The first reaction when asked to write a blog post for the Production function at The Smith Brothers Agency was one of mild reluctance. I mean, who would really give a hoot about our agency’s internal process? But then it occurred to me how I myself read project management blogs in my Google Reader every morning, trying to glean a modicum of affirmation or wisdom or maybe just to enjoy a little wise humor (read: The Tao of Project Management and you’ll see what I mean). Suddenly I realized it actually might be quite helpful for folks working in the CPG space to see how we go about creating what we here at SBA call “a culture of flawless execution.”

Now, flawless execution is a pretty mighty declaration. It’s highfalutin, haughty – a concept that seems, well, unattainable. Do we ever reach it? Yes, in fact we do. Do we miss it sometimes? Yes, and we strive to always learn and get better. My colleague, Craig Seder, Creative Director at Smith Brothers, uses this to define what we mean by flawless execution:

“In a world of ‘that’s not my job’ and ‘I don’t know’, our agency requires a commitment from each team member to make certain that the projects we work on are not simply passed off, but shepherded through the agency by a devoted staff of designers, writers, coders, producers and account people. As a result, the work that leaves this agency is not simply what was asked for, but the best example of our capabilities as a concise and agile team. There must be a drive and passion for the work and a promise to deliver – on time and on budget – the best work our clients deserve and we are all capable of doing.”

With this lofty goal in mind, we work diligently within our process to avoid simply going on autopilot on tasks and instead approach every job phase thoughtfully and thoroughly. We challenge ourselves to sometimes rethink approaches to what “done looks like”. Our producers work to anticipate client changes-of-mind within our established schedules and budgets, and strive to keep every project profitable. And finally, we constantly put ourselves in consumers’ shoes throughout a project’s “flow” evaluating and reevaluating the quality of our creative deliverables.

Flawless execution is an evolving, never-ending quest – an achievement only possible in an agency where every team member is committed to not just pushing a task through production, but shepherding the Big Idea through the agency, preserving and usually improving it at every turn.

A very abbreviated snapshot of SBA's process