Situation
In 2014, clients demanded that Simantel expand its capabilities to include digital marketing strategy and technology development. Failing to do so would weaken the company’s competitive advantage and result in revenue loss. Embracing this change would open new revenue streams, solidify its competitive advantage, and improve operations and cost-efficiency.
To achieve this, an agency-wide digital transformation was necessary. This agency-wide transformation required expanding the workforce, retraining existing employees, and reimagining the operations model, processes, technology, and team structure.
Challenges
Specifically, we faced challenges in establishing efficient workflows, ensuring consistent strategic deliverables, and improving internal communication.
Workflow & Collaboration Inefficiencies
Lack of Standardized Workflows: There was no shared understanding of how work should be approached, leading to inefficiency and high costs.
Undefined Organizational Structure: The organizational structure was not well-defined, causing confusion about decision-making authority.
Inconsistent Strategic Deliverables
Impact on Profitability and Efficiency: Lack of detailed strategy documents impacted project profitability and execution efficiency.
Variable Project Quality: Inconsistent strategic deliverables across projects led to varied quality and additional time and resources for implementation.
Internal Communication Challenges
Communication Barriers with Workforce Growth: Rapid workforce growth created communication challenges, with no secure internal channel for collaboration or knowledge sharing.
Informal Information Sharing: Critical information was often shared informally, impacting onboarding and disadvantaging the remote workforce.
Actions
As a Strategy Director and member of the agency’s leadership team, I led this digital transformation effort. In collaboration with company leaders and peers, I undertook the following actions:
Developed and Implemented a Comprehensive Transformation Plan
- Collaborated with the executive team to plan and scope the business transformation effort.
- Prepared a business case outlining the cost of maintaining the status quo.
- Defined the project plan, budget, timelines, and costs for a multi-phase implementation.
Redesigned Business Processes, Workflows, and Team Organization Model
- Delivered an as-is business process map identifying waste, redundancy, and challenges.
- Conducted fishbone analysis to uncover root causes.
- Redesigned the team model, emphasizing cross-functional collaboration and enhanced client engagement.
Established a Strategic Framework and Toolkit for All Employees
- Created a strategic framework and toolkit, including standard tools, templates, and guidance documents.
- Developed a modular Strategy Plan Template covering situational overview, goals, creative and brand strategy, messaging, content, and measurement strategy.
- Provided tactical planning templates for execution team members, such as requirements, use cases, and content audits.
- Developed visual design templates for wireframes, flowcharts, personas, sitemaps, and experience maps.
Established a Knowledge Sharing Intranet
- Created a secure, digital knowledgebase for internal communication and collaboration.
- Developed a plan to expand the knowledgebase capacity and create a more interactive experience.
Implemented a Change Management Plan
- Developed and executed a change management plan to minimize resistance and increase acceptance.
- Conducted readiness assessments.
- Executed internal communication and training plans.
Results
Improved Workflow and Collaboration:
- Streamlined processes and increased collaboration across the agency.
- Achieved a shared understanding of processes and greater consideration of downstream impacts.
- Enabled the team to refocus time and energy on work output and innovation.
Consistent Strategic Deliverables:
- Efficiency gains in the development of strategic plans and processes.
- Smoother hand-offs between strategic and execution teams.
- Consistency across accounts in approach and work product.
Enhanced Internal Communication:
- Improved communication and knowledge sharing.
- Increased collective intelligence and reinforced company vision and culture.
- Facilitated idea sharing and collected employee feedback, bringing the remote team closer.
Additional Details: Transformation Plan
Comprehensive plan included to-be process map, guidance manual, new templates, team model, and technology plan.
Additional Details: Creating a company-wide strategic toolkit to ensure consistent, high-quality work in a cost-effective manner
Situation
During this time, corporate digital marketing strategies were becoming increasingly complex as the industry learned how to use new digital technologies, and new technologies emerged constantly. The agency needed to deliver high-quality, customized digital strategies to large organizations with diverse client bases and industries. Using cookie-cutter approaches that did not incorporate new digital technologies would lead to mundane marketing, flat results, and potentially losing clients. However, in the face of this change, the agency experienced challenges with strategy quality, consistency, and translating strategy into action.
Key Challenges:
- Strategic deliverables were inconsistent from one project to another. Strategic process varied widely.
- Strategies lacked the granularity and detail needed for implementation team members. Consequently, additional time and resources were often needed to bring team members up to speed.
- The inconsistency in approach, process, and deliverables made it difficult to develop and manage time, resources, and budget, which negatively impacted project profitability.
Actions
I developed a strategic framework and toolkit that includes an integrated suite of standard tools and templates, as well as guidance on how to use them. This enabled the team to: use a flexible framework that can be adapted to various scenarios, consistently produce high-quality work products, and close the gap between strategy and execution.
Strategy Plan Template
Modular template which provides framework for outlining integrated marketing strategies. Components include:
- Situational Overview
- Business & Marketing Goals
- Audiences & Goals
- Creative Strategy
- Brand Strategy
- Messaging Strategy
- Content Strategy
- Channel Strategy (Media, website, MA, social, etc.)
- Measurement Strategy
Tactical Planning Templates
Set of functional planning templates that decompose strategic ideas into smaller pieces. Especially useful for execution team members that require specific direction.
Examples: Business, functional, technical requirements, use cases, task analysis, content inventory, content audits, event tagging, form strategy, messaging matrix, etc.
Visual Design Templates
Collection of design templates used to visualize strategic and tactical elements. Includes:
- Wireframes (lo-fi, hi-fi)
- Flowcharts
- Personas
- Task map
- Sitemaps
- User flows
- Experience maps
- Ecosystem
- Iconography
Playbook
Provides a framework for strategic planning. Includes direction on how to:
- Complete Strategy Plan and other tactical planning templates.
- How to manage the ideation and execution process.
- Uncover and prioritize marketing needs.
- How to select and plan strategic elements that meet business and user needs.
Tools & Techniques
Many tools are used in the strategic process to build presentations and visuals. This folder includes collection of:
- Tutorials for using tools (OmniGraffle, Sketch, Adobe Experience Design, etc.)
- Techniques and best practices for visualizing UX/ UI designs and/or prototyping; established visual vocabulary
Deliverables
Folder which includes collection of previous deliverables to be used for ideas and inspiration.