Simon Severino, a business strategy coach, has a 90-day plan for when she coaches teams on project management: “What we do in 90 days is — month one, we free up 10 to 14 hours of their time by better organizing, better processes.” This is the power of project management for ad agencies. Done right (and using the right tools), your agency can streamline processes to deliver high quality deliverables in less time. But what do the “right tools” look like?

Has your agency grown in the past few years, despite the numerous disruptions we’ve been through? If so, you’re not alone. Marketing as an industry is still growing fast. There are 54% more agencies today than five years ago, and the average staff size has grown at the same time. If you’ve enjoyed some of this growth, then it’s possible you’ve outgrown your current agency pricing model.

A qualified project manager with the proper skill set, experience, and attitude is critical for successful project management. Project managers oversee the entire project lifecycle, from planning and scheduling to execution and delivery, ensuring projects are completed on time, within budget, and to the agreed-upon quality standards. They are also responsible for risk management, stakeholder management, and resource allocation.

General Electric CEO Jack Welch once said: “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” So, when it comes to project management, who’s responsible for this all-important mission? Today, there are two primary project management roles with the responsibility of overseeing projects and guiding project teams to the promised land: project managers and project coordinators.

Nishar’s quote perfectly sums up the diverse challenges of managing product development. Product managers must be able to think strategically, plan out tasks, and coordinate the execution of product initiatives. But let’s face it: Juggling user research, product planning, prototyping, and customer feedback can be overwhelming. That’s why having the right product management tools in your arsenal is essential.

Managing change, creating common vision, and reaching desired outcomes are the three most vital priorities for anyone responsible for leading teams. In many agencies, this includes project managers, product managers, or both. While the names and day-to-day tasks of project managers and product managers may be similar, it’s worth understanding the significant differences between the roles. At a basic level, it’s as simple as it sounds.

When late payments are the rule and not the exception, the stability of your agency is at risk. Find out how to maintain cash flow with our five tips for getting clients to pay on time, every time. A recent Chaser study finds that 87% of businesses report that their invoices get paid after the due date. If you don’t have a system for ensuring clients pay you on time, you’re limiting your growth and sacrificing almost half your revenue.

A decade ago, if you asked an agency owner how they managed their projects, the answer would have been one of two things: a whiteboard with sticky notes, or a complicated Excel spreadsheet. Today, thanks to technological advancements, artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the project management space by offering agencies a more streamlined approach.

Our regular webinar viewers will know we’ve been leaning into the topic of “time” for some time now. We’ve looked at how time impacts everything from an agency’s pricing strategy, to workplace culture, and everything in between. In this month’s webinar, we went back to basics to focus on what is possibly the biggest time-related challenge facing agency leaders today: getting staff to actually track their time in the first place!

According to SBO Financial and the rule of thirds, marketing agencies should be hitting around 30% net profit. But, as any agency owner will tell you, hitting this benchmark is harder than you might think. It involves forecasting, keeping a lid on project costs, managing billable hours, translating financial data, and countless other things. Proactive project financial management sets agencies on the right track to protect their bottom lines.