9 Best Practices For Efficient Agency Collaboration

Consider your agency lands a big contract, and you’re excited to start. But once you get to work, the project quickly becomes overwhelming. To get things done, you need to collaborate with another agency that has the expertise you lack. Whether coordinating a merger or working on a client project, collaboration can be tricky, especially when you’re not on the same team. There are different processes, tools, and communication styles to navigate.

And without proper organization, you can easily get lost in the shuffle. You're not alone if you’ve ever been in a similar situation. Many agencies struggle to collaborate, but the best agency management software can help. This guide will offer valuable insights into agency collaboration to help you achieve your goals, such as an all-in-one toolkit to grow productized services.

Orchestra is a solution designed to help agencies grow their productized services, and it’s beneficial for boosting internal and external collaboration. With Orchestra, you can organize the details of your productized service, create a clear roadmap for success, and invite other agencies to collaborate with you on the project.

What Is Agency Collaboration and How Does It Work?

Agency collaboration refers to working together within an agency to achieve common goals and meet client needs. Internal team collaboration emphasizes the alignment and cooperation among team members, departments, or even across different agency locations, ensuring a unified approach to project execution and problem-solving.

Initial Collaboration Setup: Defining Roles and Responsibilities

When two or more agencies decide to work together on a project, they start by defining their specific roles. For instance, a client might bring in an ad agency to oversee the overall campaign and a PR agency to handle media outreach.

Often, one agency is designated as the “lead” and takes responsibility for managing the project timeline, setting deliverables, and coordinating between teams. Next, the agencies discuss and establish protocols: sharing files, exchanging updates, and reporting to the client. They also agree on key performance indicators (KPIs) and set deadlines to ensure they’re aligned on project goals.

Project Planning and Strategy Alignment: Getting on the Same Page

The lead agency typically organizes a joint meeting to review the project’s objectives, strategy, and client expectations. In this meeting, each agency presents its approach based on its expertise and determines how to integrate its efforts seamlessly.

For example, if the project is a product launch, the digital marketing agency might outline a strategy for social media advertising while the PR agency discusses securing press coverage. They’ll coordinate to ensure social posts align with media releases, creating a cohesive campaign experience.

Coordinated Execution of Tasks: Working Together to Get the Job Done

With roles and plans in place, the agencies move into the execution phase. The lead agency ensures that each task is completed on schedule and checks that the outputs align with the overall campaign strategy.

This might involve reviewing social media posts, press releases, or ad creatives before they go live. Agencies regularly sync up to exchange updates on their progress, address any issues, and make adjustments if needed. For instance, the ad agency may share metrics from an ad campaign that could inform the PR agency’s media approach.

Data Sharing and Feedback Loops: Using Real-Time Insights to Improve the Project

The agencies share data, assets, and feedback throughout the project to refine their approaches. Real-time insights, like ad performance data or public responses, are shared across teams to inform any necessary adjustments. For instance, if the digital agency notices that a particular ad is performing better than expected, they might share these insights with the PR team, which could tailor media pitches to focus on similar messaging.

A shared project management platform often tracks deliverables and feedback and organizes everything. This transparency ensures that all agencies are working with the latest data, preventing miscommunication and keeping everyone on the same page.

Reporting and Analysis: Reviewing the Project Together 

At the end of the campaign, the lead agency typically compiles a report with input from each team, evaluating how each component performed. They analyze the effectiveness of PR, social media, advertising, and other elements and then present these findings to the client. Agencies often conduct a joint debrief to discuss what went well, their challenges, and how they could improve future collaborations. This debrief can also help them refine their processes and foster smoother partnerships in the future.

Benefits of Agency Collaborations

1. Expanded Service Offering: Unlock Access to Comprehensive Solutions  

Agencies often specialize in different areas. When two agencies partner up, they can combine their unique skill sets to create an expanded service offering for clients. Imagine a creative agency that excels in visual storytelling and an SEO firm that helps websites rank on Google. Together, the agencies can create a comprehensive solution for clients that incorporates stunning creative assets and a strategic approach to performance. Working together, they can improve their operations and deliver better client results.

2. Access to New Clients: Expand Your Reach Through Agency Partnerships  

Different agencies often serve different client bases. By partnering, agencies can access new markets and demographics, potentially increasing their client base. For instance, if one agency primarily serves technology companies and the other has a foothold in the retail sector, both can benefit from an expanded customer reach.

3. Shared Resources: Reduce Overhead Costs and Boost Efficiency  

Sharing resources can lead to significant cost savings and increased efficiency. This can include everything from physical office space to software tools. By leveraging shared resources, partners can cut operational costs, allocate funds more efficiently, and streamline processes, leading to a better bottom line.

4. Shared Risk: Minimize Uncertainties in New Ventures  

In any new venture or project, there are inherent risks involved. By forming a partnership, these risks can be distributed among the parties, making it safer for agencies to undertake ambitious endeavors. Shared risk can encourage innovation and exploration of new market opportunities that an agency might be hesitant to pursue alone.

5. Increased Innovation: Foster Fresh Ideas Through Collaboration  

The coming together of two agencies with unique perspectives can spark fresh ideas and foster innovation. This can lead to developing new products, services, or strategies to give the partnership a competitive edge. The cross-pollination of ideas between the partner agencies can lead to breakthrough solutions.

6. Skill Development: Upskill Your Team Through Agency Partnerships  

When agencies partner, they gain access to each other’s expertise and knowledge. This can lead to upskilling of the teams, resulting in an overall increase in competency. The exchange of skills and expertise can enhance the overall value delivered to clients.

7. Competitive Advantage: Stand Out from Your Competitors  

An agency partnership can help build a competitive advantage. When you combine unique capabilities, you can offer something that your competitors can’t. This distinction can help attract more clients and potentially improve the agencies’ market positions.

8. Improved Credibility: Boost Your Reputation with a Strategic Partnership  

A partnership between two well-respected agencies can elevate their reputations further. Clients often perceive partnerships between reputable agencies as a sign of quality, which can enhance credibility and foster client trust. This increased reputation can boost customer loyalty and attract new business.

Try Orchestra for Free to Grow Your Productized Service Today

Launch your productized service effortlessly with Orchestra's all-in-one growth toolkit. Designed for creatives ready to scale, Orchestra provides a branded, white-labeled client portal, task management, and real-time analytics, with no coding needed—just your Stripe account.

Whether you’re a designer, developer, or copywriter, Orchestra streamlines your workflow. It lets you collaborate with clients seamlessly while maintaining a private workspace with your team. Add integrations like Slack and webhooks to customize your setup and deliver a branded experience. Enhance your service with a platform built to grow alongside you; try Orchestra for free and develop your productized service today!

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9 Best Practices For Efficient Agency Collaboration

1. Unlock Efficiency with Orchestra

Orchestra's all-in-one growth toolkit allows agencies to launch their productized services quickly and efficiently. Built specifically for creative professionals, the platform helps you streamline your workflow so you can focus on serving your clients. With Orchestra, you get a white-labeled client portal to create a branded customer experience.

You also gain access to task management features to keep your team organized and on track, plus real-time analytics to help you measure your performance and make improvements. Whether you’re a designer, developer, or copywriter, Orchestra enables you to collaborate with clients seamlessly while maintaining a private workspace with your team. You can also add integrations like Slack and webhooks to customize your setup and elevate your service with a platform built to grow alongside you.

Try Orchestra for free today to grow your productized service.

2. Establish Clear Expectations from the Start

Clients often come to agencies with unspoken goals and objectives. These assumptions can create misalignment between your agency and your client. For instance, a client may seek leads but want to increase brand awareness. Without asking the right questions, you may launch into the project only to find out later that you’re not meeting the client’s expectations.

Avoid this scenario by establishing clear goals right from the start.  Mark Ritson, a brand consultant, emphasizes the importance of alignment on goals, stating that “if you don’t know what success looks like, you’ll never reach it.” He advises agencies to question clients' ultimate objectives thoroughly, reminding them that “brand awareness is as valuable as leads, but each needs its own strategy.” Asking these tough questions early helps to avoid misaligned expectations, particularly in cases where clients equate brand visibility with immediate conversions.

3. Cultivate a Supportive Team Environment

Before successfully collaborating with an external client, you need to foster a culture of teamwork within your agency. Start by creating an environment where collaboration is encouraged and just part of the work-life. Help your staff feel like they’re part of something bigger. They’re more likely to be proactive about collaborating and contributing. Here’s how you can foster a collaborative culture:

Lead by Example

This is the biggest one. Your leadership team at your agency has to model the collaborative behavior you want to see from your frontline staff. They need to see you actively seeking input (especially from them), giving kudos and shoutouts to those that deserve it, and crossing silos. They’re more likely to follow suit if they see you collaborating.

Cross-Departmental Workshops

One issue with collaboration is having separate departments with separate goals and needs. Can you combat this by bringing people from those different departments together for a team-building workshop or brainstorming session and working on a client’s new campaign? Don’t just include the design and ad departments in the brainstorming session.

Include those who might not be part of the team working on this project. First, they may bring some unique and great ideas to the table. Second, they’ll get used to working with other departments and better understand and empathize with other teams. Third, they’re more likely to contribute to the overall agency when they see their ideas' impact on clients they’re not working with.

Celebrate Team Success

Give shoutouts and kudos to teams for collaborating. You can even do this by offering rewards and incentives. During your weekly team meeting, include a time for recognition and shoutouts. Give the winning team or team member a $5 gift card to the nearest cafe. Or treat collaborative teams with an outing or lunch—Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar, advocates for fostering creativity through cross-functional collaboration.

At Pixar, they implemented open brainstorming sessions involving people from various departments. “Great ideas come from anywhere,” he says, “and when people from different areas collaborate, they produce work that’s richer and more robust.” Pixar's approach proves that integrating team members from different departments fosters creativity and empathy, enhancing the agency’s collaborative culture.

4. Agree on Processes and Workflows

How you onboard a new client and the processes and workflows you agree on during that period will determine the relationship's success or failure. You need to identify precisely how the work will get done - who’s in charge of what? Usually, the client will want to participate in some respect, even if it is just overseeing the work or signing off on the creative.

But it would help if you discovered how involved they want to be and built a process around that. In practice, you should document the processes, workflows, and accountability for all the work you will do for a client and use this documentation to keep them informed and confident. Most of this documentation will be replicable across clients with a few tweaks. You may develop a resource library of process documentation from which you can draw.

An essential part of documenting processes is sharing them with clients or other necessary stakeholders in a secure cloud-based environment. Bob Greenberg, founder of R/GA, stresses the value of transparent workflows in client relationships. R/GA is known for its substantial project documentation and client onboarding processes, which he attributes to the agency’s success. “Clients want to feel informed but not micromanaged. By sharing clear workflows and documented processes with them, you set expectations and allow them to trust your process.”

5. Foster Transparent Communication

Clear and open communication is so vital to successful ad agency collaboration. Your agency always has client deadlines and high expectations, so the stakes are high. You need your team to communicate well and often. If they aren’t, you run into bottlenecks, miscommunication, and mistakes on deliverables. Here’s how you can foster transparent communication:

Regular Check-Ins

Your team needs to have recurring check-ins. Host 15-minute standups daily to review what’s on each staff member’s plate and what might keep them from completing those tasks. Or set up an office-wide weekly check-in so everyone’s on the same page.

Open Feedback Loops

Ask your team members to share feedback before, during, and after projects. They will know what roadblocks are popping up and where there is room for improvement. They’re called front-line staff for a reason–they’re on the frontlines, which means they know what’s happening and have ideas on how to get back on track.

Active Listening

Nothing shows open communication like active listening. Make sure your team feels heard, especially when getting their feedback! You can create a collaborative culture by building that culture around transparent communication. Sir Martin Sorrell, S4 Capital, Sorrell, a significant advocate for transparency, believes that “clear communication is the key to accountability.” Sorrell’s teams use daily briefings to keep everyone in sync and foster transparency. He explains that “communication isn’t just a courtesy; it’s essential for efficiency and trust.”

6. Deliver a Report Regularly

Agencies make a considerable mistake when collaborating with clients: to go silent. You settle into an engagement, and everything is humming nicely - in your eyes, at least. But underneath the surface, your client becomes agitated and unaware of exactly what you are doing. When clients voice their concerns, it's often too late - you've already lost them.

So, it would be best to create a regular reporting cadence to inform the client of progress toward the agreed-upon goals. How often you report back to clients depends on the relationship. It should be at least monthly, but some clients will crave reassurance more frequently. You should discuss and agree on the reporting cadence at the start of the engagement.

Michael Farmer, author of Madison Avenue Manslaughter, has observed the consequences of poor client reporting and stresses the importance of maintaining a consistent reporting cadence. He notes that “keeping clients informed prevents surprises and reassures them of progress.” He recommends that agencies share weekly or biweekly updates that cover goal progress and any challenges encountered.

7. Break Down Silos Between Teams

The dreaded silo. When different departments or teams work on different things, you run into fragmented communication and project execution. One team might not know what another team is doing—on the same project! Here’s how you can break down these silos so you have successful agency collaboration:

Cross-Departmental Meetings

We know, we know. Another meeting? However, those regular check-ins we mentioned above apply here, too. Those regular meetings should include the different departments so they can share their progress and challenges. This way, your teams know how their work affects the other teams.

Collaborative Brainstorms

Loop those varying departments together so they can collaborate in brainstorming sessions. Do you have the creative and strategy teams in the same brainstorming session? Baby, you’ve got yourself a stew! The different perspectives just mean you have more robust and more creative ideas.

Shared Ownership

Assign projects so multiple departments have joint ownership over the deliverable. Then you’re forcing your teams to collaborate well! It can be hard to combat silos between your teams, but we’re hoping these tips help. When you’re breaking down silos, your separate departments can become one big team.

Scott Belsky, chief product officer at Adobe, encourages agencies to “break down barriers between teams to enable cross-functional creativity.” He highlights how Adobe’s creative and engineering teams collaborate through collaborative brainstorming sessions to produce customer-centric solutions. “If you want innovative ideas, put different minds together and let them brainstorm. Fresh ideas often emerge from unexpected places.”

8. Use the Right Tools

Agency tools form the foundation of a successful agency-client relationship. The right software will significantly improve your collaboration, whether it’s your workflows and processes, delivery, reporting, or communication channels. When choosing your agency toolset, consider the following aspects of cooperation:

Planning 

Mapping precisely what you will do for your client and assigning tasks to the relevant people will give all critical stakeholders visibility into what’s happening. A project management tool like Asana is an excellent example of this.

Feedback and Approval

With feedback and approval processes, you're likely to meet client expectations. Google Docs is great for feedback and comments on the run, and you may find that other tools you're using for campaign delivery, such as ShortStack for agencies, have robust team collaboration features.

Communication

Beyond email, you will likely communicate via video conferencing and a chat application. Zoom and Slack fit the bill here. Reporting - If you want to bring all your reporting and analytics into a single dashboard, Orchestra is worth checking out. If you choose the right tools for collaboration, you will significantly improve your agency's perception of clients and retention rate.

Shane Snow, author and co-founder of Contently, underscores the importance of investing in tools that simplify collaboration. He explains, “The right tools make collaboration feel effortless. Choose platforms that allow for clear project tracking, feedback loops, and communication so you avoid wasting time on administrative headaches.”

9. Standardize Processes and Workflows

We talked about templatizing at one point, but we didn’t spend as much time on it there as we should have. So, let’s dig deeper! To have successful agency collaboration, you need to have some consistency. Standardize your workflow and processes so your whole team knows what to expect, when, and what they need to do. Here are some ways to standardize your workflows:

SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)

Spend time creating SOPs for operational work like client onboarding, project timelines and tasks, and reporting. Everyone should have access to these so your whole agency is on the same page.

Agency Collaboration Templates

Use agency collaboration templates for creative briefs, timelines, or project reports. Templates lower the risk of mistakes.

Training and Onboarding

Train all team members in standardized processes from the get-go. This ensures new hires or freelancers know how to work within your system immediately. Standardizing workflows across teams and projects helps reduce confusion and improves overall efficiency. Alex Bogusky, co-founder of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, highlights the importance of standardized workflows in ensuring efficiency and consistency. He implemented a Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) system for client onboarding and project timelines, enabling his agency to scale without sacrificing quality. “When your processes are consistent, you free up mental energy for creativity.”

10 Best Agency Collaboration Tools For All Your Needs

1. Launch Your Productized Service with Orchestra 

Orchestra's all-in-one growth toolkit helps creative agencies launch their productized services. This software creates a branded, white-labeled client portal for your business, with built-in task management, real-time analytics, and no coding needed to get started—just your Stripe account.

Whether you’re a designer, developer, or copywriter, Orchestra streamlines your workflow. The platform lets you collaborate with clients seamlessly while maintaining a private workspace with your team. You can add integrations like Slack and webhooks to customize your setup and deliver a branded experience.  When you’re ready to elevate your service, try Orchestra for free to grow your productized service today.

2. Slack for Communication 

Slack is powerful team collaboration software that offers the following features: Instant messaging, File transfers, Powerful message search capability, and a Modern interface for managing channels and direct messages. These features help teams stay connected and focus on important tasks at hand. Slack also offers seamless integration with a wide range of project management apps, keeping all essential information in one place and boosting productivity.

3. Teams for Communication 

Microsoft Teams is one of the best collaboration tools, providing a comprehensive collaboration experience, integrating chat, video meetings, and file sharing and seamless integration with other Microsoft products. Its robust feature set allows distributed teams to streamline processes and increase productivity. With efficient channel management, file transfer, and video conferencing capabilities, Microsoft Teams is a desirable choice for businesses seeking a unified collaboration experience.

4. Google Docs for Word Processing 

Google Docs is a powerful online word processing and business collaboration tool that allows users to create, edit, and share documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in real-time. This online collaboration software offers various features like formatting options, inserting images and links, and collaborating with others on the same document simultaneously. Plus, multiple users can track and update changes in real-time.

5. Filestage for Collaborative Review and Approval 

Filestage is a unique workflow management platform allowing team members to collaborate on digital content online. It streamlines and automates your project review and approval processes while ensuring secure file sharing that complies with some of the top regulatory laws. No installation is necessary; your stakeholders can review and approve without registering an account.

6. Asana for Project Management 

Asana is a comprehensive project management solution that helps teams remain organized and on track by offering features such as task assignments, deadline tracking, and strategic planning. Its user-friendly interface makes it simple for team members to delegate tasks, add followers to projects, and monitor deadlines. Asana’s compatibility with other applications such as Slack, Google Drive, and Dropbox further enhances its collaborative capabilities, making it a popular choice for teams looking for an effective project management tool.

7. Monday.Com for Project Management 

Monday.com is a user-friendly project management platform with visually appealing and customizable interfaces, offering features like task tracking, team collaboration, and integration with other tools. This platform allows teams to create custom boards, automate repetitive tasks, and keep everyone in the loop throughout the project lifecycle. Although Monday.com can be costly for larger teams, its comprehensive range of features and customization options make it a strong contender in the project management space.

8. Dropbox for File Sharing 

Dropbox is a widely utilized cloud storage service that offers real-time collaboration, file sharing, and integration with various tools, enabling teams to collaborate on documents and projects effectively. Its intuitive, user-friendly interface and excellent video quality make it a popular choice for remote teams, freelancers, and small businesses. It’s become a go-to communication tool for many. When evaluating Dropbox for your team’s needs, consider the limited storage limits for free users and the high cost of paid subscriptions.

9. Figma for Design Collaboration 

Figma is a collaborative design tool that offers the following features:

• Real-time editing

• Commenting

• Prototyping

• A modern pen tool

• Instant arc designs

• Responsive design with Auto Layout

• Plugins for stock imagery and flow diagrams.

These features enable designers to create visually stunning and interactive designs while working seamlessly with their teams. Figma’s user-friendly interface and powerful features make it a popular choice for design teams looking to enhance their collaboration capabilities.

10. Zoom for Online Meetings 

Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing platform that was founded in 2011. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the platform has significantly increased in popularity as remote work and virtual meetings became the new norm. This team collaboration software offers a range of features, including video and audio conferencing, screen sharing, recording, and virtual backgrounds. It is designed to be easy to use, with a simple interface and intuitive controls.

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Try Orchestra for Free to Grow Your Productized Service Today

Orchestra is a productized service that helps creative professionals launch their services and scale their businesses. The platform offers a range of features to help streamline your operations and improve collaboration with clients as you grow. You can create a branded client portal with Orchestra for your productized service.

The client portal helps organize onboarding, deliver assets, and communicate with clients while providing a professional experience that elevates your service. Orchestra also has built-in task management features that let you create, assign, and track the progress of tasks and automate processes to streamline your workflows. The platform even allows real-time analytics to help you track your productized service’s performance and make data-driven decisions for future growth.

How Can Orchestra Help My Agency? 

Whether you’re a freelancer or run a small to medium-sized agency, Orchestra can help you grow your business and improve client satisfaction. The platform is handy for creative professionals transitioning their business to a more predictable model.

With Orchestra, you can launch your productized service quickly and efficiently, creating a smooth experience for you and your clients. The platform can also grow alongside you as you expand your operations and take on more clients, allowing you to elevate your services without the growing pains.

What Are the Best Features of Orchestra? 

Orchestra has several features to help you launch and manage your productized service. Here are some of the best ones:

Client Portal

The client portal feature lets you create a customized, white-labeled portal to help you deliver your productized service to clients. You can design the portal to fit your branding and use it to streamline the onboarding process and provide a professional experience to clients.

Task Management

Orchestra has built-in task management features that help you automate processes and streamline workflows. You can create, assign, and track tasks to keep your productized service organized and running smoothly.

Real-Time Analytics

With Orchestra’s analytics dashboard, you can track your productized service’s performance in real-time and make data-driven decisions for future growth.

Integrations

The platform allows several integrations, including Slack, to help you customize your setup and improve collaboration with clients and your internal team.

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