Creativity Project Management refers to professionals who oversee the planning of creative projects for an organisation or company's clients. Creative ability is an unlimited resource. A great creative project manager not only completes the project within budget but also understands its artistic and innovative aspects. A creativity project manager handles projects that involve entertainment, designing, marketing, media, and content creation. A professional creativity project manager maintains the trust of their clients and respects them. If you are looking for a rewarding career, this article will be very beneficial for you. Because a creative project manager is a rewarding career, and in this article, we will inform you about everything you need to know about a career as a creative project manager.
What is a creative project manager?
The creative project manager steers the planning, execution, and closure of creative projects in collaboration with various stakeholders, particularly other creatives graphic designers, copywriters, videographers, photographers, etc. The post is primarily directed toward managing the creative aspect of project management so that the different creatives often cooperate to build an effective campaign. Unlike the typical project manager, a creative project manager is expected to understand and feel for the different processes operated by the team. The creative project manager differs from the more general project management definition in concepts like design thinking, ideation, storytelling, and aesthetics.
Key Roles & Responsibilities of a Creative Project Manager
With a Creative Project Manager wearing different hats in coordination to harmonize the chaos of innovation with the order of the project, the following are the duties that define this role:
Client Relationship Management
Creative Project Managers help mesh the creative team with the client by closely communicating and coordinating efforts. The PM regularly updates the client on the project's progress, responds to feedback, and realigns the project to client expectations in order to sustain close client relationships.
Project Planning and Coordination
Creative Project Managers have initial responsibility for the planning of projects. The scope of the project, objectives, timelines, and deliverables are defined initially by the Creative Project Manager. They work with other stakeholders to understand requirements, ensuring that creative projects align with the organization's conventions.
Cost Estimation of a Project
Creative Project Managers develop the estimation of related resource requirements in collaboration with the creative team so that costs for projects can be accurately estimated. This entails a thorough understanding of the creative process, the standards set by the industry, and variables that might create their impacts in the project.
Defining a Project Budget
Procurement of a project budget drawing upon cost estimates. A project budget that guides the project in resource allocation while ensuring a balanced cube between financial viability and the creative standard throughout the phases of the project, starting from pre-production to delivery.
Team Leadership
Inspiring and cultivating the creative spirit among talented teams is perhaps the most critical aspect of leadership exercised by creative project managers. They assign responsibilities and priorities and facilitate an atmosphere that enhances the creative potential of the team. In this regard, Gianalberto is very clear about communication and motivating the workforces.
Timeline Management
Another basic aspect of the roles is timely delivery of the projects. The creative project managers should formulate realistic timelines, monitor attainment, and make necessary adjustments whenever projects slip.
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examples of creative project manager skills
A successful Creative Project Manager, unique in their role, is a creative and strategic executor. Here are the necessary seven skills that will enable them to drive projects successfully and realise innovative results in the final output:
Visual design skills
A creative project manager cannot be expected to do all the graphic design work related to a creative assignment and rather will also supervise graphic designers, animators, and layout artists during the life cycles of the projects. The knowledge of a company's brand elements such as its color palette, specific fonts and approved logos would help the manager in getting creative with visual artists and measuring their works. For instance, he might be a creative project manager at a technology company and could be undertaking a project to implement new branding elements across the company's website and thereby also marketing materials. He could be selecting between initial sketches from a graphic designer and could also make other recommendations.
Writing skills
Creative projects usually include an area for writing, be it web content, marketing slogans, or brochure copy. In smaller project teams, a creative project manager might provide copy or content writing for the project itself while others provide feedback to marketing and content writers during the course of the project. For example, such a creative project manager may coordinate the work of a team of copywriters in a financial services firm in developing a new resource about tax laws for business owners. This creative project manager may assign topics to different writers and monitor their drafts for accuracy and tone.
Technical skills
A creative project manager could be using snafu software in almost every aspect of his work depending on the industry he or she is concerned with. Most creative project managers use task management platforms that enable project managers to assign due dates to members of the project team. Often, these platforms offer storage space on the Web for team members to upload design files, draft copies, and other creative matter. The PM would use CAD or design programs for planning and execution. For instance, in architecture, the project manager will use CAD to lay down schematics and 3D renderings.
Organisation
They would make a project plan to easily follow by the created teams with organizing skills relevant to them. In fact, a creative project manager consolidates a number of materials such as style guides, spreadsheets, and finished work examples into a complete set. They may use project management software for resource collection and housing folder-style access for team members when needed. These organizational skills might also help in figuring out how much time the project would take and how many team members it might need, which can help them in asking for an exact budget variant from company stakeholders or clients.
Communication
Owing to working with marketing experts, graphic designers, and engineers, the creative project manager employs communication to guarantee that each person in his team receives the requisite information and resources. They would start by holding a project kickoff meeting to introduce everyone, discuss project objectives, and outline timelines; thereafter, they would have individual meetings with team members to update them on project-specific issues. When the team experiences a conflict or disagreement, the creative project manager will call upon their skills to mediate and resolve the issue.
Why Choose a Career in Creative Project Management?
Creative project management offers careers in the strategic planning and artistic innovation domain and entails working with diverse talents to manage exciting campaigns that real-time change brand narratives. As industries put greater value on creativity and innovation, the creative project manager gains even more relevance than before. Whether the person is engaged in a public relations rebranding exercise or in multi-media productions, that person's skill set will be very much in demand across industries. It also pays well, in addition to being very satisfying in the long term, as one witnesses ideas turning into faces. Build your creative project management skills and gain real industry experience through training courses offered by the British Academy for Training and Development. Their programs are designed specifically in such a way that they enable professionals to advance step by step in a dynamic fast-paced creative environment.