Case Studies

(because it’s fun to make things better

and then brag about it a little)

CASE STUDY 1:

Account Team Turnaround

The Challenge

An independent ad agency needed to turnaround a low-performing team. Recent improvements in the strategy and creative departments had made the performance issues of the client services team impossible to ignore any longer. A full turnaround over the course of 12 - 18 months, with immediate wins, was needed.

The Solution

An audit revealed that while the company had recently adopted a new positioning and values, the client services team did not understand how to live into this new way of being. I developed and implemented: 

  • New team structure and streamlined titles

  • Behavior-based job descriptions that translated the company’s new values into specific behaviors for members of the client services team

  • Learning and development trainings to address critical knowledge gaps

  • 1:1 coaching across all levels of team

  • Bi-weekly review system that opened up new levels of mentorship and feedback

  • Process audits, refinement and trainings to improve most commonly used workflows

The Results

  • Increased productivity and effectiveness of individuals and the team as a whole

  • Increased client satisfaction/NPS scores

  • Secured $1MM+ in incremental scopes without pitching

  • Reduced department spend

  • Increased employee satisfaction

  • Attracted high-quality candidates for new roles

CASE STUDY 2:

Account Training + Coaching

The Challenge

An ad agency was suffering from a gap in critical skills in their junior- and mid-level employees. Managers were noticing recurring areas for improvement, and one-off management of the performance issues was becoming very time consuming and not yielding consistently high-quality results.

The Solution

I partnered with leaders and managers to evaluate the most critical learning gaps, then developed and facilitated training workshops on subjects such as:

  • Deck writing: stronger, more beautiful storytelling

  • How to give feedback to move projects forward

  • Writing strong meeting recaps

  • Improving listening skills and asking more powerful questions

  • Setting up creative work for clients and selling the idea

The Results

  • Reduced time managers needed to spend teaching/correcting employees

  • Increased confidence and refined skills, particularly among junior employees 

  • Positive qualitative feedback from attendees

  • Quicker project completion

  • Ability to delegate more work to more employees, while maintaining high standards

  • Reduced frustration across team as a whole

CASE STUDY 3:

The Special Sauce of Remote Work

The Challenge

A 65+ person team working across account, creative, strategy and production was adjusting to working remotely for the first time ever. The strong in-person culture transitioned to the remote environment for existing employees, but new employees joining the team were having difficulty coming into the culture and unique ways of working. It was taking longer for new hires to add value, costing the agency time and money.

The Solution

An audit revealed that much of the team culture was spread and maintained by in-person shadowing, with little written documentation. I developed and implemented: 

  • Team onboarding procedures and documents

  • Behavior-based job descriptions

  • Standardized 30/60/90 day plans for each job description

  • 1:1 coaching across all levels of team

  • Bi-weekly review system which opened up new levels of mentorship and feedback

The Results

  • Cost savings due to reducing the length of time for new employees to add value

  • Increased employee satisfaction and engagement among both new and legacy employees

  • Increased employee retention - majority of employees remained at agency beyond industry standards

  • Reduction of time and cost spent on developing one-off onboarding documents

  • The team eventually transitioned to a hybrid work model with ease

CASE STUDY 4:

Productization + Process Dev

The Challenge

An agency servicing a Fortune 500 client was looking to productize their offerings - principally, creating consistent processes and timelines. Client pressure meant they needed to produce creative work in a nimble manner. With a large creative output (700+  base assets per year), the team needed a system that could flex to handle a wide variety of deliverables.

The Solution

I partnered with leaders of each discipline to define their most commonly offered services, and associated timelines. Once all process variables were defined, I produced: 

  • A standardized process that allowed for interchangeable variables to accommodate project size, budget, and creative needs

  • Standardized timelines for all steps of the process

  • List of go-to project partners for most common deliverable types

  • Protocols to increase partner diversity, a major goal of the organization

The Results

  • Reduced time and cost spent on new project proposals and workflows

  • Quicker start time for new projects

  • Increased client satisfaction/NPS scores

  • Increased internal satisfaction

  • Increased diversity of production partners

  • Able to sell $2MM+ scope into new stakeholders within existing client organizations, thanks to clearly defined new products

Employee Growth Planning System

CASE STUDY 5:

The Challenge

An independent agency had developed a bold new vision. They decided to niche down on in important area. Rooted in a strong set of company values, the new vision was coming to life across the company. A critical piece of the puzzle was aligning their Employee Growth Planning System with the new vision, to ensure employees were working in accordance with the company’s values and supporting the mission overall.

The Solution

While auditing their current Growth Planning approach, leadership concerns and employee frustration emerged. They needed to develop an easy-to-use, consistent system that would be used for years to come. This included: 

  • Multi-stage Growth Planning System, which empowered individual managers and direct reports to own the process

  • Worksheets and templates to make system implementation easy and accessible to all

  • Rollout plan and training materials, including a company-wide deck and a more detailed version for department heads

  • Optional bi-weekly review template and system to encourage deeper and more meaningful 1:1s

The Results

  • Immediate increase in employee interest in Growth Planning

  • System rollout in progress; more results coming soon!