Cultivating Creative Harmony: Growing Inspired Teams

Over the last twenty-five years, I have led, built, and nurtured creative and production teams. Sometimes I have the privilege of handpicking staff, while at other times, they are assigned to me—or even thrust upon me. Regardless of how teams are formed, the business goals should remained the same: to produce high-quality work, drive productivity, and deliver a reasonable return on investment.

Is it Time to Hire?

Agencies often hire new staff to develop assets that are expensive to acquire externally, only to discover they cannot keep the person busy or bill enough time to justify the expense. This contributes to the high employee turnover rates seen in advertising and marketing agencies. These are costly mistakes for all involved.

Do you hire an employee, partner with an agency, contract a professional, or bring in a freelancer? If HR isn’t already asking, you should ask yourself: What is the frequency and volume of work for a new position? For ongoing, high-volume projects, hiring an in-house employee may be practical. However, for sporadic or highly specialized work, vendors or freelancers could be more efficient. For example, do you need a full-time technical writer, or is the workload too infrequent and specialized to keep them occupied?

What about budget constraints? Consider not only salary and benefits but also the cost and time required to train and manage a new employee. Can your needs be met by an outside source? How much direct oversight and teamwork are necessary for the project's success? Is outsourcing truly an option if high levels of interaction with internal staff are essential?

By carefully evaluating these factors, you can make informed decisions that align with your department’s goals and your organization’s overall policies and strategy.

Picking the Right Team

If I have the luxury of hiring staff, my criteria vary depending on the position. While expertise and talent are paramount, there are certain characteristics I look for regardless of the role’s specific requirements. Tenacity, kindness, and a genuine drive to produce good work are essential. Lastly, because effective communication is an ever-evolving target, a commitment to staying up-to-date with the latest technology, trends, and tools is a must.

When hiring or adjusting existing staff, my goal is to determine the need—not just for a particular skill like design or motion graphics, but whether the candidate is suited to our specific requirements. Do I need a conceptual thinker who generates a wealth of new and innovative ideas, or an expert at perpetuating existing concepts through campaigns? Does the team need an ambitious leader or someone who thrives in the role they are hired for? The variation in staff talents and how to utilize them is endless. As the boss, it’s your responsibility to understand organizational needs and deficits and fill them effectively.

Work Environment

My cultural goal is to create a safe space where everyone can contribute without fear or hesitation, fostering conversations that uncover, create, and deliver results-driven creative.

Agency or in-house creative staff may be extensive, but most creative teams work in small groups. I typically manage teams of three to six on any given project. While programming, research, and production staff might extend well beyond those numbers, the creative element brought to a communication project is best achieved with a limited number of players who possess unlimited potential (whether they realize it or not).

Brainstorming (ideation, concepting, workshopping), which can be mistaken for an agile SCRUM, is a key process aimed at generating a wide range of ideas or solutions. It focuses on innovation, exploration, and free thinking, recognizing that great concepts can emerge from any idea, from anyone. This process requires participants to step out of their comfort zones, so fear of reprisals is detrimental to success, and freedom of expression is essential.

My role as a director may differ from others. I actively participate as a player-coach in the conceptual process—sometimes at the outset, other times when ideas are more fully developed. Regardless of when I engage, my job is to ensure a flawless understanding of audiences, journeys, and business objectives. All work must speak to those audiences, reflect the data, and leverage their experiences effectively.

Giving the Team What They Need

Providing budgets, time, and tools to optimize talent is essential. Only an inexperienced or foolish manager would starve their team and expect results, this approach sets everyone up for failure. It is a manager’s job to understand what a project requires, advocate for the necessary resources, and manage expectations to ensure successful completion.

In the rare event that a project is adequately resourced, one of the most critical aspects is ensuring the team is fully trained on the tools and software they will use. More time and smooth workflows are lost to technical confusion than most people care to admit.

It is essential that all questions regarding software, best practices, and technical standards are answered—or better yet, taught—before they arise. Team members should be able to use their tools as second nature, working fluidly without distraction or delay. Neither being new nor experienced should excuse poor technical skills.

A Realistic Look at Team Dynamics

Marketing and advertising professionals are a unique breed, characterized by their sensitivity, passion, and artistic mindset. Emotional issues, competition, and office politics are common in any workplace but often take on heightened significance in this field.

The nature of the work demands a high level of emotional investment. Professionals often pour their energy and identity into projects, making feedback feel less like critique and more like an attack. This vulnerability, coupled with intense competition for coveted positions, can sometimes elevate workplace drama.

While rarely discussed, these factors must be addressed when building a team. Hiring bullies, prima donnas, or other disruptive personalities is a recipe for failure. However, you can administer Myers-Briggs and endlessly screen, but you cannot eliminate all issues. Knowing that conflicts will arise, leaders must foster a culture of transparency and collaboration. Any hint of manipulation within the team must be addressed immediately. The goal is healthy competition, with the understanding that all ships rise with the tide. Disharmony in a team is the greatest evidence of weak management.

Coaxing Greatness

Despite the pressures and complexities of the marketing, advertising, and design industries, these fields continually attract exceptional talent. I am consistently inspired by the ingenuity, determination, and achievements of those I’ve worked with. My experience has shown that a team, guided by a trusted leader, can overcome challenges, innovate, and achieve extraordinary results.

PTD