When you’re going on a trip, a map usually helps you get to your destination faster, doesn’t it? Directions outline your route and help you avoid taking a wrong turn – a detour that not only wastes your time but your gas too.
A work process is the same as a roadmap; it directs you throughout a project, so you can speed off without missing an important element, touchpoint, or detail.
How Your Process Makes for a Better End Result
Let’s start with the nuts and bolts of your business process. Not to scare you, but we’re going to use the D-word…documentation. If you’re groaning, that’s okay, it’s a natural reaction, but can we talk about the payoff of documented processes?
This framework forms how you approach and learn from every project you take on. It serves as the roadmap you follow for everything: workflows, communications and touchpoints, quality control, who is responsible for what (and when), standardization for all projects, and more.
When processes are followed, results can be analyzed, allowing you to track performance and find areas for improvement. By applying the knowledge from your process, you level up the deliverables for your clients while streamlining things internally. It’s a win-win.
Trust the Process and Others Will Too
Here at Good, we’re a pretty chill bunch. We can afford to be laid back because we use processes for every project we take on – they keep us organized, and help us achieve more consistent outcomes for our clients.
Having documented processes creates a system of accountability, minimizes errors and oversights, and gives us the advantage of a birds-eye view for each project. Needless to say, our clients are happy with our deliverables because they are confident in our processes.
A Quick Overview of Our Website Creation Process:
Discovery: We learn all about our clients, their company, their industry, and all the other good stuff that’s relevant to their goals.
Strategy: We use our research to form a creative strategy that aligns with their desires and resonates with their target audience.
Conceptualization & Design: Based on our client’s direction and our findings, we outline design and copy concepts.
Production: Once the client gives our concept and design the green light, our development team sets to work on creating, testing, and fine-tuning.
Launch: Once our client gives us final approval, we go live with the finished product (woo hoo!).
Ahhh, it sure feels good to have guides in place, so we can check the boxes as we complete each step of every project.
There are definitely other digital marketing companies that fly by the seat of their pants for every project, but they’re more prone to be stressed out, barely meeting deadlines, and delivering work that’s not as great as it could be.
An in-house team should have processes in place to keep campaigns and projects on track. A little advice: when outsourcing marketing, always ask about marketing processes before signing on as a client!
Slow to Start, but Worth the Effort
We know the feeling of taking on a cool project and wanting to dive in immediately; it’s something that all creatives have in common. Following your process will help you stay on track, and make sure you have buy-in from the client before you spend hours in flow.
Now, our in-depth process includes much more than the overview above. It’s the outline for the writing, the wireframe for the website, a rough outline for the images, and more.
It takes a little bit of time to set up but having a process (or multiple processes) can stave off writer’s block, or help prevent you from being tapped out creatively – which may happen if you need to redo your work. On top of that, processes save time because you know what needs to be done and can do it without needing to backtrack.
It’s Never Too Late to Implement a Process
No process? No problem. We all have to start somewhere. Here’s how to create a process for your company:
Map out your undocumented process. Bam! Now it’s tangible. This first draft doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s just a starting point, after all.
Analyze what you’ve written down, paying particular attention to time-consuming tasks, and steps that can be automated or deleted, and see if there are any inefficiencies that can be improved.
Tweak your process with improvements or highlight areas you would like to make more efficient (you don’t need all the answers right now, put it on the mental back burner or brainstorm with a group).
Communicate the changes to your team. Make sure everyone is aware that you are using a process moving forward, so everyone is on the same page when the next project comes along.
Track your process progress and update your workflow as necessary. After all, your processes aren’t set in stone, they’re meant to be flexible – the more you improve or learn, the better your processes get.
Celebrate your wins! Have you cut down on mistakes, increased productivity, or improved your relationships as a result of your new process? The process doesn’t lie, you’ll see differences once it’s implemented.
Never Get Lost Again
It may be a nerdy thing to say, but processes are awesome. Good Digital has impressed many clients because we have processes in place which give us a proven track record for success.
Sure, processes can take a little extra time at the beginning of a project, but that time is more than made up because we’re not spinning our wheels trying to figure out what to do next.
Want to learn more about Good Digital and how we work? Schedule a digital coffee with us!