Understanding deadlines and ownership
Understand who owns work, when it is due, and how responsibility moves through AGENCIE.
Two Questions To Ask
Most daily work in AGENCIE comes down to two questions:
Who needs to act? → Ownership
When does it need to happen? → Deadline
AGENCIE keeps these concepts connected so the team can understand both responsibility and timing.
Role Is Not Ownership
A role describes what kind of work someone can perform.
An assignment determines who is responsible for a specific piece of work.
For example:
Editor → Can perform editing work
Editor assigned to Task A → Owns Task A
Another person with the Editor role does not automatically become responsible for that task.
Workflow Ownership
Workflow ownership can change as content moves through production.
For example:
Writing → Writer owns the current task
Script Review → Reviewer owns the current action
Shoot → DOP owns the current task
Editor Intake → Editor owns the handover decision
Editing → Editor owns the editing task
Edit Review → Reviewer owns the current action
The content remains the same, but responsibility moves between people as the workflow progresses.
Gig Ownership
A Gig has a direct assignee responsible for completing the requested work.
For example:
Gig → Assignee → Submission → Reviewer
When the assignee submits the work, responsibility can move to the reviewer.
If the reviewer requests changes, responsibility returns to the assignee.
This continues until the Gig is approved and completed.
Campaign Team Is Context
Being part of a Campaign Team does not automatically make someone the owner of every task in that campaign.
For example:
Campaign Team → Writer: Maya → Editor: Arun
Current Workflow Task → Maya
Arun is still part of the campaign, but the current production action belongs to Maya.
When production reaches editing, ownership can move to Arun through the relevant assignment.
Reviewer Is A Responsibility
Reviewing work is also a form of ownership.
When submitted work reaches a review stage, the responsible reviewer needs to decide what happens next.
Depending on the work, that can include:
- Approve
- Request changes
- Accept a handover
- Reject a handover
Until that action happens, the production process may remain waiting at the review stage.
Deadlines
Deadlines indicate when work is expected to be completed or acted on.
Depending on the type of work, AGENCIE can use dates associated with:
- Workflow tasks
- Gigs
- Publishing schedules
- Campaign plans
- Other scheduled work
Not every date represents the same thing.
A production deadline and a publishing time can belong to the same piece of content while representing different commitments.
Production Deadline vs Publishing Time
For example:
Editing Due → Friday, 2 PM
Publishing Slot → Saturday, 7 PM
The editing deadline tells the production team when the asset needs to be ready.
The publishing slot tells the team when the finished content is expected to go live.
These dates should leave enough time for review, requested changes, and other production stages.
My Work
My Work answers:
> What am I currently responsible for?
It focuses on work assigned to the current user.
When responsibility moves to another person or review stage, the work shown in My Work can change accordingly.
Calendar
Calendar answers:
> When does relevant work happen?
It uses deadlines and scheduled activity to provide a time-based view.
Something can therefore exist in Workflow or My Work without appearing meaningfully in Calendar if it has no relevant date.
Calendar can also contain scheduled activity, such as publishing, that is not personally owned by the current user.
Workflow
Workflow answers:
> Where is the content now, and who currently needs to act?
When there is uncertainty about ownership, check the underlying Workflow.
Workflow is the primary source of truth for production state and current workflow task ownership.
Google Calendar
Google Calendar provides an external time view of supported AGENCIE work.
It does not replace AGENCIE's ownership or workflow model.
Use Google Calendar to understand when supported work is scheduled.
Use AGENCIE to understand:
- Who owns the work
- What needs to be done
- What stage it is in
- What action should happen next
When Work Is Returned
Requesting changes can transfer responsibility back to a previous production owner.
For example:
Writer → Submit → Reviewer → Request Changes → Writer → Resubmit → Reviewer
The role has not changed.
The current responsibility has.
When Someone Leaves
Before removing a team member, check whether they own active work.
This can include:
- Workflow tasks
- Gigs
- Reviews
- Campaign responsibilities
Reassign important work where necessary before removing their agency membership.
Do not assume removing a member automatically transfers every responsibility to another person.
A Useful Mental Model
Think about work in AGENCIE like this:
Role → What can this person do?
Campaign Team → Who is involved?
Assignment → Who owns this specific work?
Workflow → Where is the work now?
Deadline → When does it need attention?
My Work → What do I need to do?
Calendar → When do I need to do it?
When work appears stuck, first identify the current owner and the action required from them. A role, campaign membership, or ability to view the work does not by itself make someone responsible for moving it forward.