infographic: maintaining an agency's creativity & culture during growth

Recent work by clevercherry

www.synergist.co.uk

For other Synergist infographics and guides, see www.synergist.co.uk/info

MAINTAINING AN AGENCY’S

Thanks to for their

insights on this topic. clevercherry are a Birmingham-

based 30-strong team of creative and digital specialists.

C R E AT I V I T Y & C U LT U R E

2 Y E A R S O F C O N S TA N T C H A N G E

“WE’VE JUST BEEN THROUGH 24 MONTHS OF MAJOR

CHANGE. NEW PREMISES. NEW LAYOUT. OPEN PLAN.

GLASS. 7 LIVE WEBCAMS FOR ALL TO SEE US! TOTAL TRANSPARENCY

T E A M E X PA N S I O N . FROM 15 TO 30 P EO P L E

D U E TO N E W AC CO U N T W I N S A N D C L I E N T D E V E LO P M E N T

N E W S Y S T E M : S Y N E R G I S T. WE PREVIOUSLY

USED A BASIC JOB BAG SYSTEM. PRIOR TO THAT, WE SIMPLY

U S E D I N T E R N A L L Y D E V E L O P E D S P R E A D S H E E T S . ”

‘

’

Nigel Wilson Managing Director

Ian Allen Founder

Deep Sangar Production Manager

Contributions by:

DURING GROWTH

“OUR CREATIVITY IS AS HIGH AS EVER, AND WE’RE PLEASED TO SAY THAT THE CULTURE IS REALLY WORKING. THAT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO US HERE”

“IT ’S WHO WE ARE. YOU DON’T WANT

TO LOSE THE IMPORTANT ASPEC TS

OF YOUR PERSONALITY AND

WHAT YOU STAND FOR. WE’VE

GOT PEOPLE HERE WHO CAN REMEMBER

WHEN THERE WERE ONLY PEOPLE

IN THE COMPANY” 5“I BEL IEVE THAT CULTURE IS THE KEY

IN OUR INDUSTRY. IAN ALLEN

SET THE TONE OF THE CULTURE

HERE. AND NOW WE’RE RUNNING

WITH IT AT FULL SPEED.”

“IN TWO WORDS: WE’RE TALKING

ABOUT OPENNESS AND

EMPOWERMENT” “IT ’S ST ILL A JOURNEY. NOTHING

HAPPENS AUTOMATICALLY. YOU

HAVE TO WORK AT IT ALL THE

T IME. BUT IT ’S EXCIT ING TO FEEL THE

BUZZ AROUND HERE”

“FRANKLY I WAS DUBIOUS THAT

WE COULD MAINTAIN OUR CULTURE AND

KEEP CREATIVITY LEVELS HIGH WITH ALL

THESE CHANGES. AND IMPLEMENTING

SYNERGIST ON TOP OF IT ALL! AND

HERE OF ALL PLACES! BEL IEVE ME, IF

YOU CAN MAKE IT WORK HERE, YOU CAN MAKE IT WORK

ANYWHERE...”

“SYNERGIST PULLS EVERYTHING TOGETHER...”

“... JOBS, ESTIMATING, SCHEDULING, PURCHASE ORDERS, QUOTATIONS”

“IT TELLS ME IMMEDIATELY ABOUT THE STATE OF EVERY JOB, THE REQUIS IT IONS, THE T IME REMAINING, THE T IME QUOTED, EVERYTHING”

“IT FLAGS UP PROBLEMS EARLY ON”

“AT THE END

OF EVERY

DAY...”

“I GENERATE A REPORT THAT SHOWS ALL THE KEY INFORMATION, WHICH I USE TO EMAIL THE ACCOUNT MANAGERS WITH UPDATES, SL IPPAGES ETC. ”

“IT MAKES IT EASIER THAN EVER FOR ME TO WORK WITH THE ACCOUNT MANAGERS AND WORK OUT WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO KEEP ON TRACK”

“IT ’S VERY FLEXIBLE. IT ’S A GREAT SYSTEM.”

“AT A QUICK

GLANCE I

CAN SEE

EVERYTHING...”

“THE STUDIO HAS BENEFITTED GREATLY. IT’S REMOVED A LOT

OF ADMIN FROM THEM. IT’S CLEANED EVERYTHING UP. MADE IT

SLICK. NO MORE POST-IT NOTES FLYING AROUND! NO MORE PHYSICAL

TIMESHEETS! NO, WE WOULDN’T GO BACK TO ALL THAT NOW.”

“OF COURSE SOME PEOPLE ARE WARY OF CHANGE. A FEW

WERE SCEPTICAL. I MIGHT EVEN HAVE BEEN ONE MYSELF! BUT

IT ONLY TAKES A VERY SMALL TIME TO ADAPT TO NEW

THINGS. THE SYSTEM MAKES THEIR LIVES EASIER. AFTERWARDS,

YOU FIND YOURSELF SAYING “WHAT WAS ALL THE FUSS ABOUT”

“FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS WE’VE BEEN INVESTING IN PEOPLE, PREMISES AND THE SYSTEM. EVERYTHING’S CONNECTED NOW. IT’S ALL COME TOGETHER. IT’S PAYING OFF, AND I CAN BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF!”

“WE NO LONGER HAVE TO RELY ON GUT INSTINCT AND EXPERIENCE ALONE. IT’S THERE IN

BLACK & WHITE. SYNERGIST GIVES ME THE REPORTS I NEED”.

“IT’S E D U C AT I N G THE TEAM. THEY MAKE

BETTER DECISIONS NOW. IT PROMOTES SELF-

EDUCATION. TEAM MEMBERS ARE MUCH MORE

AWA R E NOW OF WHAT COSTS GO INTO

A JOB. IT MEANS THAT EVEN THOUGH WE’RE

BENEFITTING FROM SYNERGIST T O D AY , NEXT YEAR WE’LL BENEFIT EVEN MORE...

“WE’VE CHANGED BEYOND RECOGNITION

IN THE PAST TWO YEARS. BUT WE STILL HAVE

WHO WE ARE AT OUR CORE”

SYNERGIST HAS HELPED US BE MORE

S CA L A B L E . PEOPLE ARE

MORE EMPOWERED NOW.

DECIS IONS THAT USED TO DROP

R E L E N T L E S S LY INTO MY LAP EVERY

DAY ARE NOW TAKING PLACE WITH N O F U S S . THAT’S A PAYOFF

THAT KEEPS ON PAYING...

" Y O U ' v e g o t t o T H I N K FA S T TODAY. AN ACCOUNT MANAGER ASKS YOU

ABOUT SOME COSTINGS. WITH THE HISTORY

OF PREVIOUS JOBS IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU

CAN SAY ‘HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE.’ IT

MAKES DECISION-MAKING EASIER AND MORE

TRANSPARENT”

“CLIENTS ARE MORE FRUGAL TODAY, MORE

SAVVY. THEIR BUDGETS HAVE BEEN TIGHTENED.

THEIR £ HAS TO GO FURTHER. SO YOU HAVE TO

RESPOND. IT’S NEVER BEEN MORE IMPORTANT

TO BE ABLE TO DELIVER EFFICIENTLY”

Recent work by clevercherry

www.synergist.co.uk01625 572 690

Implementation and consultation by

www.exsystems.co.uk01455 553 246

Deep Sangar, Production Manager

Nigel Wilson, Managing Director

Ian Allen, Founder

“IT ’S A FANTASTIC WORKING ENVIRONMENT HERE”

“IT ’S A HAPPY PLACE TO WORK”

“NIGEL AND IAN ARE GREAT BOSSES”

“ THEY GIVE YOU RESPONSIBIL ITY”

“ THEY EMPLOY REALLY TALENTED PEOPLE, AND MAKE SURE THEY SEE YOU AS ONE”

“IT ALL PULLS TOGETHER. THE ATMOSPHERE IS BRILL IANT”

D I D A L L T H I S C H A N G E A F F E C T T H E I R C U LT U R E & C R E AT I V I T Y ?

W H Y I S R E TA I N I N G T H E C U LT U R E I M P O R TA N T T O T H E M ?

A N D C L E V E R C H E R R Y T O D AY ?