Stop Acting Like an Agency

Design Teams! Quit operating like an agency within the company and create a dynamic win-win for you and the business.

Corporate design teams are… different.  We’re pegged as “those guys”.  We are gloriously unique in our perspective of business. We are the odd-balls, the cool-kids, the wild cards. We almost welcome it - working for the man, but still a rebel!

Well, there’s a catch… this mind-set becomes limiting in terms of the opportunities afforded us.

Our saving grace becomes the work. This is also how we often “prove” our worth to the company. It’s the bread and butter of any design group – agency, in-house, or otherwise. When it becomes the sole income stream of design groups, the production wheel is established.

It is because of this; In-house teams will most often structure themselves as “an agency within a business”. Meaning, they operate as a dedicated design agency to serve only the company’s needs. While this sounds logical, this ultimately sets the precedence that we are not truly a part of the company in the eyes of the business. We’ve officially agreed to set ourselves apart.

“The agency model can be slower in response due to a client-service structure. It may not be as agile as in-house teams directly integrated into business operations.” 

As design teams, we are here to solve business challenges creatively.  We know how the business operates. We understand the goals and objectives of the company. We have a deep understanding of the audience and its competitors. We are constantly strategizing and researching when we create the work. There is a deep well of knowledge the business can use to leverage and is rarely tapped.  Why? “Because we’re different.”

I think you know where this is going…. So, how do we create a win-win for design teams & the business?

A Culture of Collaboration

For Leaders
While as design leaders, we must advocate for our team, we too must network and cater to the business. Truly understand the annual goals of the business and plan the design and marketing initiatives around it.  Look for and anticipate opportunities for the team to shine outside of production work. Create and nurture relationships with cross functional team leaders so your team will be the first they think of to collaborate with. Deliver advice and perspective on what other teams are being challenged on, showcasing how your expertise is helpful to finding solutions.

For Designers
Designers can utilize this as well.  Showing initiative by networking within the organization can create amazing opportunities not only for themselves, but to bring back to the team.  This elevates your presence and solidifies your perceptions as being in alignment with the business. As you grow with in the organization, you will be seen as an expert and thought partner. This will create the foundation of your personal brand!

Market The Team
Create a line of communication through the company on the team. This could be email campaigns, blog posts, social media (if your company allows).  Showcase and highlight big projects that are happening. Spotlight designers who are going above and beyond. Talk about initiatives, and personal wins for the team.  Deliver thought pieces, industry, and business insights.  This will garner a “fan-base”, but mainly show that you are more than “making things look pretty”.  Toot that horn!

Create Processes with Users in Mind

“Implement agile methodologies to make the design process more responsive and adaptable to changing business needs. This can help in balancing short-term and long-term objectives.”

Probably the number one pain point I hear from design teams; is how chaotic it is to work. “Requestors want their project done yesterday or they didn’t give enough information to get started. They emailed the designer directly and it got buried. The stakeholder changed the due date to tomorrow.” It absolutely gets chaotic at times, but it shouldn’t be the norm. Rarely does chaos stay behind closed doors.

Streamline communication
Many times, I’ve had requests come through personal emails, slack messages, verbally in passing.  Having a single source to record all requests and the ability to recap conversations will help keep the team in the know. Dedicated Slack or Teams channels, email is a great way of recording these so they don’t get over-looked.

Design Process
Implementing agile design processes for teams to mitigate the chaos truly is the best solution. This can be done with Project Request, Meeting Zero’s, reviews, scope proposals, and approvals. The better you can process your design projects, the better it is everyone.  There is no one size fits all solution, and it will be unique to how the company operates.  It is a heavy lift that design leaders will need to implement and (most importantly) ensure they can enforce but is well worth it in the long run.

Leadership Collaboration & Approval
Work with executive leadership on establishing what processes will work for the company at large. Communicate to the rest of the business to make it easier to adapt to. Be sure that leadership approves of the process, so they can help defend it when inevitably someone tries to skirt around it. Most of all, process should be easy for the business to use.  The easier it is, the more they’ll be inclined to using it.

Actively engaging with executive leadership is the linchpin in becoming an integral part of their business. Developing trust amongst this group, and it will help open them up to the possibilities of what your team is capable of. You will create a platform for your team to be used as thought-leaders, have first-hand insight knowledge of the business, and showcase the value creative perspectives have to the success business. 

 Project Managers vs Designers
This is a historically a tense dynamic however, enabling a great relationship between these two can elevate any project. Project managers ensure that the project stays on track, facilitates communication with the client, and oversees the progress of the project while designers can get stuck… producing. When you have seasoned designers who have a load of knowledge to give and feel second guessed at every turn. Both are simply trying to do their jobs, and the struggle comes when both parties feel neither are valued by each other. This will demoralize the whole project and create headaches for stakeholders and creative directors alike.

 While most designers are used to being their own project manager, in larger companies, PM’s are desperately needed. Design leadership must establish clear lanes in which project manager and designer must work in and hold both accountable to this.  When project managers and designers can work collaboratively, it can truly be a euphoric experience for the whole team.

Templatize, organize, and delegate production work

 “Resource allocation can be challenging as priorities and budgets may shift frequently, making it difficult to plan and allocate resources effectively.”

Branded Templates
Creating branded templates will help to streamline what takes away from larger projects. This could include Power point presentations, One-pagers, Landing pages, social media, etc. The more you can plug and play – the more productive it will be for the design team overall. 

Help them to help you
Creating templates for stakeholders to help themselves would help this even further. This can be items such as letterheads, business cards, Presentation templates. Items they can copy paste content into.  We are certainly not expecting them to be designers and if they need help in layouts, we’re certainly here for that. 

 Team Delegation
I personally organize teams in a way that effectively delegate the production work and create opportunities for growth, overall lessening the burnout.  Junior designers need experience in mastering the basics of design, which is why I delegate most of the one-off projects to them.  Things like typography, editorial layout, data visualization, and working with branding will help them elevate to the next level.  Entrust mid to senior-level designers to mentor junior designers on projects, this enables them to gain leadership skills and have more space to focus on higher-visible projects.  By doing this, Art Directors have space to mentor and manage the team, oversee projects, consult with leadership, and jump in when needed but aren’t overwhelmed.  This dynamic facilitates teamwork and trust, thus boosting the overall moral of the team creating a healthy and productive environment.

 Brand Guidelines
Creating a solid brand guide will help to understand the sandbox to play in and help to hold everyone accountable.  Having these available to the company will be the source of truth to answer any questions they may have. It will help in using templates, and create consistency for the brand identity.  Brand Guides can cover a variety of topics such as logos, color palettes, voice and tone, photography to implementation in digital, web, social media, and print.  Ideally, it should be as detailed as possible so that can be applicable for any teams, contractor, or vendor to utilize. 

 Design Team Onboarding
Effective onboarding for new design team members, establishes the culture you want to create on the team. Layout your processes so they can familiarize themselves with it and buy in from the get-go. Taking the time to fully on-board new designers will help them to feel prepared and will make for an easier transition integrating into the group. Three months on average, is when a team member is well integrated.  Take the full three months to prepare them for being a part of the team. Have them take on smaller projects. Have them shadow fellow designers, leaders, Project Managers, and even other members of collaborating teams, will help them to understand the dynamics in which they’ll work. Creating Miro or Notion boards are a great way to help them, and you track their progress.

 The Mental Shift 

“Overemphasis on client-like relationships and delivering what is asked for can stifle creativity and innovation. Design teams may not have the freedom to propose bold, out-of-the-box ideas”

Design Teams can feel like the black sheep of an organization.  Which is why the “Us vs Them” mentality is created. Feeling as if you must work as an agency within a business will only further isolates yourselves. Shifting the mentality to how we can best serve the business, will make the team dynamic stronger and reverb throughout the company. 

This ultimately is a group effort from both the team and leadership executives, with everyone doing their part. In order to be seen as a high value asset, there takes great effort in setting design teams up well initially within the company. Even if you’re an established team , you still have a shot at rebranding yourself by integrating into the herd and becoming part of the business.