3.5 Before You Hire an Agency, Align Your Team
Chapter 3, Part 4 of The Agency Answer: A Practical Guide to Working with Agencies and Buying Design
One of the most common reasons projects fail is that the client didn’t do the necessary prep work before bringing in an outside partner. And the most overlooked part of that prep? Aligning with their own internal team. Again and again, I’ve seen promising work get stalled—or scrapped—because the people who would eventually inherit it weren’t included early enough to shape it.
Why does this happen so often? Because most agency-led initiatives cut across traditional org chart lines. Agencies are often hired to make transformations happen—to challenge assumptions, break silos, and spark change. But the very things that make them valuable can also cause friction, especially when internal teams aren’t prepared.
Agencies don’t follow your org chart. They don’t know the unwritten rules. And that’s part of their value. But if you haven’t brought your internal teams along—especially those who will own implementation—you’re setting yourself up for conflict, rework, or flat-out rejection.
Let’s look at how this plays out.
When It All Goes Wrong
We were once hired to redesign the iconography on the main screen of one of the world’s largest electronic medical records platforms. It looked clunky and dated, so they asked us to refresh the look without changing underlying functionality. Our client was a product manager who had made assumptions about resolution, file types, and other constraints that directly impact what a designer can and can’t do.
We delivered a full set of final designs. Then they came back and said the system only supported 4-bit color—just 16 colors total—and that each icon had to be 16x16 pixels. Even back in the early aughts, that was severely limiting. We told them the new constraints would require redoing all the work, which meant a scope change and additional cost. They admitted it was their fault—but they didn’t have the budget to fix it. So they paid us for the work, made no updates to the product, and shelved everything we’d done.
These kinds of issues are avoidable. But they require more than just top-down planning. They demand active engagement across your internal ecosystem—from legal and compliance to manufacturing and customer service. Yes, it takes effort. Yes, it can feel political. But when done well, this early engagement doesn’t just avoid disaster—it builds alignment, generates better ideas, and makes your agency partnership far more likely to succeed.
Ask yourself: who inherits the work your agency will create? What will they need to succeed? How can you bring them in early—as collaborators, not critics? Early input is almost always welcomed—and it’s far easier than a late-stage reset.
Here’s a checklist to help you prepare your internal team, align stakeholders, and set your project up for success before you bring in a partner.
Internal Team & Stakeholder Alignment Checklist
1. Describe the Initiative
Write a short description of the project, including objectives, desired outcomes, KPIs, known risks, and any major shifts from current practice.
Call out key dependencies—legal, technical, marketing, etc.—and note any teams or individuals who may be impacted downstream.
2. Map Stakeholders and Dependencies
List all teams or individuals who are likely to be affected, directly or indirectly.
Identify clear dependencies on people outside your core team (e.g., engineering, customer service, legal).
Flag any known constraints and risks these constraints may introduce.
3. Categorize Stakeholders by Involvement
Not Impacted – No involvement needed.
Keep Informed – Periodic updates only.
Provide Input or Approval – Needs to review or sign off on work.
Collaborate Deeply – Ongoing, active involvement.
Co-Define the Project – Should help shape objectives and scope from the beginning.
4. Engage and Listen
Set up meetings with each stakeholder or team.
Share your working brief, goals, KPIs, and open questions.
Ask for feedback, risks, dependencies, and bright ideas.
Note any conflicting KPIs or incentives you may need to reconcile.
5. Build a Collaboration Plan
Define roles and responsibilities across the virtual team.
Establish a communication cadence (weekly syncs, milestone reviews, etc.).
Set expectations for when and how feedback will be requested.
Identify where external partners (like agencies) will need support or access.
6. Confirm Alignment and Next Steps
Summarize what you heard and adjust your plan accordingly.
Resolve any open issues or concerns.
Make sure everyone’s on board before you brief your agency.
Bottom line, if you want your agency to succeed, you have to clear the path internally first. That means identifying all the people at your company who will be impacted by the work, involving them early, and building alignment before creative even begins. It’s not just about avoiding landmines—it’s about unlocking better thinking. When you engage your internal stakeholders the right way, you don’t just get their buy-in; You get their best ideas.
In Closing
We’re at the end of Chapter Three. By now, you should have accomplished a few critical things:
You’ve documented key considerations about your company and project that will be essential to building an effective brief.
You’ve clarified that this effort will likely require definition work—not just a leap into design—and started assembling the materials to support it.
You’ve thought through how success will be measured, identified relevant KPIs, and written an inspiring picture of the future you’re aiming to create.
You’ve engaged adjacent teams, shared your early thinking, gathered feedback, and invited them into the process.
Why all this effort? Because the more clarity you bring now, the more accurate—and efficient—your agency’s proposal will be. Without it, they’ll have no choice but to pad timelines and inflate estimates to cover the unknowns. Worse, misalignment and missing context can lead to scope changes, missed expectations, and frustrated colleagues.
The good news? You’ve already built early alignment—and with it, momentum. Future you will be grateful. You’ve sidestepped landmines, fostered collaboration, and laid the foundation for a strong partnership.
Congratulations. You’re ready to hire an agency.