Creative projects can boost businesses from the inside. These are not only exciting for business employees, but they’re also great for invigorating any marketing strategy. Creative projects can quickly derail if they aren’t managed effectively. Because there are often so many different processes happening at once, a strong streamlined process can help all projects from start to finish. Before starting your next big creative project for your business, review these tips for streamlining every step of the way.
First, Make a Clear Creative Brief
Whether you’re working on a project for your own business or a client, you need a creative brief. Not only are these standard agency practices in most industries, but they set clear expectations upfront. One of the reasons many creative projects quickly fall apart is because there is no single, clear messaging. Instead of having your team work in a broad funnel, set them on a clear track with a creative brief.
How do you create an effective creative brief? First, start with a brand statement. What is the message of the brand, and how will this project communicate this message? Next, what’s the context of the campaign, rather, what is the reason to bring this project to light now? Finally, you need to really solidify a key idea and driving message for this campaign. The creative brief will act as a mission statement and roadmap for the rest of the project.
Next, Find a Project Management Tool
Project management is essential to any collaborative process. Creative projects often have many moving parts, and more than one member of your business team might be working on different things at once. A project management tool gives your team a place to meet in the middle with all these different parts.
While a task-based approach to project management might be successful for non-creative projects, sometimes you need a visual way to see progress. Trello is perfect for visualizing tasks, collaborating, and including project elements all in one place. By creating team boards, you can stay up to date about how a creative project is coming along all in a few clicks.
Third, Set Deadlines (And Keep Them)
Deadlines might sound like they have no place in creative projects. Won’t they just get in the way of the natural creativity? Deadlines are essential to any business, and your creative projects are no exceptions. It’s easy to forego a single deadline, thinking it’s worth spending more time on a single aspect. Ultimately, a project done is better than project none. If you’re working with a client, they’ll want to see some proof of your labor. Even if you’re building a project for your own business, you need something to show for it. Don’t allow perfectionism to get in the way of your deadlines.
If you’re having trouble meeting deadlines on time, you might not be setting deadlines correctly. When setting deadlines you need to be realistic with yourself. Speak to your team about how long it generally takes them to complete tasks. When in doubt, give yourself some flexibility with deadlines, especially if a client is involved. Set deadlines not just for the final project, but for smaller steps along the way. This will keep your entire time on board every step of the way.
Project Management for Today
In today’s world of many distractions, it’s harder than ever to keep your projects on a set, clear path. Don’t let your team fall victim to deadlines or unorganized task management systems. You know your team best, and you know how to promote the highest level above. These steps above will ensure your creative projects are streamlined from start to finish! While it’s hard to anticipate all the challenges that might pop up during a project, these steps will keep things on track!
