I’ve written previously on this blog about building world-class ad operations teams. However, just because you’ve hired the best doesn’t necessarily mean they will automatically rise to the occasion. In this post I am going to talk about what excellence in ad ops looks like. Here are a few tenants of world class teams.
Tidiness. The different systems ad ops and account management teams use to do their jobs are like a kitchen is to a team of line cooks and their head chef. Think about the kitchen at a restaurant with three Michelin stars versus a fast food kitchen run by employees who would rather be anywhere else. The former is likely to be clean, organized and efficient. The latter messy, chaotic and unsanitary in the worst case. Media professionals who take pride in their work have a natural degree of obsessive compulsiveness and are willing to spend the time to keep their systems, software and processes tidy and up to date.
Thoroughness. The media business is fast-paced and comes with a good deal of stress. Rare is the environment where there are ample or even enough team members to handle the workload. Advertisers and agencies could not care less about this fact and want things turned around with lightening speed. Cutting corners and skipping steps is a natural reaction in these situations. Proper QA, consistent naming conventions, regularly comparing discrepancies: these are all things that tend to go by the wayside when things get busy. The best of the best rise up and go the extra mile, despite the additional time and effort required.
Ownership. So many times, organizations lack clearly defined responsibilities for each team, which leads to finger pointing, shirking of responsibilities and ineffective execution. Great leaders are clear about the responsibilities for their team and challenge their peers to do the same. Great employees establish their own responsibilities and take ownership for everything in their purview.
Innovation. There are few things easier than maintaining the status quo. This is especially true in fast-paced environments with a lot of moving parts, overworked teams and looming deadlines. Focusing on the day-to-day tasks in front of us rather than major long term projects is understandable. Great teams, however, schedule time for thinking and planning and treat this as sacred. Trying new things and being unafraid to fail is a hallmark of businesses that find success in the long run.
Relentlessness. The best adops campaign managers, directors and VPs tend to have several traits in common. They often display more than a little obsessive compulsiveness. They are highly organized. They develop a process that works for them and stick to it. They hate making mistakes more than anything. They are relentless in their follow-ups, especially when it comes to colleagues and teams they rely on to get their work done.
While the traits of the best ad operations and media sales teams cannot be contained in a single list, I’ve attempted to capture some of the most important. Hiring the best people or best outsourcing vendors you can find is only one piece of the puzzle. Managers and leaders must also ensure they are working well with others, hitting KPIs and developing a reputation as one of the most reliable departments within the company.