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Hiring two agencies on the same project? Here’s what it takes to make it work.
It’s not hard to imagine why organizations can be wary of hiring two (or more) outside parties to work together on one project. Will the managerial strain be out of hand? Will they communicate as well as they need to in order to get the job done? Will you have to spend hours a week putting out fires and resolving disputes?
Fearful of the coordination that comes with hiring more than one consultancy or agency, many organizations opt for full-service agencies that can manage all aspects of the work. While that may be the absolute right call for some projects, other efforts will really benefit from combining the unique specialized skill sets of different organizations — because of course, no one organization can be an expert in all things.
If you think your work may benefit from specialists that span multiple agencies, we’re here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be quite so scary. As a consultancy that’s collaborated with other agencies many times before, we’re big believers in the value of diverse skill sets for solving complex problems. And here’s what you can do to set your organization up for multi-agency success.
Hiring for group-work amongst agencies
Finding a consultancy who can do great work alongside another consultancy is partly common sense. Naturally, you’ll want to identify parties that are strong communicators — which also means they are good at listening. It also helps to suss out egotism… does the agency seem more focused on doing good work, or impressing you? If you sense a group that appears very concerned about the optics of their work, that could lead to a jockeying-for-position or credit-taking game that turns other consultancies off and puts them on the defensive.
Another thing to look for is complementary styles of problem solving among agencies. That doesn’t necessarily mean they should do things the exact same way — diversity in problem-solving techniques will usually enrich a project. But will there be enough common language to discuss ideas and reckon with differences in process? We’ve had many successful collaborations with agencies who operated very differently from ours, but when we each saw each other’s approach as a strength we could learn from, the divergence was a net positive.
And of course, it’s always good to straight-up ask agencies whether or not they’ve worked alongside other agencies in the past. How did that go? How did it shape their point of view on what makes for successful collaborations? You may even be able to talk to parties they’ve worked alongside in the past.
Setting multiple agencies up for success (without creating a managerial nightmare)
When it comes to making sure the groups you’ve hired will be as successful as possible, it all comes down to delivering as much up-front clarity as possible. All agencies should be crystal clear on why they have been hired, and the value they are expected to be contributing. This should also be clear amongst parties — each agency should understand their own contribution in relation to the contributions of parties around them. Some overlap in responsibility is completely fine, as long as this overlap is named and explained. And this doling out of responsibilities and expectations should come from the person hiring, so as to keep things as clear and undeniable as possible.
It’s also extremely helpful to do some situation-planning ahead of time, discussing things like how decisions will be made and how disagreements should be resolved. We all know any complex project is bound to experience change and surprise, but having expectations around how those will be handled can ease tension and help each party be their most effective and collaborative self.
Once you get the agencies going, don’t be afraid to leave them to it. While your initial presence is key, eventually, consultants need to develop their own rapport with one another and ease into a rhythm. Their relationship should become their responsibility in a way that does not need to be mediated by you.
We don’t deny the benefits of full-service agencies — there are times when ease of operation indeed outweighs a need for specialists. But managing multiple agencies doesn’t have to be a headache. It’s how we’ve done some of our best work.
Scoping a project that may benefit from our collaboration? We’d love to hear from you!