When I first started consulting with creative services organizations I brought a "manufacturing " mindset which I was anxious to apply to the undisciplined creative world. I knew the organizations I worked with could be much more efficient and productive if only they would apply the many process learnings I had gleaned from the manufacturing industry. I soon learned that there was a time and place for unstructured collaboration and also a time and place for well-defined process. The challenge for most organizations turned out to be applying the right approach at the right time.
So, how can this insight be used to make your organization operate more smoothly?
First, understand the type of work you are doing - Developing new concepts for a campaign requires interaction with fellow workers and with your customer. You still need a schedule, but the give and take at this stage calls for flexibility in both concepting and in review and approval. On the other hand, reworking a print ad with new dates, while just as important, is much better suited to a structured process with specific tasks and deliverables. I've often seen all jobs treated as new creative work, when, in reality, most jobs are basic production art.
Set appropriate schedules - Scheduling creative work is not a "one size fits all" proposition. New creative jobs need time allowed for multiple concepting rounds of review before development, while a rework of an existing piece should follow a standard production process with a predefined schedule.
Be aware of where you are in the process - An important new creative project will require brainstorming by the team, multiple concept reviews with upper management and potentially changes in direction as the concepts take shape. That's fine at the front end of this kind of project. But it's also important to realize that as the project moves closer to production, more process definition and discipline is required. It's important to have well defined stages for this kind of project or else you will be coming up with new concepts and changes in content right up to your launch date!
Make sure people understand their roles - It's important for creative staff and everyone touching the project to understand their roles (instead of titles). If my task is proofreading, it's not the time to be suggesting new copy. If I'm reviewing a piece for legal compliance, I really shouldn't be suggesting new color schemes. The best way to achieve this is to have a well defined process with clear stages, clear role definitions, and clear deliverables.
Measure how you are doing - So how well are you meeting your commitments? The only real way to know is to establish measurements that are clear cut and appropriate. It's not enough to average project durations over all projects. When you differentiate between types of projects and generate good metrics, you can get a picture of how you are performing - and using the right approach to your work is a big part of good performance.
