Vantaggi
I recently had a chance to work with my former employer, Studio 216, as a client more than a year after leaving the company. I currently work at a design firm and we contracted S216 to complete several rendering graphics. I was encouraged to see many of my previous concerns about my former role and the structure of the company were beginning to be addressed. For example, more levels of management and support staff had been inserted into the company structure to help manage deadlines, client correspondence, and more tedious technical tasks such as file prep and internal correspondence. The structure did not seem totally worked out, but was definitely a step in the right direction. I also appreciated the additional framework of clear deadlines and add-service agreements. When I worked for Studio 216, I often felt that timelines and contracts were out of my control as a project manager, which made it difficult to predict/control my own workload. This appeared to be much less of a problem now.
Svantaggi
As a client I could tell there was still some level of disorganization in terms of communication and roles/responsibilities, but it was clear that many more systems were in place. I hope that these changes translate to a more direct feedback loop between project managers and those managing marketing, staffing, and finances, as this chain of communication was not functioning well when I was employed at Studio 216.