Setting Up Agencies for Success- ANA June FORWARD Article

Included in the June ANA issue of FORWARD is a thought-leadership article by Richard Benyon, CEO of Decideware, titled "Why the Right Scope of Work is So Important: An Effective Scope of Work Ensures the Right Work Gets Done in the Right Way".

In this article, Richard discusses how for some people, a scope of work is just an approval mechanism to get a purchase order in place so the agency can begin work. However, a well planned scope of work can provide benefits that every marketer wants:  having the right team, working on the right assignments, at the right time.  There are several steps that you can take to make sure you are working to set up your agencies for success:

1. Have a well defined and purposeful approval mechanism.  Standardized, defined approval systems can provide several benefits including:
   
   1. Approval speed is increased and work can being quicker.
   2. From a compliance perspective, there is an auditable trail.
   3. Having a clearly defined process with a workflow-enabled technology and the ability to track the status of people assigned to the scope, helps accelerate the process and identify bottlenecks before they happen.
2. Match different types of work with the appropriate agency type. Ensuring that the appropriate team is assigned to each unit of work will help achieve better outcomes. The article details how to classify resources and work to assist you in analyzing the proper seniority mix for each project.
3. Identify the compensation models best suited to the deliverables.  The article discusses the four compensation models available (commission, input, output and performance) as well as the types of work that an agency undertakes. Identifying the compensation models and deliverables best-suited to each agency can also be a useful way to achieve more efficient outcomes.

Taking pragmatic steps to set up your agencies for success will ultimately result in better outcomes and in turn better work. This in turn can increase brand performance without negatively impacting your relationship with your agencies.