- The workload is frequently overwhelming, and management just tells employees to learn to “juggle” or prioritize better (i.e. figure out which tasks to continually punt to the next day) instead of treating it as a structural issue
- No centralized PM system or source of information means employees spend a lot of time chasing information and manually updating a mix of spreadsheets, Slack dashboards, Google Docs, etc.
- No shared templates or hub of “good” examples to work from. Every team invents their own standards, workflows, templates. Not only does this sacrifice efficiency but also makes “good work” arbitrary; leadership frequently moves the goalposts
- Junior employees are often “voluntold” for work with little regard for their bandwidth. Outright saying “no” to any projects is essentially unheard of
- No bonuses; verbal acknowledgements abound, but employees are rarely given material acknowledgement of work well done
- Low pay (but typical for an agency environment)