Helping clients to see the value in properly briefing teams and allocating the appropriate time to research, iterate, collaborate and distill their approaches is key to delivering creative concepts that properly illustrate the client’s vision. Further, it allows for more differentiated and own-able creative strategies.
In the realms of providing services, process is just as critical as any other craft or manufacturing step or standard of procedure. If you imagine accelerating a step or missing it altogether, you must also imagine the consequence to the end product. In basketball, for example, it’s important to have a good point guard, someone who can manage the clock, call designed plays, get the ball to the open player. Much like a point guard, project managers manage all aspects of a project, communicating with both clients and designers, effectively stewarding a project to completion without dropping the ball.
Throughout the years I have found that when client initiatives are successful, there is rarely a reference to how awesome it was that a deadline was met. Don’t get me wrong, setting goals and meeting them are incredibly valuable to me and play an important role on the road to success. But great creative does not come at the expense of expediency and, though we certainly strive for efficiency, we do not to let time sit in the driver’s seat throughout an entire project, as she’s got a bit of a lead foot at times.
