by andre venter - andre.n.venter@gmail.com

The traditional agency model worked well for print and television because all the production processes followed in a predictable sequence.

When media outcomes are clear and the only variable is creative content, the best project management strategy is a sequence of sure steps that lead to a predictable result.

When costs are high and mistakes even more costly, a sequential, more traditional (linear) project management procedure helps to manage risk and manage quality.

Early on-line media was still treated in the same way because the production processes mirrored print design to a large extent.

When WEB2 emerged as the read-write WEB, no one in the industry responded by changing their business models or project management practices. Why? The answer is complex, but can at least be traced to the practices of the organizations and the expectations of their clients.

What has become possible, is a radical transformation of the planning, management and delivery processes which all impact on the time, cost and quality of on-line product delivery.

The think-a-doo strategy for on-line service delivery is structured around the possibilities of the WEB2 medium. What makes this approach so radical is that it guarantees significant time and cost savings with an added benefit of near real time quality assurance.

think-a-doo is a strategy appropriate for the times and appropriate for the media it delivers.

Communication, Feedback and Participation.

If we look back and ask how did we approach our business and how did we interact with our clients only 10 years ago, we may all agree that we probably followed the following pattern:

• We Published
• We Publicized
• We Called
• We Exhibited
• We Advertised
• We Met
• We Presented
• We Entertained
• We Questioned
• We Asked
• We Listened
• We Performed
• We Delivered
• We Billed
• We Kept in Contact

And we had to do a lot of this through scheduling our time and your time. The reason we had to synchronize everything was simple, we had to fit in with inflexible channels of communication. Channels we had little or no control over. Every channel had a unique synchronized event structure.

The question now is: Which of the above mentioned practices are now mediated or made possible in a more flexible asynchronous way by technologies that support, Communication, Feedback and Participation like the WEB2.0 solutions we are now familiar with?

think-a-doo employs WEB2.0 technologies to communicate and collaborate more effectively as a team. We also include our customers in this transparent process which allows effective and timely feedback to guide our projects dynamically, ensuring that business priorities and insights are reflected in all the work we perform.