“The reason we need all this process is because we’re shit at it”

Sage advice given to me 15 years ago by a senior agency bod.

It was one of those moments that has always stuck with me. Often when we face problems with the execution side of the business, be it delivery or stakeholder management, often we find the answer is "Our internal process' are wrong". That what is needed is a bloody good sit down, probably offsite, to work out exactly how we need to re-factor the process. And the bigger the issue the bigger the process re-alignment. If you're really (un)lucky phrases like “root and branch” and “rip it up and start again” are bandied about.

I myself have been that soldier. I remember one particularly painful episode that resulted in a network TV show being re-launched with a video of a donkey in a field rather than the shows trailer (don’t ask). Many hours/days of self recrimination and wash-ups and process reviews followed, where large swathes of the client and production teams sat in rooms with post it notes and marker pens beavering away sculpting a new way of doing things. Which resulted in some marginal improvement to some internal comms, and (another) new briefing form. Six weeks later we lost the client in a review.

The truth is that your process is probably fine. Sure it could do with a tweak here and there, but unless you are missing some massively important artefact, like sign off, or testing, or contracts, most agencies that have been around the block a few times have the nuts and bolts down.Which brings us to the horrible truth that most of us people-pleasing, hard-working-genius agency folk find it very difficult to believe. Maybe it’s that we were at fault. Maybe it was because we weren’t good enough.It’s a tough thing to admit, in an industry run on smiles and egos, but let the truth set you free! Once you can admit that it’s because some of the team aren’t actually up to the task, that’s great. You can do something about that.

Process improvement is a hidden cost in most of the agencies. It’s hidden in staff cost lines or in utilisation metrics.Whereas training has its own budget line, often seen as a nice to have, and usually treated as contingency if everyone is really honest.

But the process is only going to get you so far if the people carrying it out aren’t up to scratch. Invest in the people. Make the people better. Train the people.

All of this isn’t to say that process' can’t be improved. They can, and continuously improving the way you do things is vital to keeping a healthy bottom line. But it is only one part of the puzzle. A part that can seem easy to fix, but beware the siren call of post it notes, internal meetings, and flow charts. There be dragons.