Creative people work a little differently than the average business person. They have a different mindset, a unique flow. They need more freedom and time to fine-tune their “product development” and concepts. But in that same breath, too many allowances also can hinder a business.
Even someone who is a one-of-a-kind original, thinking way outside the box, requires structure and dedicated management in order to achieve a result to benefit the team and carry their load of responsibility.
What should project management look like for a creative? Are there tools like some of the best creative agency project management software to help these staff perform better, and will the entire team benefit when the creatives are adequately managed? Let’s learn.
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What Does Project Management Look Like For Creatives
The creative team for most business projects includes the copywriters, the design team, the art department, and the creative project manager. This individual finds the balance for these teams to work together efficiently and effectively to meet a project’s goals by the deadline. It’s not that, unlike a project manager for most fields.
The distinct difference is that most projects are stringently based on duties with specific time limits and a set deadline for the entire project. However, aligning a group of creatives to produce based on time isn’t how they work.
Satisfactory results are based on inspiration; no one can determine when an idea will hit.
These teams require a great deal more flexibility with their schedules. Find out management tips from a creative director at https://hivelife.com/10-management-tips-from-a-creative-director/. It’s suggested that a great majority of creative teams implement project management software in an effort to bring structure into the creative side of the process. What are the advantages of using these tools for the creatives and the rest of the project team?
● There is a greater degree of efficiency
Most businesses, particularly creative organizations, manage multiple projects simultaneously, making efficiency crucial to avoid confusion.
With project management software, the leader can establish an overview enabling them to monitor the project from the time it starts, as it progresses, follow along to see who needs to be working on what, and when they need to be through.
The software keeps the team organized and on track with their tasks. With creative management software, there’s a degree of customizability, flexibility, and adaptability to accommodate a diverse group.
● The processes and objectives are readily defined
The team as a whole needs to know the project’s goal but in saying that, the individual members need to know their objective in that plan as well for the project to succeed. Without an apparent aim, the creative team is even unable to establish a motivation.
The priority upfront is to define the objectives and communicate them to each person so they understand their part in completing the project. After aligning each person’s role, discuss ways to optimize the processes. Go here for guidance on managing a creative team.
● Working without distraction is important
Studies indicate that standard office workers are “distracted roughly every 11 minutes but will take an average of 25 minutes to return to the duty they were originally performing before the distraction.”
Each time a staff member takes their mind off of a duty, the momentum they had going at the time is lost, and for a creative individual, that can mean having to start fresh with their idea.
For project managers, the goal is to eliminate distractions for their creative teams, instead scheduling a time when these staff members can merely immerse themselves in their thought processes and problem-solve without interruption.
As a project manager in a creative setting, it’s essential to recognize that this team might have the same mindset or functionality as you, the other team members, or even each other among the varied creative groups. These are a more visual group of people; they tend to be more intuitive and often are emotional.
Many prefer to avoid stringent guidelines or tight deadlines. Still, if they know they have a supportive project management leader using adequate tools to attempt to make the process as smooth, efficient, and easy as possible, the entire team will benefit.
Final Thought
A project manager is tied to a budget and a timeline while trying to accommodate a creative effort by thinking a little bit outside the box to achieve a quality project. That in itself takes specific creativity and structure.
Even creative people who require flexibility also need a level of structure without stringency, and that’s why they do well when implementing project management software.
It keeps them in line, on time, without being overbearing. It lets them visualize what needs to be done and when, so they can keep up with the team to meet their personal objectives and the project’s overall goals.