• Web Design

Workflow Orchestration: Designing Effective Processes for a Design Agency

For most design agencies, completing client work on time and hitting project milestones is crucial to success. However, with many moving parts involving creative work, review cycles, approvals, and production, it can be challenging to keep projects on track. This is where implementing workflow orchestration comes in – the practice of designing, managing, integrating, and optimizing structured business processes to drive efficiency. 

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By mapping out workflows and standardizing certain steps, agencies can increase team alignment, reduce bottlenecks, and deliver better work to clients. However, adapting processes without stifling creativity takes thoughtful change management. When done right, it enables people to focus their energy on the parts of their role they enjoy most.

Current State Analysis

Before defining new workflows, agencies must fully understand existing practices through open, non-judgmental conversations. Where are opportunities to eliminate waste or mismatches between documented and real-world processes? Talking to team members performing the work daily uncovers pain points leaders may overlook.

Start by creating process maps of a few key agency offerings end-to-end. Outline each step, stakeholder involved, and inputs or outputs at transition points. Be open to critiques or differences in recollection. The goal is charting processes accurately before shifting perspectives to ask, “How could this be better?”

Guiding Principles for Optimization

Set design principles early to guide decisions on workflows moving forward: 

• Maintain creativity – Structure should spark, not limit, creative possibilities
• Respect skill sets – Match talent, interests, and bandwidth to roles
• Enable autonomy – Workflow flexibility empowers people in their work
• Standardize repetitious tasks – Save time on universal steps through consistency 
• Centralize information flows – Improve visibility and coordination agency-wide

These principles help build efficient systems without micromanaging talent. Work can still happen iteratively and organically within structured frameworks.

Key Areas for Process Improvement

While each agency has unique needs, there are typical areas of opportunity across design shops:

Creative Development Workflows

Creativity lies at the heart of most design work. But loose, unstructured ideation phases can lead to mismatched expectations between creatives and clients. Consider introducing a simple workflow process template:

1. Creative brief – Outline goals, target users, desired tone
2. Concepting – Explore a wide range of ideas before refining
3. Checkpoints – Stakeholder reviews at multiple milestones
4. Approvals – Align on direction before finalizing designs
5. Delivery – Prepare final files ready for production 

Build slack time for iteration between steps. Streamline micromanaging while ensuring visibility at key points. 

Resource Management

Design resources spread across too many concurrent projects risk slipping deadlines. Make sure your resourcing workflows match actual capacity, with a central calendar showing availability and deadlines. Establish clear prioritization rules for shifting resources between projects when needs change.

Client Communications

Who talks to the client when? Confusing or duplicate messages erode confidence while delayed responses cause frustration. Map out a timeline for communications, setting expectations upfront on review cycles and response lag. Identify sole contacts from both agency and client sides for consistency.

Production Handoff

Fumbled handoffs between design completion and production implementation create errors or quality issues. Set file naming conventions and share detailed specifications documents for each deliverable. Conduct kickoff calls for vendors detailing context and ideal timelines. 

Change Management Strategies

The most brilliant workflows fail if teams don’t embrace them. Win people over by clearly explaining “What’s in it for me?” – the benefits of aligned systems. Solicit input then incorporate feedback where possible so changes feel collaborative rather than top-down.

Address concerns about creativity loss directly by encouraging trial runs first. Allow individuals to suggest process tweaks after some experience. Offer additional training on new tools or approaches if needed while implementing gradually rather than overnight.

Measuring Success

Once you launch your updated workflows, track the adoption rates and impact through metrics like:

• Employee satisfaction scores
• Average project delivery times
• Work output per hour per employee
• Cost savings from task automation 

Watch for process portions creating confusion or bottlenecks. Be willing to refine further to strike the right balance between structure and flexibility for your agency’s needs.

Implementing Workflow Software

While manual workflows documented through flowcharts or standard operating procedures provide a solid foundation, software tools take orchestration to the next level. Workflow automation platforms like Zapier, Integromat, and Tray.io integrate existing systems to configure multi-step processes with built-in visibility and control.

For a design agency, this might involve setting up triggers where:

• A new project briefing added to a CRM like HubSpot automatically creates tasks in Asana for key team members to start initial research and planning
• When a project phase moves to “In Progress” status in Asana, the platform reminds stakeholders to complete a creative brief for approval before designers begin ideating concepts
• Design files uploaded to cloud storage like Dropbox notify the production manager to kick off their vendor review process
• Invoices generated by the accounting system are automatically logged as accounts receivable records and emailed to clients 

Beyond saving employees the hassle of manual data entry or communications, these automated workflows provide leaders visibility. Many platforms offer centralized dashboards to monitor tasks and flag any falling behind schedule. Some also have advanced functionality like:

• Route steps to different individuals based on rules
• Require sign-off before progression
• Split flows into parallel tracks
• Capture feedback or approvals at each stage

When evaluating options, ensure the platform integrates with your existing software stack for maximal benefit. Weigh factors like ease of building workflows, data accessibility, and notification or alert functionality. Partner with your IT group to align security protocols before launching it agency-wide.

Change Management Revisited

Embracing new systems technology on top of process change requires even more care to avoid disrupting operations or creativity. Have platform experts conduct hands-on training through building sample real-world workflows together. Guide individuals through their own critical workflows rather than just assigning training modules.

Encourage questions and constructive feedback around usability while supporting trial runs on lower-risk projects first. Build slack time for learning curves into the rollout schedule rather than expecting overnight adoption. Reward engagement by highlighting efficiency gains and time savings for individuals from automated workflows.

With a user-centered rollout backed by strong change management, workflow software takes orchestration to new heights for improved delivery, visibility, and creative capacity. Well-designed workflow orchestration allows design agencies to optimize efficiency without sacrificing quality or innovation. By taking a user-centered approach to process improvement – understanding pain points, inviting participation, and being willing to iterate – agencies can build harmony between structure and creativity. The reward is the capacity to take on more complex and fulfilling projects thanks to aligned systems.