How to help good people thrive in a good environment.

Surveys of agencies show that management almost always does a good job of providing employees with good-looking, well-designed offices. But the beauty of an agency is more than skin deep. Providing people with a working environment that allows them to do their best work is one of the essential jobs of management.

Some aspects of the work environment are chronically overlooked, particularly at the top levels of agency management. Here’s a review of critical questions about “place” to which you should be paying attention:

What are the first impressions created by your agency brand?

Imagine yourself as a client or prospect walking into your offices for the first time. Is there a human there to greet you? Are you offered a beverage or a place to hang your coat? As the adage goes, you never have a second chance to create a first impression.

Next, call your own voice mail system. Is it user-friendly and easy to navigate? Are you able to find the right voice mail box after hours? Do the recorded messages reflect the desired identity of the agency brand?

Finally, take a look at the e-mail messages being sent by the employees of the agency. Do they have a consistent look (like agency stationery would have)? Do they reflect the agency identity?

Consider all the ways clients and prospects come in contact with your brand, then make a conscious decision about each one of them.

Should you have a decorating standard?

An agency is a creative enterprise, but an agency is also a brand. Simply having a decorating policy of “anything goes” means you’re not taking your brand seriously.

You would never recommend to a client that they allow their employees to decorate their place of business anyway they like. Apply the same line of thinking to your own place of business.

Are you making decisions about office resources based on cost or effectiveness?

Do you really think you’re saving money by making employees walk 50 yards to a laser printer? Most good printers cost only in the hundreds of dollars. Buy a printer for the employees who need it and you’ll make your money back in very short order.

The same logic applies to slow and outdated computer hardware and software. A slow, buggy computer seriously reduces employee effectiveness and productivity. Replacing it costs far less than paying for an employee to make constant visits to the IT department.

Are you making the most of technology?

Despite the fact that agencies see themselves as on the leading edge of business, they are often on the trailing edge when it comes to technology. Communications and activities that could be streamlined or even automated with the right software or online interface are often ignored because “we’re too busy.” Client organizations routinely criticize agencies for investing too little time and money in technology solutions that could increase productivity and reduce costs. Very often, agencies actually possess the solution (because it’s included in their agency software package), they just fail to make use of them. Surveys by agency software makers show that on average, only 10% of the software features are regularly used.

It’s surprising how many agencies don’t have an effective intranet – a central online resource for frequently-accessed information. Instead, agency employees search the network for a form or call the HR director for a phone number.

Extranets fall into this category. You’ll often see client extranets on a password-protected area of an agency website, only to discover that nobody actually uses them. The agencies that have created effective extranets for their clients save countless hours of time. Instead of constantly responding to clients requests for files, schedules, invoices, and other information, it’s all online, well-organized and easy to access.

Should you have a policy regarding e-mail?

E-mail is simply out of control at most agencies. It’s used way too much, way too often. It’s an especially poor way to communicate when emotions are involved. It’s a confusing way to communicate and track changes on a job. And it’s a horribly ineffective way to present a concept to a client.

The solution is not to throw up your hands and accept it as a feature of modern life. The solution is to adopt a policy about how – and when – e-mail should be used in your agency. Some agencies have taken the extreme measure of banning all internal e-mail. At the very least, it should be understood that e-mail should not be used to sell your car to other employees, announce that extra chips and salsa are available in the break room, or to place bets on the NCAA Final Four. Some agencies forbid the use of e-mail to present concepts and instead require the use of online presentation tools such as Live Meeting or WebEx.

When it comes to project management, the best practice is to communicate using the features of the agency software system, so that conversations and files and be catalogued in a central location. Simply sending e-mails back and forth is a confusing and disorganized way to process work through the agency.
And then there’s the issue of decreased effectiveness resulting from people spending their entire days consumed by reading and sending e-mail. At the end of the day, they might have an empty e-mail inbox, but they probably haven’t accomplished anything important. Agencies that are serious about e-mail abuse have disabled the pop-up notices on the screen that show when an e-mail arrives. “Checking e-mail” is not a job description. It’s more of an addiction makes us reactive rather than proactive and takes away from true productivity and effectiveness. It’s the responsibility of agency management to develop policies about and teach the responsible use of e-mail and the Internet.

Should you have a dress code?

Are you ever embarrassed by the way some of the people in the agency look during clients meetings or when giving a tour to a new business prospect? Most agency principals would say that their people are the most important asset, so what’s wrong with asking your most important asset to project the desired brand identity?

Most agency owners are afraid of the effect this will have on attitudes or creativity, but “dressing the part” is part of every brand, and your agency is a brand.

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