Crafting Agency Core Values and an Organizational Chart
Key Takeaways
- Your rate limiting factor as an agency is your people - get the foundation right before hiring
- Core values should be defined before expanding the team so culture scales intentionally
- An organizational chart with clearly defined positions prevents role confusion as the agency grows
Andrew Dymski and Gray MacKenzie tackle two foundational steps every agency should complete before growing their team - establishing core values and creating an organizational chart. The underlying principle is straightforward: your rate limiting factor as an agency is your people.
Why Core Values Come First
Before you make your next hire, you need to know what you stand for. Core values are not just wall decorations or website copy. They are the filter through which you evaluate candidates, make difficult decisions, and hold team members accountable. When values are defined early and reinforced consistently, culture develops intentionally rather than by accident.
Andrew and Gray share their personal experience implementing core values at DoInbound and GuavaBox. The process involved identifying the behaviors and principles that already defined their best work, then articulating them clearly enough to use in hiring conversations and performance reviews.
Building the Organizational Chart
The second piece is creating an organizational chart with clearly delineated positions and responsibilities. Even if one person currently fills multiple roles, mapping out the structure helps you understand what you are building toward. It makes hiring decisions clearer because you can identify which seat needs to be filled next based on capacity and strategic priorities.
This episode is part of a series on building an agency framework, covering topics from creating a client journey to standardizing meetings and scorecards. The common thread is that investing in these foundational elements pays compounding returns as the agency scales.