Our friends at Deltek joined us recently to host a very special session all about ‘Agency Management in Changing Times’. We heard from a number of industry experts as they shared their experiences of how to successfully lead an agency through disruption. And they offered practical insights to help define and stay focused on your strategic vision and implement your chosen initiatives. Our speakers during the session were:
Esther Carder, Partner at Moore Kingston Smith
Carl Witton, Global Business Director, Deltek Agency Solutions
Emma Robertson, CEO at ENGINE Transformation
Lucy Doubleday, Managing Partner, We Are Social
Tom Phillips, Co-Founder & MD at Connecting Plots
Here, we summarise key takeaways from the session to help equip you with tools to manage the continuing change:
Putting people first
Our panel championed the need for businesses to place people at the centre of their business given the current circumstances, with Tom Phillips saying, “Prioritizing the health & well-being of the team and their families was of paramount importance (to us)… The strategy was survive, then thrive”. Lucy Doubleday echoed this by saying, “Daily updates with the team on a wider level have been really well received. We have run entire-agency surveys and questionnaires to check in how people are feeling and time and time again the communication we receive back is that by doing simple things like this people are feeling supported. It’s important to instill a sense of normality in these not-normal times.”
A helping hand
Carl Witton spoke about how agencies have to start thinking about implementing new systems to facilitate the ‘new normal’, where we have seen unprecedented numbers of employees working from home. “Implementing a system will allow your teams to not only work remotely and easily (as well as admin that process which is key); it will also enable your teams to support clients’ work from wherever they’re working,” he said. “On top of that, it will then help the agency continue generating its revenue, especially if the system is cloud-based”. Deltek have given away free extended use of their online cloud tool, called ConceptShare, which offers faster review and approval of marketing and creative work, to give agencies that option to collaborate better internally as a team and with their clients.
Steadying the ship
The panel spoke about what has and hasn’t transferred well to the world of remote working, as well as the ways they are trying to negate these challenges. Emma Robertson painted the good and the bad eloquently, stating, “Productivity has been lifted up which is great, but I definitely have concerns around the limitations of working remotely, particularly when it comes to creative thinking and solutionizing, which Zoom is a bit too polite for”. Lucy highlighted how particular roles are flourishing by saying, “I think creatives have seen a real benefit in being able to get their heads down and focus without people interrupting you all the time and we have seen the results in the output. However, I agree that when it comes to oversight and collaboration it can not only be impractical but also quite mentally tough on those whose lives have been confined to their makeshift home office.” Our host Esther Carder noted how her company, Moore Kingston Smith, conducted a survey where 40% of business owners had only one month’s visibility on income. Emma provided some insight in response to this: “When it’s very chaotic outside, going back to review your value proposition can feel very productive but right now, is it the thing that is going to turn the handle for the next quarter? It’s important to take a step back and really think about what is going to make the difference for the next six months as these are radically different times. We have to adjust our ambition, put our ‘ideal’ strategy on hold for the minute and think perhaps more in short-term strategic chunks.”
What is coming?
The panel identified some common business challenges for the next six months, with Tom saying, “We as a team are encouraging businesses to really listen to clients more than ever, as their challenges are going to be your challenges. We foresee an accelerated shift to driving further efficiencies, and we have started to facilitate this by collaborating with other agencies in proactive ways.” Carl spoke about the need for normality as working from home settles in: “The guys have spoken a lot about human kindness at the moment but I think commercially it is going to be important to look at ways of overcoming the challenges that will arise when it comes to team management and collaboration. Agencies are pretty good at picking up new technology but being able to take the plunge and disrupting how you are currently working is going to be key to a lot of the agencies who will benefit moving forward.”
Click here to watch the entire session with our speakers.
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