Creative project manager: how to stay professional in your job?
Every project manager in the creative industries know the rule that the client is always right. More to the point: every day, these professionals are confronted with a comprehensive knowledge of their clients. Supposedly, clients always know better (although sometimes they only pretend to know) what an advertisement should look like, what design would be best for their website, what style of press releases should be written, etc. It is true that in some cases the clients of project managers do know a lot, but by no means everything. It is very common for clients to interfere too much in the work and its planning, which can be a distraction for creative project managers. It is not easy to remain a professional in such a field. As the experience of the most successful shows, only project managers with high self-confidence, stubbornness and precise knowledge can be valued in business.
No matter how much talk there is, the project manager is usually responsible for the result
As a rule, project managers working in the field of designers, so-called creatives, or in the field of advertising, design and layout, are constantly confronted with disruptions in the execution of their work or in the coordination of work with their clients. Clients, although demanding and asking a lot of questions, are trying to get the most accurate answer from those responsible. After all, in the end, it is the project manager who will be responsible for the project’s success and outcome. The search for a project manager should therefore be organised with the utmost responsibility from the outset: it is essential to find an experienced, professional manager who is not afraid of challenges, otherwise it will not be possible to recover from complaints from clients later.
The fundamental problem between the two parties is miscommunication
Every project manager must ask questions. Working in the creative industry, this will help the professional to understand the main trends and issues and, most importantly, to answer the client’s uncertainties. Recruiters who help companies find project managers note that the reason for the high turnover of project managers in organisations is the same: they are quick to get their hands dirty, they do not look at the issues at hand and they do not even try to find different ways of talking to clients.
The success of all projects depends on the project manager’s understanding of what the client really wants. In this step, it is important to get as much information as possible about what the client expects, imagines and is committed to. Only by communicating directly, by engaging in a constant search for “what the client wants”, will the project manager be able to find a more direct path to project success.
Precise planning of the work and regular communication with the client
How can the client know how his business is doing if the project manager does not bother to keep him informed? It is a big mistake for a person in such a position to keep silent all the time. Every self-respecting project manager must understand that once a client has invested in advertising or design, they want to know if they are getting their money’s worth. For this reason, managers must make it part of their agenda to communicate with their clients and to let them know on a regular basis how the work is progressing, what problems are being encountered and so on. Processes can only be controlled smoothly if they are based on a precise action plan. Even in a spontaneous field like creative work, project managers have to find ways and find the most convenient way of planning.
Reasoned answers and arguments are important
The question of why this is the way things are and not the other way around will come up a lot in a project manager’s work. However, the worst answers are “because it’s the right thing to do, it looks better, it should please most people”, etc. By saying these words, the project manager is not really saying anything. Only a reasoned answer, based on statistics, data and previous experience, can reassure the client and inspire his confidence. For many clients, when they see an intermediate view of an advertising design, they have two emotions: like it or not.
All client reactions need to be responded to, especially the negative ones. And then there are two possible paths: either the project manager makes a strong case for the way things should be, or, after trying to make his position clear, he adjusts the design work slightly, while still maintaining a fairly strong opinion. Clients have a sacred faith in numbers, statistics and research: this is something the project manager cannot forget in his work.
