Collaboration can feel a little mysterious. Sometimes, the people you work with just “get you,” and other times the simplest tasks are full of friction. While there’s always good chemistry in any successful relationship, what many of us overlook about collaboration is how much the structure of the relationship affects how people work together.
Marketing managers that put thought and energy into onboarding, setting up projects, establishing communication expectations, and even wrapping up a project often save time and run into fewer bumps in the road. Magic is great, but it’s not everything. Let’s look at a few ways you can proactively set up an agency collaboration for success.
Take Onboarding Seriously
Your agency partners are likely creative and experienced, but they still aren’t in-house. There’s a lot they don’t know about your organization.
At the outset, hold a robust input meeting where you share not only the details of your project, but also a broader view of your business and your needs, both now and over the long-term. This helps them understand the nuances of what they’re working on and the dynamics that can help them better serve you.
Onboarding is also a great time to talk about how you like to work. For example, do you like sneak peeks at the creative as you go, or do you prefer to see the finished product for that round all at once?
Make Your Agency Part of Your Team
When agency partners are treated as extensions of your team, they can get what they need to do their best work.
Introduce people at your organization to your agency partners, especially stakeholders and subject matter experts who can provide information and insight. However, make sure there’s a single point of contact on each end of the relationship—someone who can gather questions, input, feedback, and who can manage traffic.
And don’t be afraid to talk about your inspiration. If you can get them excited about what you’re excited about, you can build a shared vision of what it will take to win.
Set Up Your Project with Care
Make sure your agency partners have everything they need from the start. Invite the right people to your kick-off meeting so that your agency gets input from multiple angles, provide all background materials up front, and state expectations for what you want from the final product.
Early on, it’s easy to get caught up in the nuts and bolts of what you want to produce, but don’t lose sight of the problem you’re solving. The more your agency can keep solving the problem as their north star, the better your final product will be, regardless of the format or design requirements.
Establish the Right Energy
Your agency needs to know the stakes of its work. If you’re starting a “pull out all the stops” kind of project, that’s very different from one that’s fairly routine and simply needs to be executed well. It also helps them know what you expect and how to respond to feedback. Are you going to ask for reimagining or simply an implementation of changes? As much as possible, be clear about what you’re asking, then give your agency as much creative leeway as possible so that they can deliver what you need.
Wrap Up Right
It’s tempting to simply move on once a project is finished, but a brief, honest postmortem can be helpful for future projects. In a 30-minute meeting:
- Review the project timeline to understand where everyone moved efficiently, where the project stalled, and the reasons for each.
- Take turns identifying what went well and what could be improved.
- Document the discussion and circulate the notes so that all sides can use them to improve.
Organization Makes Fun Possible
When you and your agency partners are bringing your best work to the table, it’s a lot of fun. That kind of fun doesn’t happen by accident. It starts with a commitment do setting everyone up for success. When that happens, you and your agency partners have the freedom to find creative solutions to your most complex challenges.