The Three-Dimensions of Creative Teams

I will unpack this idea more in future posts, but it was on my mind lately so I wanted to at least touch on it today.  Although like anyone, I've made mistakes along my journey in the entertainment industry, I've also learned lessons that I know can benefit those of you on creative teams. Particularly in leadership.

One lesson for creative leads and supervisors is that there are usually three major parts, or dimensions (imagine a three-level chess board), to be aware of during the course of any project:

• The client
• Your company
• Your team

Your goals for each dimension are different. No matter the project, you will want it to be a happy success of course, and you will always want to bring universal qualities like confidence and ethics to every show. Achieving success in each dimension takes different approaches, however.

Succeeding with clients requires being present. This includes being available for sudden call requests, responding to emails, but most of all it means actively listening and coming to meetings prepared with questions, information, and items for review. They should never feel in the dark about anything, whether it be deliveries or things that are holding your team up from doing its work. It also means being accurate. Accuracy for clients includes providing important information and advice (without over-promising), and not rushing to reply until you are certain your response is clear and undeniably factual (reread your replies as many times as it takes). Even a quick "I will look into that for you, I should have an answer in around an hour" is better than a muddy or partially incorrect reply ten minutes after their ask.  Likewise, timeliness is a necessary ingredient too. Set the standard for deadlines to not just be met on time, but early. And perhaps above all else, being pro-active is a key factor in success with clients. This means putting yourself in their shoes to anticipate needs and ask them questions they might not have known they need answers for yet. When a client feels like you can be trusted in this way, you are truly part of the team. You'll know this because you'll see more work come your way, or your opinion will be sought more. It means you've bridged the gap between knowing what the client wants, and knowing what their audience wants.

If you lead a team that is only one of several at your company, success to your department head, managers or producers can mean getting ahead of schedule, looking for ways to provide available resources to your peers (after your client is 110% covered, of course), and ensuring your morale is high so it is a boon to the department/company as a whole. No matter how exciting your project might be, making sure it is a "no-drama zone" puts managers and producers at ease, because they know your show is on track from the good feedback they're hearing from your client, and there isn't grumbling from your team members about mismanagement or personal issues through the grapevine. Strive to avoid being the project that is "on fire" and needs resources from other teams. Being on fire isn't always possible to avoid, sometimes due to forces outside your control, but don't be fooled into thinking that things can't be better planned and anticipated. Even though you might won't spend as much time dealing in this dimension in your day-to-day, you cannot ignore it. A good rule of thumb is: if you succeed in client and team work, the company issues mostly take care of themselves.

Success with your team is paramount. If your team isn't functioning, success in the other dimensions is impossible. For a creative team to be successful, your leadership needs to help remove obstacles for them and provide your crew not just information, but encouragement, respect, a stake in the success and the inspiration to achieve beyond what everyone originally thought possible. This provides them a work environment where they are set up for success. Once you do this, they can become empowered and confident, and it is very hard to for this kind of team to fail. I have seen empowered teams succeed in high-pressure situations while still being relaxed and fun, and this is a great goal to strive for. Hiring people that match your culture and meet your needs gets you most of the way there, but you still need to get them to believe in the project and care about their teammates so they can help each other deliver their best work for the client, which helps everything. And don't forget to give them the praise and credit they deserve along the way! Your results wouldn't be possible if it weren't for them.

So to summarize:

High-performing teams make for happy clients, which translates to a good workplace environment.

Winning the client dimension requires:

• Being fully present and actively listening
• Making yourself available for requests in calls, emails or messages
• Coming to meetings prepared with questions, information, and items for review.
• Accurate and timely information and advice
• Hitting deadlines
• Being pro-active, anticipating needs, asking questions that solving problems

To win the company dimension, you must:

• Keep your department head informed
• Take care of problems on your side of the fence, so they don't affect others ("no drama")
• Get ahead of schedule
• Provide available resources to other teams when possible (but always make sure your client's needs are more than covered)
• Keep morale high so it can spread to the rest of the company

Winning the team dimension means:

• Removing their obstacles
• Providing information, encouragement, respect, a stake in the success, and inspiration
• Hiring the right people for your culture and needs
• Once they're hired, get them to believe in the project and care about helping their teammates
• Giving praise and credit!

This went longer than I expected and there's still so much more I could add on the subject. Thanks for reading. Leave a comment with your thoughts if inspired.