Do I have the right people for the project? That is always on the mind of the project manager – and probably senior management personel in the organization. And in a smaller creative organization, those people on the project may be everyone you have on staff. That doesn’t mean you are limited by that – you can always go out and try to find 1-2 additional creative staff to help round out the organization if you find you need particular expertise that you don’t currently possess.
But instead of looking at the negative today, let’s look at the positive. Let’s consider 4 signs that you may have just the right people to do what is needed to do to get the job done on your latest ad campaign or marketing venture for your new big client.
The team is collaborating. Is your team collaborating and communicating well together? This is a very good sign that you have a close-knit team that is working well together, sharing ideas and moving forward on the same page. You don’t want 5 like-minded individuals on the same creative project team. That won’t serve anyone well. But a diverse creative team that works well together, shares ideas, discusses, and can come up with a focused and unified plan that the client likes – that’s the kind of personnel you want working on your big project.
The budget is not an issue. Likewise, if budget is not an ongoing problem then that’s a good sign that the project is going relatively smoothly, requirements were well defined and there isn’t a lot of re-work due to confusion and miscommunication. Of course, it could also be a sign that not much work is happening, but there would be red flags on all these other signs if that were the case.
Your calls with the client are positive. I always place client satisfaction at the forefront of project success. I think that is probably the biggest indicator of success on a project. So if you are the project manager - or even the CEO of the organization - and you are hearing good feedback from the client on a current project, that is a good sign that you have the right team getting the right things done for that client. clients are quick to run things up to management when they aren’t happy, so if you’re seeing smiles on your clients’ faces, then you can be confident in your project team.
Invoices are being paid on time. Finally, one of those behind the scenes indicators that things aren’t going so well or that a client may be unhappy is unpaid invoices. But if all invoices are being paid on time and in full, then that is likely also an indicator that the project or design work or marketing effort is meeting the client’s needs and that is a direct result – at least usually – of your creative staff assigned to the project. Take that as a good indicator of your team working well with each other and with the client.
Summary/call for input
This is just a list of 4 indicators - out of what could hundreds of possibilities– that your team is probably understanding and meeting your client’s needs well. What indicators do you look for? And likewise, what indicators tell you that things aren’t going so well (not including the obvious call from the client to your CEO complaining that things aren’t going well)?
