Doing More With Less

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If you are like pretty much every other creative leader on the planet, you are being asked (told) to do more with fewer (human) resources. While this poses a number of challenges, there are several things you can do to help keep your team and yourself somewhat sane.
Many in-house teams do not charge back for their services, meaning 25 rounds later the client is still making edits. We’ve all been there and often these countless rounds of revisions can stem from poor communication and project planning upfront.
The best tactic is also the most basic. Talk to each other and to your clients at the kick off of each project. Every project, big or small, should come with a very clear set of expectations around timing, scope, objectives and success. Not having that discussion before a project kicks off practically ensures that you’ll have rework. And rework is the lean creative team’s biggest and foulest enemy.
With the necessary information up front, you’ll be able to direct the project to members of the team who can handle it most efficiently. I’ve found that creating a team that blends senior and developing talent – some performers who think and act strategically with others who focus on tactics and implementation – is another way to increase your overall efficiency and effectiveness.
In a perfect world, you’ll also have some source of on-demand talent – freelancers, contractors, or even colleagues from other teams you can pull in as needed to help with spikes in workflow.
Another option is to consider investing in a creative project management tool to help you level the load across the team, see where bottlenecks are occurring, and minimize the downtime between steps.
My final recommendation is this: To help avoid or at least plan for those spikes, hire the best project manager you possibly can. A seasoned pro can keep efficiencies at their highest, keep the energy up in the studio and save time and costs.
These POVs brought to you by an experienced member of Boom Ideanet where crowdsourcing is civilized.
 

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