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Environmental systematics and personalities in development of an efficiently working team.

First of all, we have to talk about "Psychological Aspects":

To move in any direction, each person must have at least one of the following types of motivation:

• Professional

Our goal as leaders is to build a working system that will have at least one important reward: a professional task completed at a satisfactory level. This item is the foundation of a happy existence for any professional.

• Financial (material)

Our society is not completely altruistic (yet), and it’s unlikely that anyone would want to work without pay.

• Emotional (moral)

Creative people also need an emotional reward as fish need water - it’s their atmosphere, where they live and breathe.

• Informational (cognitive)

If your project will bring some type of new important information into the world, then this project can create an atmosphere of a reward produced by demand for the product - which in turn creates a sense of positive impact, satisfying a need for a personal accomplishment.

For example, for a high-paid designer who is passionate about protecting the environment, working with a team of attractive women aboard seashepherd.org on the international project of research and protection of whales - this kind of work would be a motivation that includes all the above listed aspects.

It’s probably impossible to teach a person who has no real experience within the area of personnel management to be a good leader. However, it’s possible to describe a system of rules under which your project will at the very least be completed.

System rules:

If you would like to establish an effective creative team, then one possible way is the use of a typical creative agency structure, which means the following:

• Depending on the size of the project, you need to build a conventional hierarchical management structure, with chief creative officer at the top who manages several art directors and designers under their subordination, and etc. This is a so-called "pyramidal system of management." There are other systems, different management structures - the choice depends on your preferences.

• You will need a clear division of roles and responsibilities.
• At the beginning of a project you need to create a well documented process of the discussion of the project - briefing, including: methods of its implementation, target dates, a description of the key stages, ways to measure outcomes and patterns of interaction.
• On the technological side, you need to configure the system for monitoring the progress of the project, assign each stage a unique name and number.
• Always make backup copies of all versions of your files and documents.
• Track when and what changes you get, and use this system to measure the load on your employees and establish priorities on the way.
• Employees in your organization who will use your services, should be treated as "clients" rather than friends or colleagues. You should think about your team as your own independent creative firm. You'll need to set limits on how often your "customers" can expect to make changes and get their corrected versions.
• Don’t promise anything beyond measure. Conversely, do not give anyone excessive timing on their projects. Your authority is being established moment by moment - remember that.
• In most organizations, internal creative groups are considered as “free” and, therefore, the work of such groups may be perceived less seriously than the external creative firms. Sometimes, the attitude of your “clients” toward your in-house group may be less than acceptable. Typically, the lower the level of professional ethics, the less your work will be taken seriously.
• You need to establish contact with the recruiters to attract freelancers, as well as with other creative agencies to which you would be able to redirect the excess work.

And finally, remember:

• The sharp separation of people who think with a left and right brains, ie, creative and logical - is absurd. We are all capable of any activity, more or less.
• It’s difficult to support the work of creative professionals without interesting projects. The very essence of this profession - is the creation of something new. Creative people get bored by routine - it simply ruins their ability to generate new ideas.
• Allow your customers to give you advice, but leave the final decision to yourself.
• You must always remain first and foremost a professional, and keep away from any emotional decisions. You are a part of the company and your job is to work with everyone, and not against anyone.
• There are no absolute rules for effective management. We are all arranged in different ways and have different motivations. Do unto others as you want done to yourself, and many things will be solved instinctively in the right direction and in unexpected ways.

I hope this information may help you a bit.

I wish you good luck! I hope you know why?  And of course it would be great to hear your stories, tips for all of the Creative Leaders out there!

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Timofey Yuriev.  Fololow me at Facebook: T-Y-V Consultancy.

©2013 by Konstantin Yuriev & Timofey Yuriev

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