How to Manage Creative Team Projects
Managing a creative team project is considerably different than managing a regular work-related endeavor. Creative projects mean opportunities for innovative ideas and a collaboration of those ideas among team members. However, managing the creative process among project members can be challenging, particularly when certain ideas are not used or team members feel their creativity is not appreciated. Successful project management involves getting input from all team members and setting initial guidelines that make the process of accomplishing the project clear for everyone.
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Instructions
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Set ground rules before the project begins. Make sure everyone understands both the common goals of the project as well as the chain of command in terms of project management. The more parameters you can provide in advance of project work, the more clear everyone's roles will be.
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Provide a brainstorming session and make it known that all ideas will be accepted. However, also make sure that it is equally clear that all ideas may not be used, but encourage everyone to contribute during the brainstorming process anyway. This makes project team members feel as though they have a stake in the project just through the ability to present their ideas during brainstorming.
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Provide each team member with an active and creative role in accomplishing the project. Even if his ideas were not used, a team member will feel useful knowing that he had a role in accomplishing the goals of the project. Try to spread around the creative roles as much as possible, but make sure team members understand that ultimately the project must be completed, even if that means some team members have to take on the more mundane tasks.
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Set time management parameters for the team. Creative types tend to focus on the creative aspects of the process, which means that an effective project manager must understand when to cease the creativity and focus on deliverables. Set deadlines throughout the project and ensure they are met, no matter what the creative process.
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