It’s easy to want to be a Creative Director. It’s a whole other thing to actually be one and be good at it. It’s both fulfilling and challenging.
{Topic}
Project Management
{Question}
Hey Kary! I work with “X” Church as their art director and senior designer. I’m trying to rework our project management system for all our creative projects (design, video, etc). The not so fun part of creative! Looking at apps such as Clickup, Teamwork, Asana, Monday, all those typical ones. Do you have any advice on this for systems you use at VOUS? Or anyone else you’d recommend I talk to? Thanks for your time!!
{Answer}
Here’s what I’ve learned so far:
You need both great software and Human Resources (people that are good at managing creative projects and people.)
Software: there are so many great solutions. You should find one that works for your team and for whoever is managing all this stuff. Think about how you wanna find projects, have access to information and what viewpoints you value (ex: birds eye view).
I’ve modified systems & flows to my availability. Meaning, as creative director I’d be in meetings most of the day, yet I approved just about anything that went out. In order to be able to do both, I created Slack channels for the team to submit their Basecamp links for approval. I only looked at what was priority. I did this because in my role, Basecamp was swamped with info I didn’t need to look at when approvals were the focus. It worked for me.
People: project managers are essential to the team. With a team, you get a mix of proficiencies. A variety of skills, personal development, EQ, time management ability, etc. Software won’t solve all of that. You can have great tools but if people don’t use them properly, they won’t help you get the work done.
A key to a great creative PM is one that understands how creative happens. Able to manage timelines on a micro scale (within 1 project) and a macro scale (across x amount of projects).
Last thing I’ll say, there were moments when I adapted to the team I was working with. Some people needed more management than others. In that case, I’d introduce more touchpoints, meetings, physical project board, etc. I heard John Maxwell say, “The weakest person in the relationship controls that relationship.” Do it with a deadline. Goal is to help people get better.
Short answer: ideally you’d have both 😆
