solutions become problems themselves.

How do we use this new thing? Who is actually going to figure it out? Is there a standard for how we’re going to roll it out? Was everyone even notified that this was comin’?

I can speak from my own experience, and from the experience I experience whenever I work with a client that has to fix something that is just plain screwed up.

The powers that be are considering new tools or processes. When it reaches the point where the blame game is being played out every day, you have to talk to the people doing the work to find out what is wrong.

Problems, issues, complaints rise to the surface faster than bubbles on that frosty microbrew at 4pm on Friday. You have to get to the bottom of the issue before you throw a solution at a problem.

Your staff is the greatest resource to solving problems – and evaluating solutions.

Start there. It’s so much faster.

And by the way. I love the complaint department. Don't ignore them.

They have laser vision when it comes to problems.

 

Efficiency In An Agency

I just read Ad Contrarian’s blog about the move to data over value in an agency. About how the big holding companies are sucking the life out of agencies and the amazing creatives who put in the hours to do great things that sell ordinary things in simple but extraordinary ways.

It got me thinking.

What do I do? I preach being efficient. But definitely not at the cost of great creative.

That got me thinking of something else.

Where do inefficiencies lie?

Bottom line, an agency that creates value for its client must make just a little profit so they can keep the doors open … and … afford a few of the perks that nurture an inspirational work environment.

Yes, I know inspiration comes from the work, and even more so from inspirational creative leaders. The environment comes from both of those. It’s often called culture. And no, culture isn’t a foosball table or Beer Fridays.

It’s that place you love to go every day. It’s the people you love to work with.

My efficiencies lie in ensuring everyone has what they need – when they need it.

Access to information like – where is the copy? When are we presenting to a client?

Shepherding so creative energy isn’t wasted on figuring out what’s next. Basic schedules. Basic budgets. Managed for you. The Creative.

Efficiency is flexible (and never confuse that with Agile). Knowing what’s next is invaluable. Ensuring an agency runs smoothly. That’s efficiency.

Great creative can be done well in an organized environment.

Cheap money is keeping the big holding companies afloat. They can afford 180 days to get paid.

Another bubble.

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Break Your Projects Into Smaller Steps

I break my projects into steps – such as comp, layout, layout revision, and final. And those steps include client approvals in between. I never just count on overall project hours to carry me through the life of a project. Why? Well, you can burn through too many hours at the beginning of a project (been there) and you’re left with either asking for more money (been there too), making cuts to the project or taking a hit on the profit (ugh! been there too!). 

Profit is good. We stay in business when we make more than we spend. A good project manager is aware of everything going on and how it affects the bottom line. They don’t get a lot of love, but they always have an eye on the trifecta of projects: scope, schedule, budget.

We all love going back to the client to tell them it’s going to be late; that they’re asking for more than we agreed to (you did provide a brief didn’t you?); or we need more money to make awesome happen – right?

Therefore, red flags arise quickly when tracking projects broken down incrementally. Any slippage is easy to see, and moreover, you know what caused it. That allows you to learn. Wow.

Getting a handle on how much time (therefore how many dollars) each step in a project should take gives a project manager a better handle on burn rate and provides each employee with expectations.

Oh yes, we set expectations with clients too.

By the way, say thank you to your project manager. They have your back.

Motherhood and Advertising…and Falcons

Sometimes work and motherhood just don’t mix. Here’s the exception and it has nothing to do with Melissa Mayer.

​Peregrine falcons nesting at Campbell Ewald Detroit. Click the image to see the family.

​Peregrine falcons nesting at Campbell Ewald Detroit. Click the image to see the family.

The rare opportunity to watch life beyond our daily agency drama is just plain cool.

The lucky folks at Campbell Ewald’s Detroit office have a family story of their own. And it includes Dad.

Check it out.

Traumatized By Cake

Yesterday I added a picture of a sad cake to enhance my post about Agency Culture.

I pulled the image from a site called Cake Wrecks.

So I went back to take a long, leisurely look at the site. Yes, I had too much time on my hands.

It’s funny. The pictures are real.

So the blogger commented on the story about the knife found in a kids birthday cake that came from Walmart. The dad did the Right Thing by deciding to sue the company.

Cake Wreck posted several examples of such (scissors, spoons, you-name-it) left in cakes, from people who decided that, hey, it’s just a cake. Remove the object and serve.

Meh, stuff happens. Or maybe there's an influx of ex-cons who have gone on to be pastry chefs. Hmmmm....

Now blow out the candles and I get to dibs on the scissors!

One, last parting shot.

​Perhaps this should be standard fare at any agency with a cult(ure).

​Perhaps this should be standard fare at any agency with a cult(ure).