Q&A with Chief Operating Officer, Gareth Mason

Gareth Mason, ImageX’s Chief Operating Officer, brings over 20 years of experience in the tech industry to the ImageX team. After starting his career in software development, he launched an entrepreneurial start-up consulting and website development firm. And since then, he has led CRM, security, and SaaS product teams overseeing implementation services projects, training, customer support, and project management offices.  We sat down with Gareth to discuss his approach to production management, what advice he would offer to newly minted COOs, and what gets him excited about the future in technology.   

 How would you describe ImageX’s web design and development approach to a new client? What makes ImageX different?

  Our approach is quite simple at a high-level. Broadly speaking, we follow a process with the four Ds: discovery, definition, design, and delivery.  If a client is more traditional, then we will be more sequential and work with them using a hybrid Agile/waterfall approach. It will be more linear to confirm requirements, then Agile in the implementation phase. But if they’re more Agile, then we can be fully Agile as well -- iterative with concurrent design and implementation if we’re given free rein.  We place a high degree of importance on the discovery phase being the key stage in process. We reiterate and resonate with clients the goals and objectives for their business and make sure they’re firmly entrenched to help guide the rest of the project process.  Project processes in the industry are pretty mature, and what makes an agency different is how well it executes. This comes down first and foremost to talent; recruiting is the single most important process in the company to ensure we have a great team that can deliver. Between having that great team, and offering the full-service range (i.e. including digital and content strategy and visual design, not just Drupal implementation) that’s what differentiates ImageX.   

 What are some of the first decisions a new COO should make in their new role?

Day one is about discovery, not decisions. You must really assess the organization; no one wants to upset the apple cart by fixing things that aren’t broken.  As an agency COO, a few things are key:

•   Understanding that client service projects are primary to the business, and they’re run by talented people.
•   Make sure that the recruiting process is strong so that you can build good teams, and that people are led and coached;
•   Review the project process so that clients are getting the most value for their budgets.
•   Ensure that you have the knowledge-base and template materials in place, and that you’re maximizing budgets for your clients; and,
•  Understand the client management process. Projects are a hub of positive tension and you want to make sure that everyone’s priorities are aligned. To help, make sure communication is set up to be effective between client and agency teams, and that there is an easy escalation channel to iron-out bumps in the road.

 

 What advice would you give to a manager who was building out a Project Management Organization (PMO) at a young agency?

The most important thing to remember is that an agency is a creative entity and that it should always be client service oriented. Running a PMO isn’t always about running a rigid process with hard boxes around numbers and limits. Yes, you’re running a business, but a PMO needs to be flexible around the client to be effective and provide value. It’s both an art and a science. The science is in the numbers and the planning, but the art is in knowing when to be flexible and to make allowances to further the long-term goals of both the client and the agency.  

 How do you manage and monitor your team?

There’s the routine aspects of staying tuned into the people, whether through traditional one-on-ones, scrums, or walking about the floor. But more than that, it’s that delicate process of understanding the coaching and professional development needs, the staffing process, and who you put on which projects and why.   

 What advice would you offer to someone who was struggling to manage their team?

Develop your team members’ skills, pair them with more experienced leads, and try to minimize the number of things you’re changing when you move them from one project to the next. By limiting the change to one of their skills, the business vertical, their role on the team, or the technology they’re using and not changing everything at once, you allow them the comfort and space needed to grow their skills. For a challenging team, it’s often a case of mismatched skills. There’s allowances you can make with your budgets and timelines behind the scenes. Allow for more time to get things done, provide more senior help even if it’s not charged to the client, and try to preempt any issues if you know your team well and can foresee them. Being an effective manager involves identifying and mitigating risk before it affects the project. And for more serious challenges, it may be best to simply halt the project, assess, adjust, and restart with a renewed focus even if it means losing a few days while you do so. It’s better to lose a few days than the whole project.  

 What gets you most excited about the future?

Having been in IT since the days of DOS and mainframe systems and seeing various new waves of technology, it seems every technology generation provides opportunities on one hand and creates the perceived threat that the technology will replace the need for people on the other. I think what we’ve seen at the macro level -- based on what people do as technology evolves, especially in the accelerated pace of the last 20 years -- is that there is always something, a new opportunity, that comes out of new technology and someone talented always finds a way to exploit it.  I’m an operations guy, not technology visionary; but having observed this pattern of innovation and creativity, I’m always staggered to see what comes next and the human innovation that accompanies it.