As anyone who has ever run a media tour knows, there are a lot of moving parts to conducting a successful media tour.  Every piece must fit together to create the final product.

This applies to any sort of PR activation, whether it’s going to manifest online, on the TV, on the radio or in person.  Organization is a vital part of the process, no matter what shape it takes, and in this week’s look at agency life, we’re taking a dive into internal organization in the hopes that it may help others as it has us.

If there is no priority placed on organization, all the pieces will fall apart.  No, I’m not talking about making sure your desk is picked up and your pencils are in order.  I’m talking about project management.

From creation to post production, there needs to be a plan for how all the elements in your project will come together. Here’s a look at ours:

Workflow
You can’t put a cake into the oven until you add the eggs and mix up the batter, just like you can’t start editing the video until the script is written.  Creating a workflow document of every task that needs to be completed for every step of the process is extremely helpful, just like following the recipe if you want that cake to turn out well.

A checklist that everyone has access to keeps everyone on the same page.  Every member of that project will know what needs to be completed and when it should be done.  If everyone can make changes to that checklist, then any person can change it to in progress or completed.  That way, you don’t have several people working on the same task, and your team will know what needs to be done next.

Communication
With workflow as your foundation, communication should become the backbone of agency life. The importance of strong communication at every phase of a project can’t possibly be overstated.

Ironically, many media companies I’ve worked with lack strong internal communications.  At 4media, we strive to communicate with each other and with our clients to keep everyone on track and up to speed.

Over communicating is never a bad thing.  Repeating something to confirm an upcoming task or deadline is 100 percent okay, especially when you consider the alternative: Someone forgets, drops the ball, and your project is thrown into disarray.

Without strong internal communication, strong external communication can never follow.  One reason we make such an effort to communicate with each other is that communication with our clients would not be as effective.  And if you’re not communicating with your client, then what are you doing?

Communication Technology
Yes, we are going to talk about communication again because it is that important.

Any business could have multiple people working on one project from across the country, or even around the world.  The technology that is available for everyone to keep in contact is varied, and at 4media, we use multiple outlets outside of the classics like email and video chat.

Through document sharing services like SharePoint or Google Docs, it’s very easy to create the best organizational tactics for your team projects.  Folders are your friend! This system won’t be just for you, but for everyone working on the project.  This is a great way to share documents that will need to be visited repeatedly. So long as everyone has a link, they can upload documents for others and access the files already uploaded.

Everyone knows how to use a chat application, but we make use of Slack, which we employ a little differently.  Yes, we still have the direct message capabilities, but Slack also allows you to create channels, which we do for every project we are working on.  This way we can keep all of the conversations organized within each campaign, share documents easily, and pass on updates quickly.

Are you ready to feel heard, to have your questions answered in detail or to work with an agency that addresses your concerns as they arise? Give us a call, and let us show you the real value in internal organization.