Nothing is more embarrassing for the team—and the entire agency—than a missed deadline or task error caught by a client. A press release shouldn’t go out late, an article deadline shouldn’t be missed, and the approval process shouldn’t be held up because of a tardy team member.
How do you keep every team member accountable, when the flow of tasks and information never stops?
Yes, agencies can use chat capabilities, texting, Skype, traditional meetings and spreadsheets to keep details together. However, many agencies juggle so many assignments for numerous clients that meetings, spreadsheets, and chat functions just aren’t enough.
Managers need to easily see who’s accountable for which task and be able to follow up immediately if a deadline is overdue or quickly approaching.
There are many tools of the trade to help agencies stay on task, but not all of them provide the functions needed to cohesively organize tasks, deadlines, and details.
Manage Responsibilities
Utilizing workflow software might be the best option for managers to sort tasks easily by due date, client and team member. Keeping all team members and their assignments accountable in one place gives managers the opportunity to see if someone on the team is falling behind or if tasks were left forgotten.
Are deadlines being missed because one person isn’t delegating tasks to other members? You need software that allows managers to pull back and reassign tasks to someone else on the team or to divide tasks a bit more equally among team members.
When’s that Due Again?
Missed deadlines are costly. Delivering projects late means you lose money, and you can’t take on new work. Keep clear due dates for both tasks and projects is essential for maintaining accountability.
Once a task is assigned to a team member, the due date is clearly defined and the team manager can easily follow up on team members to keep everyone on time and on track.
For agencies, this implies being able to see the bigger picture of a client’s deliverables, and how individual team members impact the overall success of any of them.
Communication Pieces of the Messaging Puzzle
Content creation is a complex task, especially when it involves different assets, team members spread across the globe and diverse clients’ needs and processes.
Principals, team leaders, and project managers need to see the status of different projects to understand how those pieces are coming together. Workflow software should simplify the hunt for those individual pieces of the communications puzzle.
Blog writers should be able to incorporate client feedback to their pieces with transparency. Art directors need to have access to the project status of copywriters because art and copy need to be finalized and approved for an ad or other branded communiqué to go live.
PR team members might need to know when a new branding image is going live so that they can complement the overall efforts of the campaign.
Logging onto one software platform allows the big picture to be visible to all necessary team members, and comprehensive workflow software sheds light on every task in a communications campaign.
You need all of those pieces of the puzzle in one place, and working together to meet deadlines and maintain harmony between team members, their boss, and the client.
Real-Time Updates
For agencies, one of the biggest benefits of utilizing workflow software is that it provides real-time updates.
Every change can be tracked. Feedback from clients instantly populates so that the entire team understands changes or the new direction of a project.
Team members can chat within a project page to share ideas or brainstorm new solutions to potential blockers.
Every single update shows up instantly, and this allows all team members to have the information they need to fully understand the scope of the project and the ever-evolving needs of a client.
Need Something Else? Customize It!
What if your agency requires a SEO software feature that is not currently offered? Maybe you want a virtual conference room or need to set up a library to include all news clips (with screen grab images) so the client can have a visual understanding of their news coverage.
If your agency has unique needs, Gryffin can help create it for you. Nothing is out of reach!
Whatever you need from your software, our team can help you design it. It would be useful to take a test drive of the software first to become familiar with the layout and functionality. Then we can get crafty with custom features!
Is There a Risk to Trying Workflow Software?
Signing up for any new service is an investment. With workflow software, though, you should be able to test drive the capabilities to ensure that it’s a fit for your agency.
Gryffin allows you to have a 14 day free trial period . During this period, you can explore all of Gryffin’s features and see how they can better streamline your projects and tasks.
The only way to know if workflow software will work for your needs is to test it out with your team.
Start exploring the functions and talk to team members about what they think about the system. Ultimately, the software you choose should simplify your communications projects—not complicate them!