Basic Agency Etiquette for Non-Arseholes

For decades, creative agencies have always been “putting the work first”— being an arsehole was totally acceptable once you picked up a few awards along the way. While that’s all well and good, in the rush to produce great work, often the internal culture gets left behind.

Great agency culture matters. If you want to do great work, it matters. If you want to build client relationships, it matters. And even if you are a truly soulless creature who only cares about a quick buck, it still matters.

In recent years the agency model, once the sexiest game in town for talent, is beginning to lose its exclusive sheen. The best people are increasingly being lured away by more appealing and lucrative offers from the deep pockets in Silicon Valley. Tech companies often offer more competitive salaries, flexible working hours and a plethora of other perks that agencies find it hard to compete with. In addition to this, sites like Glassdoor mean that bad agency culture, once conveniently hidden behind closed doors, is publicly available to potential hires. Now, more than ever, great agency culture matters.

In my career so far, I have been very lucky to have worked at two great agencies; Huge and Edenspiekermann, places that have fantastic internal culture, while still consistantly producing great work. Believe me, it’s a tough balance to get right and it requires a lot of fucking effort on all sides.

Cultivating good culture is position neutral—everyone at the agency, from the intern to the CEO, is responsible for it. However, it is true that management bear a larger responsibility when it comes to instigating a cultural shift.

Here are some tips to improve the day-to-day culture of your agency.

1. Learn people’s names

I worked alongside Erik Spiekermann in Berlin for four years. In this time, he always made a point of knowing everybody’s name in the office when they arrived; no matter how junior they were. In fact, he usually knew a lot more than that — where you were from, where you had studied and he might even have a personal anecdote about your home town. If Erik Spiekermann can find time to remember the name of hundreds (if not thousands) of interns and juniors, then the corner shop design studio with two clients and the same amount of staff should be able to do the same.

2. Pay your interns.

It goes without saying you should pay your interns. They are not a free source of labor. They are not there to make your fucking tea. Remember interns grow up to be ‘adults’ and, despite their inexperience, are often more talented than you. Can’t afford to pay them? Then don’t hire them.

3. Give credit where credit is due

Creative directors are often the worst offenders here; especially when presenting to clients. Always give credit where credit is due. Be humble and correct people when the efforts of others are wrongly attributed to you. Better still, encourage juniors to present their own work whenever possible—even in front of clients.

4. Only arseholes like useless meetings

Every normal human being hates them. Begin every meeting with, “The purpose of this meeting is X”. Or cancel it. Simple.

5. Reply to fucking job applications

One of the examples for bad behaviour in day-to-day agency world is when it comes to handling job applications; specifically when it comes to rejecting unsuccessful candidates. We’ve all been there. You do an interview. It seems to go well and the potential employer tells you they will contact you in a couple of days. A week passes. Zilch. Remember, replying to job applications, regardless how it goes or how busy you are, is basic etiquette. There is no excuse for being a dick—and karma can be a bitch.

6. Get your hands dirty

Are you an art director? Even a creative overlord? I would advise you to consider tech companies and their flat hierarchies. The best creative directors I have worked with have earned their respect being hands-on. Need your team to work late for a pitch or deadline? Stay late and do some work too.

7. And for God’s sake, work normal hours

An agency with a culture of long hours means that somewhere along the way there is inefficent management or someone is taking advantage. There are many ways to manage teams sustainably. Agile is the one I am most familiar with but there are plenty of others. Working long hours does not make you a better designer, manager or even a better human being. It just means you suck at managing your time.