How do you operate as an agency? Sometimes even the most established agencies can settle into patterns and structures because that’s how they’ve always worked.

This was Zinc in 2019. We were doing well and leading the area in marketing and creative service, as well as bringing in a steady flow of clients. We had some operational problems that were just part of our daily routine. In 2004, our agency was founded with website design. As the client base demanded, it expanded to include website development and technology. Our teams worked in silos, with each team focusing on its success and promoting the others. Although we had a traditional work environment where everyone was present from 9:15 to 5, we didn’t communicate as well as we should have.

Many businesses had to rethink their business models after the COVID pandemic. We did the same thing. Our transformation was driven by necessity, but our changes already have paid dividends.

Embracing Remote Working

We never tried remote or hybrid working before COVID. Many employees in our company had the same concerns as those who have never tried remote work. Would they be able to adapt to a less structured environment? Were we likely to see lower productivity, missed deadlines, and miss red flags if the team was not working closely together?

Our team had never run meetings or managed projects remotely. As our normal processes were impossible, we didn’t know what speed bumps would be encountered.

The UK is where we are located, it was easy to transition to working remotely. Our team was in the office on Tuesday and worked remotely on Wednesday. Our team was exceptional and we began by keeping in close contact.

We found that they adapted quickly to working from home and that their productivity increased. To accommodate the change, we were able to adapt to and improve our processes. The new working style was helping to improve the work/life balance of our employees, which allowed us to make positive changes in this area of company culture.

The Idea of “Departments” is being discarded

Our departments used to be separated. Creative, Support, Marketing, and other departments worked in their rooms with very different work styles. This worked well in the past because each department had different needs. However, each team created its targets, budgets, and schedules. This caused internal communication to be difficult, especially when clients were working in different departments. We decided to merge all three departments into one.

This was achieved by combining the leadership teams and creating a single place for scheduling and managing our work. We also hired a Digital Project Manager to connect everyone’s worklists and keep better communication with our partners. We were able to improve the delivery of services and change how they were sold.

This change has received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Both clients and employees have expressed their satisfaction with the new process and their enjoyment of working with such close people. Our staff has been able to learn from each other through collaborative work, which has allowed us to upskill them. The project output is faster, communication is better, and the client experience is even more positive.

Upping and Valuing Communication

Our internal meetings were often held separately due to the structure of the department. This was to avoid the need to discuss specific projects. We realized that it was time to increase our communication, especially since we were now working remotely. Every morning, we held a stand-up meeting so everyone knew what was happening with their colleagues. We also allowed them to offer any updates or information that they may need. We knew we wouldn’t get to celebrate the little victories so we made sure we shared them via calls and emails.

Then, we prioritized regular, structured employee advancement and performance reviews. It wasn’t something we had done before, but it was something we made more frequent. We now do this every three months instead of bi-annually. We set up bonus and perks programs for the business to ensure that our team was well taken care of at home.

These included things like coffee, discounts, and training. We also had things to keep our team fit, such as private GP consultations for those who were unable to make appointments.

Bespoke Work is now packaged services

This topic has been discussed in detail on our website. However, the Zinc team always uniquely approaches each project. Although we pride ourselves on being able to support our clients with a wide range of services, we soon realized that we were causing problems. Because there were no standard services, the pitch and proposal stages took longer than they needed.

Our services were replaced by a focus on packages. The web design process was more complex with more pages and increased hours of marketing. We can be flexible without having to specify every client individually. This allows us the ability to offer ongoing retainers that cover all of our services.

Clients get a better price while employees receive a standard service that allows them to work as many hours as they like and help clients whenever they need, without having to start the proposal process over again. We have been able to build long-lasting relationships and trust with our clients.

Comparing the way we work now to how we were two years ago, it becomes clear that we have kept the things that have helped us grow and shed the things that are holding us back. We’re seeing real results.

We are better at staying on schedule and within budget when it comes to service delivery. This is due to the introduction of packaged services and better project management. Our web build times are on average 25% faster than they were before. Our clients are happier and our employees are more productive. They also report higher levels of well-being. Adding processes to existing processes reduces stress and improves work/life balance.

We can rely on our retainer services as an agency to keep a steady income. Our one-off work fits well into our schedule to increase workload. With less dependence on one-off projects, we are even more profitable.

Zinc is a valuable lesson for agencies with a long history. It doesn’t take a lot of loss in profit or problems with processes to reexamine the way you work. It doesn’t always make sense to say, “If it isn’t broken don’t fix it.” While we were an agency that was doing well with old processes, we are now doing even better. We can’t recommend it enough for long-established agencies like ours.