Project 364

Building an Agency; Part 1 - How NOT To

I’m going to take a few days here and ruminate a bit on my experiences with building an agency.  There are methods and approaches I’ve seen work, and those I’ve seen definitely not.  I’ll keep it vague as to protect the innocent, and ignorant, as it were.

First, how not to, or the don’ts.

1. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. Gone are the days of concepting and executing every little thing that comes in house.  They’re gone, of course, unless you want to be enormous and have people primarily focused on production.  Fortunately, there are some very able, and very nice, entities out there who just make ideas.  And make ideas well.  Too many times have I seen an idea being forced through a meat grinder for revenue sake, and the end product is unremarkable and the staff is burnt.  Clients buy ideas.  They buy you too, and your faith in them.  They don’t really mind where it’s done, as long as its on-time, within budget and the idea you sold them.  So keep your people about strong, unique ideas and let the best ones win.
2. Don’t lie to your people. Most people in advertising, and especially in the online area are way smart.  Maybe smarter than you.  If you lie or glaze over the truth or don’t address concerns, they will lose respect for you, and the agency.  Be real, be truthful.  We’re all adults, we can deal if things currently are rough.  Better yet, involve people in helping.  Everyone likes to contribute, and they will feel more invested in their thoughts and abilities are brought into problem-solving.
3. Fire people who suck. Oh, everyone hates firing people.  Yes, its rough.  But its part of business.  People who have a negative vibe, make others work harder, or are just plain incompetent, do tremendous damage to a workplace culture.  It creates tension, issues and all sorts of drama most people revel in.  If someone is a cancer, remove them now.  And tell them they are when you fire them.  Give them a ramification to their behavior that’s real.  Then, you give them a motivation to make positive change in their lives too.  This is especially true the higher up the ladder you go.  The higher up a person is, the more damage they can do.  Nix those people quickly.  Sadly we live in a time where contracts, regulation and other nonsense hamper this.  This will hurt you big time.  Act fast, and decisively.  People respect those able to make difficult but correct decisions.
4. Don’t think you know everything. Because you don’t.  Making key decisions about the direction of an agency? Involve a team of key people who can and will speak for others.  Otherwise, you risk your staff not buying into your ideas, but only playing along to be professional.  And while that’s all fine and good, you’ll never truly be remarkable, just average.  And the world is full of average.

That’s just a bit of it.  I’m going to counter all this bad mojo with the things to do tomorrow.  But you really could fill a book with this.