When you see an article about “creatives,” maybe you think of the writers meetings on 30 Rock. Or maybe you think of the offices of some start-up in Silicon Valley where 20-somethings sit on sofas, drinking coffee and shooting Nerf basketballs while they write computer code. There certainly are plenty of workplaces like that and their management challenges are unique. However, having a real knack for managing creative talent has a much broader application across the economy than you might think.
The creative world long ago took on the discipline of the traditional economy. Film-makers and music producers have been talking about market share and sales margins for decades. However, now the influence is starting to flow the other way – from the creative economy into the traditional economy.
In the 21st century, you may increasingly find that in your business, creativity is productivity. In such a workplace, the manager has a big challenge – how do you consistently impose business accountability and performance metrics without killing your team’s creativity? We have found some useful tips as our marketing agency team has navigated through creative campaigns and we thought we’d share a few:
Hire Carefully, then Trust Your Team
Give your employees the benefit of the doubt. You hire them because of their creative skills — leverage those. Building their confidence and encouraging a strong sense of ownership leads to the best creative product.
Encourage Your Team Members to Take Risks
Whenever we present creative concepts we have two requirements. First, we need to be comfortable in our ability to execute a campaign based on any of the concepts the client selects. If there are some that we don’t think we can make work, they need to be pulled. Second, we need to present a range of concepts that give the client distinctly different options. We often include three concepts. One of them is usually pretty close to what we think they are expecting and well within their comfort level. The second pushes the envelope a bit further and the third concept is usually the furthest from their comfort zone. By presenting the range of options it gives the creatives a safe way to take risks and push boundaries while ensuring the client has good, stimulating options.
Foster a Creative Work Space
Create a physical environment that is conducive to creativity. Creatives often need to physically move around, change spaces and divert their minds from the immediate task to help stimulate creative thought. Create spaces conducive to that.
Be Flexible
A creative stuck at work worried about a pet or child is not going to produce good work product. Sometimes it helps for the manager to show a little bit of common sense flexibility. You can actually enhance focus and productivity by reducing employees’ life stresses whenever possible.
Allow Creatives to “Sharpen the Saw”
Look for opportunities to give employees a chance to do some professional development at conferences, or opportunities to work on a different type of project to get new experiences. Understand that while they can sprint at times by working longer hours, you have to give them a chance to recover. It’s hard to deliver high-quality creative if they are burnt out. They need time to recharge their batteries in order to be at their creative best.
It definitely takes courage to manage highly talented creative employees. We have to be willing to examine our own management style and ask ourselves if the choices we are making sincerely contribute to productivity or not. You won’t get everything right the first time. You’ll make mistakes and need to change how you handle different situations as you get more experience. However, constantly learning and growing as a manager is not only essential in the 21st century, it makes the difference between being just a boss and being a leader.