Don’t command. Collaborate.
Successful web projects are collaborations. Problem is, most web teams are structured for top-down control.
Web professionals are experts in their disciplines, but they don’t have domain knowledge. Your organisation and your users have that. So you need to collaborate. Your web team aren’t suppliers, they’re partners.
Forget linear processes. Iterate.
Most web projects run in linear style: write a brief, agree a price, leave the team to get on with it. It’s as if you were designing a brochure.
Throw out linear processes. Prototype. Iterate. Fail. It’s what real design looks like.
Fire your ad agency.
Asking an ad agency to help you with web design is like asking a veteran newspaper editor to help you build the future of social media. They’re professionally incapable of understanding the changes that matter.
Many “digital agencies” are just as bad. Tactical, campaign-driven “solutions”. No post-launch planning. No content strategy.
Take the leap.
There’s no safe option. Take the risk of working collaboratively with smart web professionals. The alternative is to do nothing. Hide in a cupboard and hope this internet thing goes away.