Not being one to accept things as they are, why can't I just be happy with the way things are?
This is not really supposed to cause debate, it's simply to outline what I think may become a preferred alternative structure for some agencies, and possibly other kinds of companies. My personal belief is that as technologies branch more, devices become more complex and diverse, and skillsets getted stretched the traditional design agency formation will have to be addressed. This is one of the main reasons that I left working full-time for agencies and moved back to be freelance.
So what are the reasons for my argument?
Technical diversity means you can't employ experts in every field
Each day the digital world expands and so too does the technology behind it, from technology languages, to data communication and the physical devices/platforms they operate on and within. So do you think it's possible to employ experts in every single field of technology that can help your end-client? This is non-sensical and immediately you can start to see the similarities to the TV industry - lots of very complex jobs, and lots of contractors filling those roles.
Clients are being spun a yarn and paying over the odds
Digital design agencies are expected to be able to work in most media, but hardly any agencies will confess to the fact that they are employing third-party companies. They want to be seen to be designing and developing everything even if it's an iPhone app or a digital lightshow, and so are happy to give advise to their clients about topics that they equally have no idea about. This is unacceptable and yet still 10 years after the dot com boom this practice still happens at most major agencies.
Remote living is good for the soul
This doesn't apply for everyone of course but many people are beginning to be allowed to embrace remote working:
- It's nice to have your own time and space. Again this is not for everyone - it takes self-discipline and can give you cabin fever.
- It's great to be able to travel. Technology has allowed us to move around, whilst staying in contact with everyone. Skype has been a massive help for me since being self-employed and regularly I have conference calls with people from all around the globe. It still amazes me.
- It's pretty green although that's arguable too, but in theory you could run an eco-house and reduce air pollution and use less mains energy.
I don't suggest the end of offices, as often the group environment is fantastic, but for instance "Jelly" days work very nicely for this interaction (See a great article about Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol).
There is an awful lot of digital downtime
Picture an agency with a typical kind of structure with Directors,
Account Managers, Project Managers, Planners, Developers,
Mark-up/Front-end developers, Designers, Trainees.
Now imagine
that you get a request in for a complex website, that needs to have a
back-end system that integrates with the existing .net infrastructure.
OK, so you need all of your team here and they can all be stretched to
their maximum potential.
Next, imagine that the next call from the
client comes in saying "Great, can we now make that into an iPhone and
Android app". This time you still require some project managers and
possibly some developers, but the likelyhood is that some of the team
will be redundant, even if it's just for a few days. "That's fine" you
say, "as we have other projects on that they can fit into". OK, well
obviously this happens, but you still have skills that are just sitting
there unused. If this was a team built of contractors, the job would be
done and they would be off until the next job.
I have witnessed
this happen a lot and this often breeds resentment in some staff, as you
will often get a planner or UI expert who has no experience in a new
platform making all the decisions for an experienced developer, or you
might have a project manager managing a TV shoot with no understanding
of the demands. People get pissed off when working with unskilled experts
and this happens all too often. My thinking? Use the right people for
the right job - if you need more experts, just get them in!
So what do I think are the alternatives?
Well this is hardly cutting-edge thinking and quite a few people have embraced this way of working for a long time. The model that I prefer most is that of the TV/Film industry whereby big teams of the best experts in their fields form collaboratives for specific projects. A project is conceived, a team is built that meet the requirements and then that team of professionals all set to work together to allow everyone to perform their personal role to the best of their ability - they have to, as they want to be used again...
One additional problem with digital project is often they start and just continue to evolve. Well, with a good agile project management process that suits the team, combined with a stringent documentation it is possible for people to drop-in and drop-out without damaging the project.
To conclude
Think of most Open-Source projects, they too tend to be built by teams of experts who are geographically miles apart, with new members able to join all the time. The small paradox here is that these end-products tend to be the products that are used by the traditional formation agencies to give to their clients.
