Managing the Creative Process - Part 2

KEEPING THE PROJECT ON TRACK

With all of the technology today aimed at accelerating our lives, how is it that marketing projects seem to take longer than ever to complete? We can communicate in an instant and production processes have reduced timelines from weeks to days. Yet still, it’s difficult to prevent projects from stalling somewhere along the line.

Here are a few tips to help you keep projects moving?

1. Run your project like a cruise ship.
To arrive at the final destination on time, it must leave each port on time, whether every team member is on board or not. If the deadline is real, then the schedule must be kept.

2. Complete a creative brief.
This document will outline the objectives of the project for all to agree. This is not only helpful to the firm, it's sometimes the only thing that prevents a project from spinning off course when a committee member suddenly introduces a new thought long after the project is on its way to completion. Simply restating the objectives or referring to the creative brief can head off these sudden U turns.

3. Establish the ground rules.
Clearly communicate with the person who initiated the project. Let them know what you need from them to fulfill their request, and let them know the consequences if they don't hold up their end of the bargain.

4. Educate the review team.
Explain to your team that creativity is a process which can be short circuited by long delays. It’s important to maintain momentum once the project has begun since long delays in an approval stage can sometimes mean restarting the creative process from the beginning.

5. Remember inertia.
A project in motion tends to stay in motion and a project at rest will stay at rest. This point may be the most simplistic, but it's also the most important.

Hopefully something here is helpful to you as you try to complete the work you are assigned. I certainly understand the difficult challenges marketing professionals face and will continue to do what I can to help.

I touched a bit on the topic here but my next article will delve more deeply into the challenges of managing internal resources.