The problem with agency project management software
Article written by
Stuart Brameld
If you run an agency of some sort - marketing agency, web agency, creative agency, digital agency, growth agency - you have likely considered using an agency project management tool.
By far the most popular tools are:
But ... and it's a big but .... it's possible you shouldn't be using any of them. In fact, there are now some powerful Trello alternatives built for growth teams that are better suited for outcome-focused agencies. If you’re currently using Basecamp or considering it, you may also want to explore the best Basecamp alternatives for project management to find a tool that better fits your agency’s needs. And if you’re considering Asana or looking for something more tailored to growth marketing, check out our guide to the best Asana alternatives for growth marketers. If Smartsheet is on your shortlist, you may want to explore these Smartsheet alternatives for growth-focused teams as well.
The problem with agency project management tools
The problem with standard agency project management tools is they, almost entirely, focus on outputs over outputs.
If you charge clients almost solely for deliverables (outputs) they are exactly what you need, but if the goal is to help your clients grow (outcomes), many of these tools are likely to be more of a hindrance than a help.
The requirements of a marketing agency focused on outcomes (such as creative and dev agencies) compared with an agency focused on growth (such growth marketing and experimentation agencies) are vastly different. If you're interested in how integrations between CRM and project management tools, such as HubSpot and ClickUp, can help improve these hand-offs, check out our in-depth analysis of the HubSpot & ClickUp integration.
Assign to-do tasks: Essential for deliverable-focused agencies, not needed for growth-focused agencies.
Build interactive gantt charts: Useful for deliverable-focused agencies, not relevant for growth-focused agencies.
Track time & project hours: Important for deliverable-focused agencies, not required for growth-focused agencies.
Customise project templates: Necessary for deliverable-focused agencies, not applicable for growth-focused agencies.
Building approval processes: Key for deliverable-focused agencies, not needed for growth-focused agencies.
Create roadmaps and plans: Important for deliverable-focused agencies, not relevant for growth-focused agencies.
Communicate with clients: Essential for deliverable-focused agencies, not a priority for growth-focused agencies.
Agency project management tools for deliverables
Standard agency project management tools aren't all bad, and there are some good use-cases. If you follow a more waterfall methodology to project delivery where project outcomes are predictable, more standardised project management tools can be a great fit for your business.
Standard waterfall project management tools work best when:
There is a clear plan, with certainty around the problem and the solution
Projects are predictable and recur frequently
There is a task-based, linear approach to project delivery
Traditional waterfall planning tools cater for things like scope creep with features such as interactive gantt charts, roadblock planning and tracking scope changes, however adopting a more agile approach typically negates scope creep entirely.
Agency project management tools for growth
The feature set for growth-focused agencies vary quite considerably, particularly for those that adopt a more agile approach, such as Bright Innovation in the UK.
Our recommended feature set for growth marketing agencies is as follows:
Goal tracking
Customer dashboards
Idea repository
Idea scoring
Agile experimentation
Custom reporting
Sharing and collaboration
Pre-built growth templates
Enforced best practises
We discussed this further in our marketing project management software review and our article on the rise of the growth marketing platform.
Final thoughts
As we have said before, the biggest problem with the traditional agency project management software is that it is easy to quickly fall into the output versus outcome trap.
“Work” quickly becomes focused on creating and assigning tasks, responding to notifications, joining team calls, communicating status updates and discussing the next sprint cycle. Before you know it, high impact work gets replaced with work about work, and goals start shifting towards outputs as opposed to outcomes – because they’re easier to measure.
Got questions? Ping me on LinkedIn or on Twitter.
Agency project management software
We have a provided a list of project management tools below based on your requirement.
General project management tools
General purpose project management tools, not marketing or agency specific.
Marketing project management tools
General purposes marketing project management tools, good for agencies focused on client deliverables.
Growth project management tools
Outcome focused project management tools for agencies and teams focused specifically on delivering results.
Article written by
Stuart Brameld