Assessing the differing demands on creative services and the available resources
What we do
The majority of departments within an organisation respond positively when their performance is evaluated. Even when performance is below par, solutions can be found to improve things that involve a logical and methodical approach.
The exception is creative services – an area where everyone feels qualified to comment, yet they find it difficult to articulate or pinpoint specifics for improvement.
At Town & Town we find that the perception of creative services’ function is often misaligned with its capabilities. Knowing clearly what is expected of the creative services team by its stakeholders and understanding the team’s potential is an important first step towards building a team to meet those expectations.
Here’s a situation you may find familiar…
James found the weekly managers’ meeting difficult as usual. There was no shortage of useful advice about his department – creative services. His people were either too busy, not busy enough, produced too many or too few ideas, rehashed the same old stuff, or produced solutions that were too original for the business. And whilst James took it all in his stride, his staff were more sensitive to criticism when they heard it first hand.
Finding a solution
James persuaded his boss to bring in an external advisor to find out exactly what each department thought of creative services, and what level of service they expected from them. The same questionnaire was used for other departments that provided similar services in the organisation. To James’s surprise, the findings showed that people had far more respect for creative services than he had anticipated; it seemed to be much more a question of poor perception and attitude.
Resulting benefits
Buoyed up by the encouraging findings, the creative team quickly gained in confidence and started to promote themselves internally, making regular contributions to the company blog and launching a micro site to display their work. As a happier, better respected department, James and his team were able to make a more positive contribution to the organisation and meet all stakeholder demands.