When it comes to project planning, nothing is more comforting than a nice, neat timetable. Everyone knows what needs to be done and there’s plenty of time to bring it all togeth… hang on a second, why is the CMO running in here and what’s she saying to our team lead and why is everyone waving their arms and shouting? Enter the copywriting rush job.
Whether it’s because of external forces or internal priorities, sometimes you need a job done NOW NOW NOW! But by thinking ahead and having contingencies in place, you can reduce your stress and increase your agility during rush jobs.
If you need help taking the pressure off your deadlines, drop us a line. MarketSmiths knows how to bring a project across the finish line on time, however much or little time there is.
Expect the unexpected
There are a lot of situations that can trigger a rush job. Maybe you’re halfway through a well-thought-out campaign and receive intel that your main competitor has moved their product launch up to beat you to the market. Perhaps a global event is directly impacting your customers and they need a solution. Or it could just be that the boss wants to shake things up and cans one project in favor of another… without changing the deadline.
These aren’t things you can specifically plan for, but they can absolutely be planned around. Your earliest strategy sessions need to include a “What if?” workshop. Discuss possible problems and outline what you’ll do in each case. This needn’t be exhaustive — it can’t be, in fact — but even if you paint in broad strokes you at least have a framework to build from when things go off the rails.
You also need to understand how your content agency of record is going to respond to your need for speed. If they don’t have a process, then you don’t have a plan. At MarketSmiths, we provide every client this handy chart so they understand how long their project should take, and how much it will cost if the timeline is cut short.
The last line of the chart serves as a reminder that you are in control of your own destiny, or at least of the orderly progression toward completion. When your team is on top of their stakeholder feedback, you’ll be dealing with molehills instead of mountains if the project turns into a rush job.
Adjust budgets, not expectations
At the 30,000-foot level, each project can be boiled down to three things: What’s being done, by when, and at what cost. Rush jobs have a direct impact on two of those factors — time and money — and can threaten the third, as well.
But they shouldn’t.
If your agency tells you that the quality of the final product will suffer in order to meet an advanced deadline, then they clearly weren’t thinking ahead. Not only should they have a plan (and explain it on your kickoff call), but also the staff on-hand to scale up and deliver an uncompromised product on a shortened timeline.
Finally, remember that sometimes the rush job just can’t be avoided. This is why you should plan for the worst, but hire the best. We’re happy to talk with you about how MarketSmiths handles rush jobs without handing you a load of excuses. Email us to learn more.
