🚨The Challenge
Inefficient workflows waste time and ideas
[.toc-name]The challenge[.toc-name]
‘We believe in the one idea that has the power to change everything’ - this is the credo of the creative agency thjnk. Not only when working for and with their customers - but also in internal processes. That's why their mission some time ago was to create even more space for great thoughts and ideas - and to drive forward their internal digitalisation.
thjnk has therefore put its processes under the microscope. The obstacles manifested themselves most strongly in these 2 areas of the workflow:
Challenge #1: Too many tools slow down efficiency
Once upon a time: a new, exciting creative project starts. Spontaneous enquiry, complex project and of course the deadline is tight. So, let's get going! Right?
Not quite. First, the new project has to be created with all the tasks. There is of course a tool for this. To get off to a well-organised start, you also need to carry out detailed capacity planning. There's another tool for this, of course. Over the course of the project, the teams also need to be able to track their times, and there's another tool for that. And for project communication? You guessed right, there's surprisingly another tool for that.
❓ Question: How much time did the teams lose while switching between tools?
💬 Answer: Too much.
The thjnk team used to use many different software solutions for different tasks in their daily workflows. These were not connected to each other. The team had to process each step separately, which meant that the administrative tasks took up a lot of time that would have been much better spent on customer projects. At the same time, many processes were simply redundant.
[.b-testimonial]The efficiency was zero.[.b-testimonial]
Challenge #2: Communication that is difficult to follow
Inefficient workflows are one thing. Inefficient workflows that are difficult to track are another. The culprit was the communication channel that thjnk mainly used before: email.
And be honest: who wouldn't lose track if 50-60 (!) internal and external emails about various customer projects landed in their inbox every day? It was also problematic that individual people were often dropped from the mailing list in the course of communication; especially for new team members, the entire project communication was a big puzzle that had to be solved first.
A centrepiece in project management to bring the workflows together
For thjnk, it was clear: time for change! In the same breath as the digitalisation of the company was taking place, the focus was on creating a uniform standard for project management. The centrepiece of this was to be a new workflow tool that transparently maps all work processes and combines the once separate steps into one.
💜 The Solution
awork unites the workflows: Finally more room for great ideas
[.toc-name]The solution[.toc-name]
Today, all of thjnk's 500+ employees work with awork. They use it to map their operational tasks, record their times regularly and completely, manage projects, plan their capacities and organise their customers.
[.b-testimonial]We used to be at about 70% time tracking, after the introduction of awork we are now at 98%[.b-testimonial]
On its mission to digitalise the company, thjnk has completed the standardisation of its project management with awork. Consultancy and creation now meet beyond communication barriers and stay up to date at all times, as all projects are now accessible to everyone in one central location in awork. And it doesn't matter when someone new joins the project or company: All stakeholders can access all information at any time.
This is bearing fruit: instead of the previous 50-60 emails per day, today on average around 50% fewer emails end up in the inboxes at thjnk - mainly externally. This is because internal communication takes place entirely in awork.
One tool, lower costs
Gone are the days of multiple tools. With awork, thjnk bundles different areas into one software. This is made possible by the open API, which allows easy integration with other service providers. As a result, the thjnk team only works in awork and also uses it for time recording and capacity planning - instead of switching to external tools.
This not only ensures more efficient workflows, but also has an impact on costs: Compared to before, awork ensures around 30% more cost efficiency at thjnk, as one tool replaces several.
A tool that (also) pleases the customers
Like Iron Man with the Avengers or Harry with Dumbledore's Army: thjnk now forms real project dream teams with its clients. Thanks to guest access in awork, the creative team and clients know the current status of the project at all times. This allows thjnk to automatically create more trust, as full transparency is available.
At the same time, the assembled project team can work faster and react to changes, as the processes are customised to the team and the clients.
[.b-testimonial]Through awork we can create a project team feeling together with our clients[.b-testimonial]
🚀 The Impact
A dreamteam in workflow efficiency
[.toc-name]The impact[.toc-name]
A creative agency has found its flow again. And in return, thjnk also provides valuable input for the awork team; the agency has already left its fingerprint on individual features in the tool. A real dream team has also been created here - just as thjnk now forms with its clients and continues to create great ideas.
So there you have it, the perfect mix for an efficient workflow: recognising and overcoming hurdles with an intuitive tool that bundles many into one and breaks down barriers in communication once and for all. The result: a cost-efficient process that is transparent from start to finish and makes collaboration easy.
[.b-important-block]Collaboration is getting even better, with awork Connect! The feature, that allows you to bring your business partners directly into your projects. Find out more about awork Connect[.b-important-block]
[$tag]🤝 Collaborate better[$tag]
⭐️ Extra: How to implement a new tool
Introducing a new work management tool in large teams: The thjnk way
[.toc-name]How to implement[.toc-name]
So how do you get 500+ employees to drop old habits and integrate a new tool into their daily work routine? The solution from thjnk: Baby steps 🍼 - in two ways:
- Start in small teams
Before everyone jumped straight into the new tool and chaos broke out, thjnk decided to use a small team as a test object. This allowed the agency to gather feedback and experience that would benefit the other teams. In addition, one person per location was chosen as an awork oracle who could always answer questions.
- Explore features after another
Large projects become easier if you break them down into smaller chunks. The same applies to the rollout of a new tool. So instead of immediately rolling out the full range of functions, the team at thjnk took a leisurely stroll from feature to feature: first we moved on to task management, then to time recording and finally to capacity planning. In a very relaxed manner, bit by bit, without directly overwhelming the teams.
About thjnk
Founded in 2012, the agency group thjnk AG is now managed by Armin Jochum (Co-Founder, CEO and CCO) and Horst Wagner (COO and CFO). With flagships in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf, Prague, New York and Zurich, thjnk AG has been part of the world's largest marketing service provider WPP since 2017 - and works for and with clients such as AUDI, IKEA, IHK, SWISS, Paulaner, HD+, Helios and Dallmayr.
The thjnk group includes: loved (corporate identity, brands and design), thjnk Media, Upljft (social media marketing tools, technology and creation from a single source) and 24/7 (specialist for data-driven, individualised content generation, automation and distribution). The thjnk agency group is one of the most award-winning agencies.
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