FIRE UP your creative team Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM
, BY KEVIN KOTOWSKI
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It happens to every creative department. Between tight schedules, last-minute revisions and rush projects, the creative staff falls into a rut. Designers begin to rely on the same old layouts they've used a dozen times before, copywriters fall back on their pet phrases to describe products, and the “close-enough-is-good-enough” syndrome becomes standard operating procedure.
What can the poor creative director do? Here are a few tips to boost your team's morale high and keep them coming up with new selling ideas.
KNOW THE PLAYERS
It's tough to manage any department, much less a creative group, if you don't really know them as individuals — what they like, what they dislike, what they want out of the job, what their interests and goals are, what moves them.
The easiest way to find out is to ask them. It sounds obvious, but I'm amazed at how few managers do this. When a new person starts, hand them a sheet of paper with questions like these: Who are your favorite bands? What are your favorite sports? Favorite movies? What Websites do you like? What are your hobbies and interests outside of work? What do you like about graphic design, advertising, or marketing? What do you want from this job?
All you're trying to do is get a fix on where each member of your staff's interests lie. Be sure to tell the new employee that the answers to these questions are only to help you get to know him or her better. Then file the information away where you can easily refer to it.
CREATE A CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT
Take a look around your workplace. Is it conducive to creative thinking? Does it look like a place you'd want to spend time in if you weren't being paid to be there? If it's a “cubicle city” with corporate gray colors, it's time to change it.
Rather than decide what your department's creative space should look like, ask your team. Solicit volunteers from your staff, form a committee, and give them the task of recommending the colors to paint the walls, how the cubicles could be arranged, and so on. In other words, give your department a stake in what the place where they're going to spend the better part of their day should look like.
Yes, you'll likely have to get buy-in from your HR and facilities departments. But try to persuade them that creative people need a creative work environment and that this isn't being done on a whim. In fact, it will actually pay big dividends down the road when you have a happier, more productive creative department.
One decorating tip: Be sure to leave space for an “ego wall” where you display your department's work and awards. I also like to put up photos of the staff on that same wall, to reinforce the fact that these are the folks who created the designs.
TEACH THEM NEW TRICKS
Over the years, I've found that while money and titles are nice motivators, they're only temporary. The thrill of a raise or a new title doesn't last long — learning does. Most people, especially creative types, love to learn. Discovering new techniques, finding out why certain tactics work, and picking up the tips and tricks of the trade keep people interested in the job.
Encourage your staff to ask you questions about everything from eyeflow to color psychology to the differences in readership between serif and nonserif typefaces. In fact, encourage them to question everything all the time, and to use the things they learn in their own work.
HAVE AN OPEN DOOR POLICY
Make sure your staff knows they can come in at any time and ask you questions about design, layout and copy. Sure, you'll have to put up with some interruptions — maybe a lot of interruptions. But the people who interrupt you the most are the staffers who will likely turn into your creative superstars, because they're the ones who are truly interested in learning their craft.
Wander around your office every day. Look over people's shoulders. Ask them questions. Let them know you're interested in their work. Just be careful you don't over-direct and begin telling them exactly how to design a catalog page or what headline to use on your Website. There are times you'll be tempted to do it for them rather than letting them come up with their own solutions; resist this temptation.
Set high standards and challenge your creative staff to meet or better them. Be sure they know your standards and understand that second-rate work won't cut it. Nothing energizes a creative department like knowing that the work they're doing is topnotch — everyone wants to be on the number-one team.
