e key categories for a high-performance marketing organization structure

In previous parts of this series I have covered two of the five interconnected points in a framework for creating a high-performance marketing organization.

• Proposition. How can you focus and align the services of your in-house or creative marketing agency with a clear vision, positioning strategy, and value proposition?
• Principles. How can you unite your team with a set of shared operating principles that will guide them in how they lead, collaborate, and communicate, as well as make decisions about their work?

This article will cover the third point.

• People. How can you align your organization’s structure, your staffing, and your professional development opportunities in order to achieve your vision, your strategy, and your value proposition?

Structure is used to achieve a purpose

Organizational structure’s purpose is to direct your employees down a path that will help them achieve the vision and strategy of your agency or firm. Structure also stops your employees from taking other paths that do not support your vision.

Each organization will have its own vision and strategy. When designing or evaluating a structure, we should strive for three goals that are common to all organizations.

Your people want to be in a work environment that allows them to produce high-quality work. You should also want this. To make this happen, your people need to feel valued, heard, and take ownership of their work. For them to be able to freely flow, they’ll need information, tools and resources.

To make your clients and stakeholders happy, you need to deliver their work as quickly as possible and give them the flexibility to adjust marketing priorities. They want to know that your relationship is bringing them value. This comes from the way you interact with your clients, manage their work, and deliver results.

Your firm or internal agency should be able to adapt quickly to changes in the market or new disruptive technologies.

Three categories of organizational structure

Consider three categories when deciding the structure of your creative agency or in-house agency.

• The foundational structure.
• Departmental structure
• Team Structure

Structure of the foundation

The foundational structure will guide your employees in supporting your agency’s strategy, vision and principles. This layer of structure should be defined by the agency leadership because it is critical to business success and would be costly for anyone not to use it.

Some examples include:

• Reporting lines
• Process maps.
• Project management software.
• Centralized storage of files.
• Policies that apply to the entire company

All staff should adhere to the foundational structure. Everyone should feel empowered to suggest improvements or changes. However, guidance is required.

Use the following questions when evaluating the costs and benefits of a proposed change to the foundation structure.

• What will be the impact of this change on our clients’ experience?
• What impact will the changes have on other teams?
• How will this change affect the integration of teams?
• What impact will the changes have on the creativity, quality or innovation of the agency?
• What will be the impact of this change on revenue or expenditure?
• What are the benefits of leaving the foundational structure in place?

Departmental structure

The departmental structure is used to determine how different groups, such as functional areas, departments or disciplines, should be organized. This layer of structure should be defined by the group members, as they are closest to the work and the experts in the field.

Some examples include:

• Roles and responsibilities.
• Department-level decision-making.
• Department-level meeting rhythm.
• Department software (i.e. Photoshop, DAM).
• Career development/professional development.

Team Structure

The team structure guides the way in which cross-functional teams, such as delivery teams or project teams, operate. The team, just like a departmental structure should determine its specific structure as the result will define how it will work. Each team member will be an expert in their field and know what they need to achieve their best work.

Some examples include:

• Team-level agreements.
• RACI Frameworks and Similar Frameworks
• Project-level decision-making rights.
• Team-level meeting rhythm.

Balance between structure and agility

Scalability is a common goal for growing companies and agencies. It’s important to balance this structure with flexibility.

A structure that is too rigid can lead to inefficiency, chaos and misalignment. Encourage your employees to engage in open dialogue, and ask them for suggestions and improvements.

Next Steps

A thoughtful approach is required to design a high-performing organization. Start by evaluating your departmental, team and foundational structure to determine how they work together in support of your vision and strategy.

• Create an environment that encourages your employees to do exceptional work.
• Create happy clients and stakeholders.
• Develop your organization’s adaptability to market changes, new technologies and current events.

You should know that marketing organizations that are successful don’t begin that way. They start by learning, testing and iterating new methods of working. This is what I want you to do.

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