March 22, 2010 » Project Delivery: 3 Ways to Avoid Costly Overruns

Top of mind for each of our clients is achieving a high-value result that is both timely and delivered within ever-tightening budget constraints. At Compass, we are constantly evaluating our delivery process to uncover ways to increase our efficiency and timeliness. We also do our best to educate our clients on how they can help. The following are three quick tips I can offer from experience in managing the delivery of interactive programs for nearly 15 years.

1. Be realistic about what you can achieve.

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a great meal at a favorite restaurant when you suddenly – and regrettably – realize that your eyes were bigger than your belly? Project bloat causes that same queasy feeling. When new project enthusiasm morphs into to a mile-high stack of manuscripts, wireframes and design concepts on your desk, you know you’ve ordered more than you can comfortably swallow – and that you’re not going to meet your deadline. The cost of extending your project’s budgeted duration can lead to significant cost overruns. Time is a silent budget killer. Not only is it costly to keep your team (and your agency’s team) engaged in a project that’s beyond its planned duration, but you’re delaying ROI and missing opportunities to engage those teams on new projects. Even worse, delays can result in missing the window of opportunity to capitalize on the market insight that led you to invest in the project in the first place. To avoid these hazards:

• Be honest about how much time you can carve out of your schedule to work on each program or project in your marketing plan. Share this with your partners so that they know what to expect and how to engage you.
• Be aware of the effort and timing impacts of other projects in your pipeline on your staff and your organization.
• Launch content and features in phases. If launching a new site, start with a placeholder site or HCP-focused content to establish a presence and then follow up with additional content and features.
• Avoid “over-socializing” your project within your organization in the early stages – which can lead to scope additions and time drag from stakeholders not directly invested in your project goals.
• Come to terms with the reality that it’s probably going to take longer than you think – and budget accordingly.

By setting bite-sized, realistic goals you give yourself and your team an advantage in delivering a successful, timely program on schedule and on budget.

2. Make regular, clear communication with partners and vendors a top priority.

You want the best-of-the-best working on your brand for each thing that you do. But what happens when you can’t remember if you told the PR agency or the branding agency or the offline agency or the interactive agency about the new market research insights you received last week? This is an issue with which nearly every busy brand manager struggles. Clear and consistent communication can help to avoid the extra time, effort, churn and rounds feedback. As a start:

• Take the time to talk with your partners each week. If a weekly “status report” format feels like a root canal, be open with your partners about what format works for you.
• Get your agencies and partners together on a regular basis and encourage inter-agency collaboration. Insist on inter-agency cooperation.
• Conduct all-agency calls at least quarterly to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
• Ask for feedback from your partners regularly. Invite them to tell you what they need from you to deliver their best work.

Excellent communication ensures that all of your partners are working as efficiently as possible, with the most current brand and company insights, to deliver a cohesive and impactful brand experience.

3. Schedule an early stage concept review with your med-legal team.

At Compass, we’ve had the great fortune to work with clients that have a passion for innovation and exploration. We’ve delivered some of our best work as pioneers in uncharted territory (see www.pku.com). Key to our success has been early partnership with our clients’ medical / legal / regulatory (MLR) teams. People support what they help to create. Early concept reviews help to:

• Provide insights that can put your marketing program on a path to “approvability”.
• Save time and budget dollars that would otherwise be spent on creating potentially troublesome program elements.
• Minimize costly rounds of review.
• Foster a relationship of trust and collaboration with your MLR board that makes them want to find ways to help your program succeed.

Whether we’re sharing a strategy deck, storyboards, wireframes or an interactive prototype – at Compass, we believe early support from MLR is essential to successful innovation.