There’s this terrific quote from the book Slammed by Colleen Hoover that goes: “As I make a final right-hand turn onto our street, my GPS informs me that I've reached my destination. ‘My destination,’ I laugh aloud to myself. My GPS doesn't know squat!”

This month at IHAF, agency workflow and project management are on our minds—and we have some fresh perspectives to ponder. IHAF’s recent field study, Are We There Yet? Examining the Operational Effectiveness of In-House Agencies, offers our membership community some rich yet diverse views on where we are as we journey toward an ever-changing destination.

My fellow Board member, Marta Stiglin, is spot-on in her introduction of the report which captures the essence of what in-house agencies seek to achieve: “the ability to scale up and down… structures that are not too fixed… nimble and responsive…” as well as what to avoid: “so focused on efficiency that we inadvertently build rigidity into the system—rigidity that doesn’t allow us to respond quickly or operate as nimbly as we should.”

What’s clear to me is that this around-the-clock work of meeting the insatiable appetites our consumers have for content puts in-house agencies in the driver’s seat, as long as we’re up for the trip. I’m pretty confident that our creative talent is always ready to ride. It’s the rest of us—the folks who fill the tanks, check the oil, search Google maps, fund the E-Zpasses, and ultimately ride shotgun who are the ones that need to signal that we’re good to go. (And that our seatbelts are fastened as we make our way!)

How’s the trip going for you? Let us know by weighing in below or better yet by jumping in with us.