Project Management Checklist for the Modern Agency [download]

Delivering amazing, creative work is only a small part of the battle when it comes to running a successful agency. The emphasis on creative delivery is understandable–good work is what your clients came to you for, and good work is what gets you paid. But a lack of emphasis on the agency project management process can seriously derail your creative team’s best efforts. This is where a Project Management Checklist can help keep you on track. 

Without a strong agency project management process, even the most talented creatives suffer from poor time management, lack of project clarity and confusion, leaving agency leaders to risk missed deadlines, scope creep and refusal to pay. Mitigate these obstacles before they arise with a clearly defined agency project management process that helps agency leaders guide creatives from project onboarding through to completion.

Even the most organized project managers need to take time to regularly reevaluate processes for efficiencies. We’ve organized our own project management process into a downloadable agency project management checklist. We’ll review best practices for things like:

• Coordinating discovery meetings
• Identifying key project stakeholders
• Writing through creative briefs
• Budgeting
• Outlining deliverables
• Timeline setting
• Risk management

Does your creative agency already have a clearly defined and documented project management process? We’d love to hear about it. Send us your tips or comments below.

Before the ink starts to dry on your project sign off, it’s time to begin managing your project for success.

Client Discovery Meeting

Your initial meeting with your client sets the tone for the rest of your relationship. You’ll get to know their brand, what problems they are facing, and begin planning how your agency can help. To gain a deep understanding of the client’s needs, discuss in detail with the client about their target audience, competitors, goals, and expectations.

Be prepared for the meeting with a list of guiding questions, and actively listen to the client’s feedback. Make sure you take notes since your creatives will refer to these notes later. 

Develop a Client Communication Plan

A clear communication plan is vital to stay in touch with the client and ensure all information is exchanged correctly and timely. You should set out communication guidelines for mutual success.

Here are some questions you should consider when building a communication plan:

• How does your client want to be communicated with? Determine when a specific channel should be used among various communication channels like email, phone, and video conferencing. For example, when there’s a change in the project, the client should inform you quickly via phone, then write an email to confirm the information.
• Will you be having regular calls or meetings? Set clear expectations for communication frequency and response time to avoid any misunderstandings.
• Will members of your creative team liaise directly with the client, or do you have an account or project manager who will handle this? Remember that having a focal point will streamline the process and remove disparate pieces of information coming from multiple people. On the other hand, if a project consists of independent sections, you can appoint multiple team members to discuss directly with the client to save time and act promptly.

Write an Agency Creative Brief

A good creative brief sets up both project management and creatives for success. This will be your creatives’ go-to document for guidelines and something you can refer back to throughout the project to ensure you stay within the scope and complete all your deliverables. 

A clear creative brief also helps stimulate creativity by providing a foundation for brainstorming and ideation. This clarity ensures that the agency’s team comprehensively understands the project and can create effective solutions that align with the client’s needs.

Looking for a creative brief template? Hey, we have one of those too.

Identify Key Project Stakeholders

A stakeholder is an individual, group, or organization that has a vested interest in the project’s outcome and is either affected by the project’s completion or failure. For smaller projects, this may be simple. But for larger-scale projects, you’ll want to create a hierarchy of people involved in project communications and success. Here’s how.

Start by creating a list of all potential stakeholders and analyzing their level of involvement, influence, and impact on the project’s result. This analysis will help you determine the key stakeholders who play important roles throughout the project’s lifecycle. 

You should also establish a stakeholder engagement strategy to ensure everyone is informed and engaged in the project’s success. Involve all stakeholders early in the project planning phase to get their buy-in and avoid potential risks.

Identify the Client and Creative Teams

Based on your agency’s capacity and resources, plan out which employees you’ll need to allocate to the project. This will be affected by your project timeline, budget, scope of work, goals, and objectives. 

The client team typically consists of designated individuals of the client, such as project managers, stakeholders, and subject matter experts. 

The creative team comprises members with diverse skill sets, such as designers, copywriters, art directors, and developers, who work together to develop innovative solutions to align with the project’s objectives. When choosing the creative team, you should consider the team’s workload, skill set, and expertise. Sometimes, your agency may need consultants or freelancers to augment the in-house team’s capacity and capabilities.

Outline Deliverables and Project Plan

You’ll likely have already included your list of high-level deliverables within your project signoff and creative brief, but project planning involves breaking it down into its smallest parts. 

While high-level deliverables are the outcomes the project aims to achieve, detailed tasks are the specific steps needed to complete the deliverables. By breaking down the project into manageable chunks, team members can focus on specific tasks and ensure timely delivery while preventing risks such as delays, budget overruns, and scope creep.

Once your deliverables are in order, set up tasks and subtasks within your project management software and assign them accordingly. Mapping everything out early allows you, your creatives and your clients to have a visual understanding of project progress.

Plan for success: Improve your project planning and execution

Use the project management checklists to ensure your creative projects run smoothly from start to finish.