For Agency Heads: Building Culture In Digital Firms With Squads

In today’s fast paced environment and cut throat competition, digital marketing agencies that function within the digital economy need to continuously reinvent themselves to remain at the top of the pyramid. Many organizations are striving hard to implement innovative work practices in order to support their business objectives.

Creating Cross Functional Teams

By creating cross-functional teams, digital marketing organizations can conceptualize, create, design and innovate in a way that allows the group to meet the objective set by them, while ensuring that these objectives are aligned with the goals of the company. Cross-functional teams function as self-directed teams assigned to a specific task that call for inputs and expertise of various other teams.

This is an example of a good culture building practice within an organization since it brings together employees with different skill sets on the same table to work towards a common goal. Additionally, this process is also a great way to make the organizations less dependent on the heads or owners by encouraging the employees to think independently.

It enables faster growth of the organization and also the employees as it gives them an opportunity to think about the business objectives and understand its various aspects.

Innovative Concept Call 'Squads'

One such innovative concept that can be implemented by organizations in order to bring all creative heads together is that of - ‘Squads’.

'Squads' are cross-functional teams with a dedicated mission that is directly linked to the larger mission of the company in terms of service capabilities, business growth or customer satisfaction or innovation in a particular aspect.

Organizations can look towards to setting up of two or three teams together from different departments that meet twice every week to discuss and work on their particular squad mission. It is a known fact that ‘people make a company’ and they are the engines behind the growth of an organization. Through these Squads, experts from different teams come together to brainstorm for a specific task or a project. When multi-disciplinary individuals think together, there are greater chances of more creativity, out of the box ideas and better innovative approaches towards the task. The outcome of such a process is better decisions and better results.This paves a path for alternate perspective and new potential solutions to tasks or projects, thus aiding the growth and progress of the organization.

Spotify – a music software company, started this concept a few years ago, however it can be implemented by several organizations sectors including the digital industry.

Editor's note: Squads are essentially small clusters of team members that function primarily as if they squad is a startup in itself. Additional Reading Material.