Entry-Level Project Managers - Pound for Pound, the Best PM's in the Biz

This is a send up to entry-level Project Managers. At 0 - 1 year of experience, vetted for the core PM skills: intelligence, work ethic and common sense, Associate/Assistant Project Managers are an invaluable part of any PM team.

There are more moving pieces, parts, assets, paperwork and points of contact to be managed than ever before in building Web sites or developing online advertising campaigns today.

An APM can elevate the performance of an entire PM team. Beyond the direct benefits of the myriad of listing, vetting, and distributing of tasks that APM's take on, they enable other members of the PM team to focus on higher-level activities and deliverables. Further, their presence gives more senior members of the team an opportunity to mentor and manage to the benefit of all.

I love having these smart, motivated, young guns around. Their on-boarding helps validate the efficacy of tools and methodologies, and contributes to process and tool evolution. These new-entrants also bring a native's view of new technologies and trends and inject much-needed energy into the "old school" of some agencies. Mike Carlton, of Carlton Associates Inc, is particularly compelling on this topic and related ones in his piece, Who's Going to Do the Work?

The best APM's invariably gain mastery of the support skills in a few months (right, if they can't then their probably not cut out for PM'ing?) and begin taking on higher-level tasks themselves. This doesn't hurt the agency bottom line and definitely raises the bar for everyone. Further, there's nothing like someone w/half the experience and salary, nipping at heels to keep a team on their toes - especially those prone to sluggishness (you know who I'm talking about, right?).

From an overall agency perspective, a junior PM role, with exposure to so many aspects of an advertising agency, is the perfect farm league for feeding all the disciplines in an agency. One could go so far as to say that all entry-level employees would do well with a rotation in PM.

If you've got 'em make the most of it. If not, you would do well to add an entry level PM if you are able. The job/agency you save, could be your own!

Advertising Agency Compensation - Exploring Alternatives

The premise here is simple: aligning agencies and clients around results, rather than squabbling about costs and time, which further drives the commoditization of agency services, is a win/win situation. Ad agencies are in a fight for survival. The opportunity for the brave and innovative to flourish has never been greater than right now. For those who don't/can't start thinking differently, look out for the tar pits.

This post takes up on some of themes introduced in the December 5th post, Achieving Balance in an Agency, where the value of certain agency activities and deliverables (e.g. a breakthrough idea) was examined.

Value-based pricing is not a new idea, but it's a good one that has been in place for a long time in the consulting and pharmaceutical manufacturing arenas among others. Many agencies and clients are stuck in the familiar worlds of commission-based or hours/labor-based compensation. At their worst, these approaches encourage reach-oriented (i.e. tonnage) marketing programs, support running up the clock to justify billable hours and perhaps worst, crush innovation and performance.

The barriers and risks to adopting this approach are not insignificant and include:

• Agency and client comfort/momentum in doing things the way they've always been done.
• Having enough influence on an overall program so that the value you envision and agree upon with a client can actually be created.
• Clearly defining success and therefore value (raise your hand if you've been part of a view-through debate)
• Determining pricing so that nobody loses their shirt and the agency doesn't miss out on the upside.
  

There are various individuals and groups that are promoting this approach. Ignition Consulting Group and The Verasage Institue spring to the top of searches on the topic. Ignition even has a presentation on the topic posted on slideshare.net that is quite informative: Burying the Billable Hour.

So, what does this have to do with Project Management? In a study that Ignition and VeraSage conducted on behalf of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Association of National Advertiser's (ANA), the 2, top-rated agency value-drivers according to marketers were:

1. Working in a collaborative way with the client by creating an environment of mutual respect.
2. Ensuring that agency functions are integrated and agency divisions collaborate on behalf of the client

Along with the fact that Project Managers are often at the heart of conversations around pricing, these two tidbits should help give you voice on important discussions about evolving your agency's relationship with its clients. On the business development front, RFP's almost always allow responses for alternative means of compensation beyond the cost+ calculations they require. Putting a value-based option in front of a prospect isn't likely to get taken up at the outset, but at least it will show that your agency has some life.

Speak up. Watch out for the tar pits!

Project Management Success - Where's the Evidence?!

You may have heard the old saying, "Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan". Ironic and appropriate that the source of this piece of wisdom is unknown.

The best Project Managers are the unsung heroes of their agencies. I'm not knocking creatives or account management, but you know as well as I who gets the awards and the accolades, and if something is late or wrong, where the attention goes.

Precious few within an agency truly understand Project Management's value. Without PM's on-time/on-budget/on-spec/high-quality is a long-shot. One of my favorite illustrations of this point is from the film, Wag the Dog. Dustin Hoffman, playing Stanley Motts, the self-absorbed producer (feature film's version of a Project Manager) is hilarious. Check out this clip from Wag the Dog on YouTube (starts about 55 seconds in)



Motts again on the same topic:
ANGLE, INT THE LIMO. BREAN AND MOTTS IN THE BACKSEAT.

MOTTS: It's all, you know ... thinking ahead. Thinking Ahead. That's what producing is. (PAUSE) It's like being a plumber.

BREAN: Mmm...

MOTTS: You do your job right, nobody should notice.

I'm not in love with the plumber association. As long as we don't get known for "PM's crack", I suppose I can live with it.

Issue detection and avoidance, arguably Project Managers' greatest contributions, don't leave much physical evidence. Right, Stanely? "You do your job right, nobody should notice." I'm not suggesting Project Managers run around the agency shouting, "Look at me.". However, it's in your and your teams' best interests to "market" yourselves internally and externally whenever possible. One thing I have my team leaders do is submit a Project Management status report. This is generally a good business practice that gives quick reference for accomplishments and aides in the above mentioned risk detection/avoidance. I also ask my leads to send accolades they and their staff receive, which I pass up the food chain whenever I get the chance.

This was one recent note of appreciation from a particularly tuned-in Group Account Director:

"Thank you both for all of your time and attention on the XYZ scope. We know it always takes more back-and-forth than anyone expects but please know that none of your tireless efforts are lost on us." bless her heart.

This from an Executive Creative Director, while both his feet were firmly on the ground:

"I just wanted to drop you both a note to let you know how impressed I am with XXXX. She has performed exceptionally well on a very complex project, YYYYY. She has had to coordinate and schedule 3 separate offices and has done it with aplomb. Everyone has been really impressed with her performance and friendly, yet, professional demeanor. Thanks for putting her on this project, she's been a real asset to the team."

Project Management doesn't always get the credit it deserves, but it deserves far more credit than it gets. Keep it up. Try to get some attention. You deserve it!

Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF) - Project Managers' Friend and Foe

I was surfing the ad agency advocate sites and came across the Advertising Educational Foundation (AEF), which initially drew my ire. When I came across a section of well-articulated advice from industry veteran, Bruce Kelley, Vice Chairman, The Martin Agency, my temperature came down a few notches.

Guess what position isn't even mentioned among those detailed by the AEF on their Careers in Advertising page. Not surprisingly, Project Management doesn't make the list among: Account Management, Account Planning, Creative, Media, Market Research -not even a mention of Project Management in their general bucket of Interactive Marketing. Not that I expected much from an organization with such traditional roots. However, one might expect more from a board that includes the forward-thinking, power executive, Shelly Lazarus, Chairman and CEO of Ogilvy and Barry Wacksman, EVP & Chief Growth Officer R/GA, a stand-up guy who is as progressive as they come.

I know that my ire about Project Management being a missing link is a variation on the theme introduced in my December 8 post on Account Management / Project Management partnership. But their crime of omission bears repeating - especially from an organization that misses so big as it seeks to enrich understanding, which is expressed in their Mission Statement: ". . .the advertising industry's provider and distributor of educational content to enrich the understanding of advertising and its role in culture, society and the economy."

I'm not feeling too terribly negative today, so I offer this very strong contribution from the AEF site as well: Bruce Kelley, Vice Chairman, The Martin Agency is arguably part of the old guard agency establishment. However, the guy has a lot of experience and you'd be a fool not to at least listen. Although his advice is offered for Account Managers (I'll forgive his omission in this context), the section he authored on the AEF Web site, Memos for Account Management, is fine reading, especially for Project Managers. If this kind of thinking permeated the entire marketing ecosystem of agencies, publishers and third parties, the world would be a more orderly place - right, that's what we project managers are after? Among the topics he covers are: How to Push Back, How to be Proactive, Handling Crisis and How to Think Defensively.

One would think that just having these topics up for discussion among colleagues in an agency has got to foster a productive working environment that is marked by better collaboration internally and with clients. Although, you never know - the distance between memos, theory and on the ground experience can be vast. Would love to hear from any of you Martin alum or clients.

Pre-Managing Client Relationships

Here's a refreshing topic from Andreas Roell and Sarah Kotlova of Geary Interactive in the iMEDIA Connection newsletter: 6 reasons agencies want to strangle clients. Despite the reference to violence in the title (c'mon, we've all been there), their piece is about how to collaborate better with clients. They provide insights on how to work through issues that are endemic to a B2B service industry and ultimately form positive relationships with clients. Clearly Roell and Kotlova have been around the block a few times and offer some sage advice.

Their suggestions make reasonable sense. Unfortunately, the importance of logic and reason diminish in the relationship-success equation as issues heat up. In my experience, it is extremely difficult to address issues during or following flare-ups.

As a project management lead, I try to instill a preventive medicine approach with my teams. I like to conduct audits and assessments as part of the upstream Initiation and Definition phases of any project. Sessions in these phases usually cover expected and important topics like:

• defining objectives and strategies,
• uncovering insights about the target and competitors
• roles and use of relevant technologies

Importantly, we add an operational component, that seeks to establish the best working relationship between agency, clients and 3rd parties BEFORE and to AVOID strangling or being strangled. We define roles and responsibilities, establish review/approval cycle guidelines, and determine communication formats, processes and document-use (e.g. contact reports, status reports, change orders). Clients are very receptive to this early in a relationship or project and it pays dividends immediately.

Getting client engagements in a healthy place is critical when you're in the service business. Instilling this approach within an agency is important. Topics like this are perfect for running internal sessions with your teams. A simple exercise of breaking into small groups and throwing out a few, " What should you do if . . . " kind of scenarios and regrouping to share thoughts, generates lively interactions that help you guide the culture and personality of your agency - perhaps you'll find out that poison is better than strangling ; )

I applaud Roell and Kostlova for shining a light on these issues.

Update, May 2009: Topic rationally addressed by Bart Cleveland, Creative Director at McKee Wallwork Cleveland in AdAge.com - How to Manage Client Relationships in Perilous Times

Account Managers and Project Managers: Partners?

The relationship between the Account Management and Project Management teams is one that needs constant attention and definition. Like any partnership engaged in complex endeavors, there are complementary areas, supplementary areas and grey areas.

I've seen all points on the map from clear distinctions to planned reinforcement that form the foundation of strong partnerships. These models benefit both clients and agencies. Some agencies have Account Directors only and everyone else is a project manager. Some relegate the ugly, "just-get-the-job-done" details to the project managers and the glory to the Account team (and Creatives). Many agencies either don't understand the project management role or don't have it at all.

I hate (well not really) to put things in a competitive light, but the Account Managers do have an edge in that the role has always existed in the agency world and they benefit from external recognition. Guess which discipline is missing from the Agency Discipline's section on the AAAA's Web site. Project managers have a pretty uphill battle to define and claim their position in agencies. This funny video from Monster , which made the rounds a while ago, almost touches on the role when it mentions producers toward the end. Sadly, project management remains off the radar - even from a company like Monster that earns its keep selling the role to agencies.

This post by Lindsay Cotter on the Hill Holiday blog, HHblog: Rethinking Marketing, is inspiring in that she opines about the value of Account Management in, The Best Job in Advertising? . However, worse than no mention, is when your thunder is stolen. She concludes, with pleasure when describing the AAAA's 2008 Account Management Conference:

"Finally, we did not forget to tell our co-workers that the conference stressed the importance of account managers to an agency, as one peer put it, account management folks 'make sure the trains run on time.'"

Thoughts? Feelings feelings about our "partners"? About elevating Project Management?

Achieving balance in an agency

An interesting bit of insight about the inherent contradiction of running a business that relies in great part on intangibles like creativity, from Phil Johnson, who blogs on AdAge.com in the Small Agency Diary section. For example, from: Balancing the Billable Day vs. the Creative Way

"A strange truth about the agency business is that it's very difficult to define productivity. An hour on Twitter may lead to a breakthrough idea. Half a day storyboarding a concept may yield nothing useful. . . . I've concluded that the art of running an agency is learning how to inhabit both worlds at the same time."

No mention of how PM's who might help achieve the necessary balance, but nice to see critical issues like this being discussed.

Related to achieving balance in an agency:

What adds more value ?

• The strategically sound, beautifully designed campaign or The PM who does a double check to find and fix destination URL's that were pointing to the wrong pages.
  
  
• The incredibly insightful campaign analysis program developed by a team of geniuses or The PM who notices that the whole application is being run on a PC that is doubling as a plant stand next to a geek's desk and gets the thing ported to a proper server that is backed-up regularly.

Thoughts? Other examples?