While creative and analytical young web design boffins are needed by agencies to come up with clever web solutions they can be seriously hampered by their lack of business knowledge and appreciation of corporate communication subtleties.
In a traditional print agency directors are usually seasoned experts able to advise junior staff on copywriting, design and production matters. But in new media agencies some senior management frequently confess that the basic technicalities are beyond their grasp.
So the public face of agencies that confidently reassure new clients that the organisation is expert in its field is wholly reliant on their junior staff and middle management to deliver customer satisfaction.
So, in practice, the agency ship is being steered by the engine room with little guidance from the bridge.
lack of business experience
While web programmers may be expert in their specialist skills, their weakness is that they neither understand the client nor its business. In truth, they probably have limited experience of business in general.
... all staff need to be regularly trained to keep up with the fast moving technology.
This can lead to wrong priorities being given to content placement, poorly conceived navigation and crucial information becoming irretrievably buried.
So how do we address this predicament?
From an agency's point of view, account handlers are needed who understand both the client's business and the technology that they are dealing with. They must also have the clout to restrain programmers from their worst excesses.
From directors, to account handlers, to programmers - all staff need to be regularly trained to keep up with the fast moving technology.
From the client's viewpoint, the agency needs to be thoroughly briefed by the client before it starts - and the work closely monitored.
If the client has little inhouse knowledge then a web expert needs to be hired to monitor the progress of the project to ensure it is completed to specification.