Managing complex projects is difficult. It’s even harder when you lack a unified view of your data. For AKQA, an international agency within the WPP group, this was a daily reality: too many tools, too many teams, and too much information, but no real central point of synthesis. Over time, this situation began to show its limitations.

“Before, everyone only looked at their own area”, says Simone Avanzi, Director of Project Management at AKQA. “Individual projects might have been under control, but we lacked a systemic view.”

AKQA operates in highly complex environments at the intersection of technology, consulting, and marketing, with multidisciplinary teams (over 100 people in Italy alone) and projects involving diverse skill sets, often on an international scale. In such a context, project management is not just an operational function; it is one of the organization's strategic pillars. For this very reason, the fragmented way projects were managed—distributed across multiple, poorly integrated tools—became an increasingly obvious limitation.

Rethinking the model: from tool chaos to a single system

Before wethod, project management at AKQA followed a model common to many agencies: a composite stack of CRMs, management software, allocation tools, and spreadsheets for budgets and estimates, each with its own domain of use.

Everything worked, but in silos. The result was a fragmentation that made it difficult to have a clear, shared vision, especially when it came time to make decisions. “We had solid budgeting and cost control processes,”, explains Simone Avanzi, “but prospective production forecasting was a capability we wanted to structure better”.

The turning point came in the post-pandemic period, during a phase of organizational rethinking across the entire sector. AKQA seized the opportunity to revise its model, not just in terms of processes, but also in terms of principles. More transparency, more information sharing, and greater autonomy for teams.

To make these values concrete, however, they needed a tool capable of supporting them. This is where wethod came into play, adopted as an integral part of a broader transformation. “wethod allowed us to bring everything under one roof. What we used to do with four or five different tools, we now manage in a single environment.”

Real change: culture, method, and new responsibilities

The introduction of wethod immediately brought greater order and visibility: centralized data, clearer processes, and information that is finally accessible and shared. However, the greatest value emerged in how people began to interpret and manage projects. wethod introduced a more advanced approach, based on concepts such as production value, work-in-progress status, and forward-looking planning.

This led to a gradual evolution in how we work and interpret projects: no longer just checking what has already happened, but truly managing their progress. The tool was operational from the start, but it took time to truly internalize its concepts. More than a difficulty, it was a growth journey. Especially for project managers, who evolved their roles by acquiring greater forecasting capabilities and continuous control.

“At the beginning, we weren't used to precisely measuring project progress and linking it to the budget.” says Simone Avanzi, “It was one of the most challenging aspects, but also the one that allowed us to take the biggest leap forward.”
‍

From control to forecasting: when data truly starts to lead

This is where the real paradigm shift happens. With wethod, control stops being retrospective and becomes continuous. Using the Production Plan and constant monitoring of the Project Status allows for real-time comparison between what has been produced and what was planned. Problems no longer emerge at the end, but during the process, when it is still possible to intervene.

“Today we can intercept weak signals earlier and translate them into corrective actions during production, not just after the fact.” This has a direct impact on the entire organization. Today, AKQA can view all projects in aggregate, quickly identify critical issues, and have a clear vision of overall performance. Resource management has also evolved. Allocations are no longer disconnected from budgets; they are integrated and constrained, which makes planning much more robust.

Simone Avanzi tells us that “previously, capacity planning was less integrated with the project budget. Now the system makes planning more solid and constraints explicit from the start.”

Over time, wethod has become a true database for making more informed decisions. At the project level, it allows for monitoring costs, production, and margins, while at the agency level, it offers visibility into team saturation, expected revenue, and pipeline performance.

The introduction of APIs in wethod represented a further step forward for AKQA, overcoming the limitations of manual exports and allowing for work on real-time updated data, which is essential for creating reliable reports.

‍

‍When change becomes part of the way you work

One of the clearest signs of wethod’s impact is how it has changed our internal language. Concepts like “People Allocation,” “Project Report,” or “Consumption vs Status” are no longer just technical terms; they are now part of how teams interpret and manage projects. This is perhaps the most significant result: the change didn’t stop at the tool, but became embedded in the agency’s way of working.

In this journey, the value of wethod lies not so much in saving time, but in making visible what was previously hidden. “For project managers, the role has become more analytical and enriched.”, concludes Avanzi. “It requires more time spent on data, but in return, it offers a level of control that wasn’t structurally possible before. It’s not a matter of effort, but of leverage: today we do the same things better, and we do new things too.”.

This is the real leap in quality: moving from management based on intuition and post-mortems to management driven by updated, shared data. Having reliable, integrated information allows you to intervene promptly, correct course when necessary, and make decisions with greater confidence. It is this continuous visibility that makes the difference in the agency’s daily management today.

Do you want to achieve the same level of control over your projects? Discover how wethod can help your agency improve visibility, structure, and control in project management. Request a free demo.

‍