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PROJECT MANAGEMENT
FOR CREATIVES
Principles to simplify and streamline creative work
by Sarah Parsons
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Project Management for Creatives
Copyright © 2017 by Sarah Parsons. All rights reserved.
The information provided within this book is for general informational purposes only.
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the
information in this book is up-to-date and correct, there are no representations or
warranties, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability,
suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related
graphics contained in this book for any purpose. Any use of this information is at your
own risk.
The methods describe within this book are the author’s personal thoughts. The
contents of this book have no association with any companies the author has worked
for or with at any point in the past or present. They are not intended to be a definitive
set of instructions for this project. You may discover there are other methods and
materials to accomplish the same end result.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information
storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.
Disclosure
This book contains affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and purchase a product
through a third-party website, the author will make a small commission. Your
purchase price remains the same as using a non-affiliate link, which you are welcome
to do.
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Get editable checklists + worksheets
I’m always insanely frustrated when checklists and worksheets are shared in PDF
form. Why? Because there’s almost always one or two tiny little things that I want to
edit to work better for me. What’s a girl to do? I usually end up either recreating what I
want, or ditching it altogether. Which kind of defeats the purpose, right?
I don’t want that for you, so I’m providing editable versions of the all checklists and
templates shared in this book. (This is the part where you jump up and down for joy.
Or think about jumping up and down for joy if you’re not a person who actually jumps
up and down.)
Go to strategysarah.com/pm-templates and download the checklists and worksheets
for yourself!
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 9
What is project management in real, everyday terms? 9
You are a project manager 11
Why write a book specific to project management for creatives? 11
Use project management to reframe expectations 12
Who am I and why am I qualified to write this? 13
Keep it simple 13
Internal Projects vs Client Projects 16
Five Key Stages of a Project 17
Plan the Project 20
Should this project exist? 20
What is the scope of the project? 21
Budgets 24
Roles within a project 26
Tools + software 27
Project management tools 27
Content tools 28
Communication tools 28
Plan the Work 31
Project kickoff + the brief 31
Project scheduling 32
Do the Work 35
Work the plan 35
Stay in scope: Preventing scope creep 35
Pay attention to the details 35
Hot List 36
Hand Off the Work 39
Review and Assess the Project 43
Change management 43
How to conduct a project post-mortem 43
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Project examples 46
Working with Project Managers or Starting Work as a Project Manager 47
The role of a Project Manager 47
Project Management Methodologies 49
Traditional project management methodologies 49
Agile 50
Lean & Six Sigma 50
Conclusion 52
Worksheets 53
Key Questions to Ask At Each Phase of a Project: For the Client 54
Key Questions to Ask At Each Phase of a Project: For the Creative 56
Client Intake Form 58
File Organization Structure Set Up 59
Project Setup Checklist 60
Workback Schedule 61
Brief Template 62
Hot List 63
Work Handoff Checklist 64
Post-Mortem Checklist 65
BUNDLE BONUS: Beta eCourse or Audio 66
About the Author 67
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For Charles,
my number one creative
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Without the right processes, a company will
get bogged down with logistics, and once that
happens, creativity ceases to matter.
- Charles Duhigg
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Introduction
Welcome! Let’s kick this off with an insanely important premise:
Project management is a tool that will help you achieve any goal. And
project management is fun!
When I talk about project management with people who aren’t project managers, I
tend to get a lot of blank stares. Um, what is project management? Unless of course, the
person happens to work in technical fields, such as engineering, IT or software. I also
get a lot of shudders.
I’ve heard the term called exhausting, torture, anxiety-inducing, and a whole lot of
four-letter words. That makes me sad.
When writing a book on “Project Management for Creatives,” I spent a lot of time trying
to come up with a catchier name that didn’t make it sound too plain and boring. But
the truth is, project management is important for creatives. And project management
isn’t a four-letter word!
We’re here to de-mystify project management - and hopefully make it fun. Let’s start
with a definition of what project management is, and how that applies to the creative
space.
What is project management in real, everyday terms?
The Project Management Institute, which is the world’s leading authority on project
management, defines project management as follows:
Project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. 1
How’s that for a load of words that could be applied to absolutely anything?!
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Project management isn’t limited to any particular industry or type of project. Project
management is universally applicable to any work you do, both personally and
professionally.
Project management is simply how you get the work done that you need to get done
in order to be successful. It structures out the beginning, middle and end of a project.
Project management gives a clear framework for what to do, when to do it, and how to
do it.
So, what is project management for a creative? Let’s take web design as an example of
a creative project and re-write the PMI definition substituting in specifics for a web
designer:
Project management is used to ensure a designer can use their design and
communication skills to design a website on time, on budget and to customer
specifications.
Have you ever had any of these challenges:
● Gotten 80% done with a project and stalled out?
● Had a potential customer contact you about work and never gotten around to
following up with a proposal?
● Gotten paid peanuts per hour because you wildly underestimated the amount of
time a project would take?
● Had a client keep adding more requests to the work you initially agreed upon?
All of these challenges are eliminated with clear application of project management
skills and techniques. And any creative, including you, can learn them. You don’t have
to, of course. There is an entire industry of project managers out there that truly love
doing this (myself included). However, even if you choose to outsource your project
management, you should know what you’re hiring for. Whether you to decide to learn
to manage your projects better yourself, hire someone to do it for you, or a
combination of both, you’ll benefit from this book.
By the time you finish this book, you will have all the information you need as a
creative - a designer, blogger, writer, etc. - to know (and do!) in order to complete a
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project. Additionally, you will also learn key things to know and look for if you chose to
hire a project manager.
Project management done well makes your life so much easier, and your work so
much better. And that’s a win for everyone!
You are a project manager
Whether you realize it or not, you already manage projects. You are a project manager.
You may not be a good one (that’s why you’re reading this book!), but you manage
projects. Some examples:
○ Running a household
○ Paying all your bills, on time, without much effort
○ Launching a new website
○ Writing a book
○ Completing a graphic design, branding or marketing project
○ Conducting a photoshoot
○ Completing any of a myriad of other types of work projects
○ Generally #adulting
Learning and applying principles of project management will help you better manage
all the projects you’re already doing - and add valuable skills that make you more
marketable as an employee, business owner, or volunteer.
Why write a book specific to project management for creatives?
Countless resources already exist on project management techniques. There are many
nuanced project management methodologies, each of which have their own followings
- and which you will learn more about in a later chapter - but they have one thing in
common:
Most formal project management methodologies are fairly rigid and almost entirely
focused on software, IT engineering, and construction fields.
These are incredibly valid uses for project management, but they also tend to be
projects with a lot more structure and less room for flexibility than the creative world.
In my 15 years working on projects in the marketing and creative space, I’ve also seen
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that there is a slightly different language typically used in marketing and creative
project management. Not entirely, but similar to the difference between American
English and British English.
The fact that the work can have more fluid timelines can mask the importance of the
skill set and discipline that great project management can bring.
I firmly believe that not having project management skills can derail a project just as
easily in the creative space as it can in any tech field - but what that looks like will
vary.
A book writing project never gets finished because there is no deadline - or the
deadline is so huge that it’s too daunting to ever get started. The author needs a strong
workback schedule and project plan to break the work into manageable chunks (super
technical term), with realistic deadlines, and with accountability.
A logo and graphic design campaign ends months later than planned with an
ultimately unhappy customer and a designer who feels cheated. What went wrong?
Often, the brief and project scope didn’t contain enough of the right information, and
both sides went into the project with different expectations. Without a strong brief and
input from the client, the client feels that the work isn’t hitting the mark. The designer
ends up putting in many more rounds than agreed to in order to get to work the client
is happy with. The additional rounds mean that either the client is charged extra - and
doesn’t understand why - or that the designer eats the time cost and feels cheated into
working for pennies per hour.
Use project management to reframe expectations
A robust project management system, applied properly to any project allows teams to
get more done in less time, with happier clients and creatives.
Project management doesn’t fundamentally change the work that’s being done, but it
does change the framework in a way that ensures work is completed intentionally, and
not mindlessly. Here’s a simple example:
One of my favorite hacks for not spending excessive time on my smartphone is to
periodically rearrange all the app icons on my phone so that I don’t open apps purely
by muscle memory. I was once in conversation with a colleague who grabbed her
phone to check something related to a project - and opened Instagram instead,
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because her muscle memory was programmed to do so. How many times have you
done the same, and then gotten so far down a rabbit hole that you forgot why you
opened your phone in the first place? Please don’t tell me that’s just me.
Simply rearranging apps on our phones - or physical files on our desks - changes the
process enough that we can be intentional with our use, rather than mindless.
Applying project management techniques to a project uses this same principle in
reverse - make as many decisions seamless by simply following a program or plan that
has been laid out. This limits decision-making fatigue in how the project gets done,
and saves time, energy and effort for actually doing the work.
Decision-making fatigue sets in when you spend too much of your mental energy
making decisions that are of low importance or repetitiveness. You are then left
without willpower to make more important decisions. The important decisions are
actually important, but are neglected or hurried due to fatigue. How many times have
you decided that today was the day you were going to start a new exercise routine or
eating habits...only to be on the couch downing a bag of Doritos by 6pm? Yep, we’ve all
been there. Systematize as many routine decisions as possible - using project
management techniques - and save your mental energy and willpower for truly
important decisions.
Who am I and why am I qualified to write this?
I’ve spent the last 15 years, my entire professional career, in the marketing and
creative space, primarily in roles related to process, operations and project
management. I also have an undergraduate in Organizational Communication and a
Master’s of Business Administration. I have worked for and with large corporations,
small businesses, entrepreneurs, authors and bloggers.
The same challenges and types of challenges show up universally in each of these
settings, and the same principles apply to creating solutions.
The exact workspace doesn’t matter. The principles of project management do.
Keep it simple
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As we dive in, please remember to keep it simple. There’s a lot of information here,
and it’s easy to get bogged down.
Don’t.
Always ask if there is a simpler solution, and if so, implement it.
That may mean that for smaller projects you can combine - or skip entirely - some of
the steps we’ll cover in following pages. You have permission to do that - as long as the
needs of your project are fully met.
Read the book, take notes, use the templates and worksheets provided and reach out
to me at sarah@strategysarah.com if you have any questions.
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If you can define the problem
better than your target customer,
they will automatically assume
you have the solution.
- Jay Abraham
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Internal Projects vs Client Projects
One last note before we get into the details. In this book, we are going to focus
primarily on client-facing projects, although the same principles of project
management apply when working on internal projects. The "client" simply becomes
another role that is held within your team. If you’re a solopreneur this means that the
client is another role that you play, or hat that you wear. If you’ve got a larger internal
team, your client is the internal stakeholder who owns the project.
The book The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do
About It discusses the importance of identifying roles from the get-go, no matter how
few people are doing those roles. At first, you will likely be wearing all the hats, and
doing all the things. That’s natural, and expected.
As you grow, those things will naturally peel off. Having pre-identified the roles each
task falls into allows for much easier workload separation than haphazardly assigning
similar work to different people.
This is a great lens to read this book if you are working on internal projects rather
than with clients. The word "client" in this instance simply means the client role in
your work.
Blogger Kat Lee uses a similar framework for bloggers, talking about the various hats
one wears, and the importance of blocking time according to role. This principle can
be applied across all creative fields, not limited to bloggers.
When you are wearing your creative/designer hat, focus on the creative without
thinking or worrying too much about budget or feasibility. Yes, there is a case to be
made for not creating work that can never live in the real world. At the same time,
many of us don't push the work to be as great as it can be because we are too
constrained by known parameters like budget, time, material availability and more.
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Five Key Stages of a Project
Now that we’ve covered some ground rules, let’s talk about the stages of a project. At
the simplest, a project has a beginning, middle, and end. If you want to go totally crazy,
there’s also the getting ready (before a project actually starts) and the recapping (after
it’s over).
Translated into stages, that breaks down to:
● Plan the project
● Plan the work
● Do the work
● Hand off the work
● Review and assess the project
Let’s briefly review each of the stages, then in following chapters we will dive into
more detail on each phase.
Plan the project
The primary objective here is to decide that you’re going to do a project, determine
what the scope of the project is, and ensure that the right resources are prepared to do
the project.
Resources include people, tools and budget. People includes both those within your
team and any agency or freelancer that you may engage to conduct the work.
Plan the work
Once you have approval to move forward with a project, it’s time to get down to the
nitty gritty on exactly what needs to be done in the project.
If you’re the client, this includes creating the project brief and sharing the brief with
the creative team.
If you’re the creative team, it means receiving the brief and discussing it in detail,
ensuring that you have all the information needed from the client in order to begin
work.
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This includes all documents and payment terms needed, which may include a signed
Statement of Work (SOW), work order, contract, estimate, deposits and more.
Note: For small projects with few stakeholders, planning the project and planning the
work often blur together.
Do the work
This sounds rather obvious: It’s the part where you do the work. It’s also the part
where the project can get lost in the weeds.
Ideally, during the Plan the Project phase, your Scope of Work identified how many
rounds of creative you would have, who the stakeholders in each round are, how
feedback will be provided, and what the timeline for each step is.
Hand off the work
So simple, yet so much potential for error. Now is not the time to slack off! By this
point, many of us are already looking ahead to the next thing, and it’s entirely too easy
to miss little details. Make sure to finish well.
Review and assess the project
Now is the time to conduct a post-mortem. And, as the creative, send your final
invoice and follow up on payment.
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A genius without a roadmap
will get lost in any country
but an average person with a roadmap
will find their way to any destination.
- Brian Tracy
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Plan the Project
The primary objective of the Plan the Project phase is to decide that you’re going to do
a project, what the scope of the project is, and ensure that the right resources -
people, tools and budget - are prepared to do the project.
How do you determine whether or not you should do a project? Great question, and
one with two answers. Companies need to decide whether or not they want to
commission projects, and as the creative, you need to decided whether or not the
project is right for you to take on.
Should this project exist?
If you’re the creative, you don’t need to worry about whether or not the project is the
right strategic fit for the client. They have decided that it is, and chosen to engage with
you to complete the project.
As the creative, you need to decide if the project is right for you and your team, and if
now is the right time to take it on.
Key questions for the creative to consider:
❏ Do you have the time and bandwidth to take on this project?
❏ Is this project within your skill set?
❏ Have you worked with this client before? How are they to work with?
❏ Does the client’s budget cover your rates?
Key questions for the client to consider:
❏ What is your desired outcome?
❏ Do you really need to do this project to reach the outcome? Is there another way
that the same outcome can be achieved?
❏ What all is included in the project?
❏ Who are all the stakeholders involved? What are their roles?
❏ Will you work with any outside resources (agency, freelancer, etc) to complete
the project?
❏ What approvals are needed to start the project?
❏ What is the project budget?
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Both parties should consider if the project has all necessary approvals prior to
starting.
What is the scope of the project?
Project scope includes all the right resources including:
● People
● Tools
● Budget
People
● Who are the people resources needed to complete this project, and how much
time will this project require of them?
● Is this a project you can complete entirely with the people already on your
team, or will you need to hire or sub-contract out part of the project? Is the
budget for subcontracting available if needed?
Tools
Assemble the right tools.
Whether you use your toolset or the clients toolset depends on the relative size of you
and your client. Larger companies typically have set workflow and detailed file
specifications. Smaller clients are typically happy that you have a framework already
in place and that they don’t need to think about those types of details.
When in doubt, ask!
Communication is key. It never hurts to ask clarifying questions (the first time! If
you’re asking the same or very similar questions that you’ve asked and have been
answered previously, then you’ve got a different problem).
Hot tip: Save the answers in an easy-to-reference place (which you have, because
you’ve set up your file structure accordingly).
It's super tempting to dive right into a project - and there is so much to do out there!
Resist the temptation, and take the time to set yourself and your project up for
success.
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Do your setup right and managing the project will be 20 times easier.
Key questions to set your project up for success:
● Do you have access to all the team systems you need?
● Do you have the right permissions within those systems?
● Are your productivity tools all available?
● Do you need to rework any systems you've been using?
● Do you know who to contact to get the info you need?
Advanced Tip: Write this all down for future reference. This is called Process
Documentation, and it’s a step that entirely too many people skip. You can set yourself
up in the top of your class by documenting processes and systematizing your work.
This allows you to easily onboard additional team members or subcontractors and
expand your business with a whole lot less growing pains than those who don’t have
documented processes in place.
It also provides a safety net in case the unthinkable happens and you are unavailable to
finish your work for any reason. With documented processes, someone can step in and
complete your work if needed. This should take a load of stress off of you.
File Organization
I know, file organization isn’t fun (or is it?!). But think about how much time you spend
trying to find something in a messy room, desk or computer? By not organizing your
files well from the get-go, you’re setting yourself up for many challenges:
● Lost time: Time your team could be spent creating work
● Lost money: Paying for duplicate copies of files
● Versioning errors and confusion on which is the current version of work
● Losing clients: If you don’t have your act together, you lose credibility and trust
with your clients
Use standard project naming conventions to make files super easy to find. Use
whatever naming convention works for you, but think through the potential long-term
use of the structure. Don’t use two digit file numbers if you plan to do more than 99
projects, or three digit if you plan to do more than 999 projects. If you use a prefix with
a client name, does that actually help you sort and find the files?
If you don’t already have a preferred format, I recommend using the year and project
number. For example, in 2017 my projects would look like this:
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● 17-001
● 17-002
● 17-003
If you are concerned that your clients would figure out this convention and care in the
slightest about the number of projects you have, and where they fit in the mix, you
could always start with an odd number. For example: 17-251 is the first project for the
year, assuming that you have projected that you won’t do more than 749 projects in the
year. I would also tell you that you’re probably over thinking that one, but hey, I’m an
overthinker myself so had to include it.
Hot tip: Once you’ve identified a standard file organization system that works for you,
save a blank version as a template. Then you simply need to copy the master folder,
change to the new project name and you’re golden! No need to worry about
remembering all the right folders, and you’ve saved the time and tediousness of
re-typing and re-creating folder structures that you’ve already set up. #win
Don’t forget to keep it simple. Do you really need 10 layers to your file structure?
Probably not. Use the minimum number of folders and layers to find the information
you need. I recommend:
● Project Name (using your pre-set file naming convention)
○ Operations
■ SOW
■ Budget
■ Workback / Project Schedule
■ Post-Mortem
○ Brief
■ Brief document
■ Supporting input files from client
○ Working Files
■ Working files, as needed
■ Feedback
○ Final Files
■ Final files
■ Any additional handoff documentation for the client
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Budgets
Ah, budgets. You either love them or hate them, right? The project manager in me is in
the “love them” camp, and the creative in my husband is in the “hate them” camp.
Regardless of how you feel, budgets are a necessary part of any project, and managing
the budget well can make or break the success of a project and the creative-client
relationship.
There are three different standard types of project budgets:
● Time and materials
● Fixed bid
● Not-to-exceed estimates
Time and materials budget
A time and materials budget means just that. The creative shares an hourly rate, and
any markup on materials (typically around 10%), and the client agrees to those rates.
The creative then does the work, and bills for actual hours worked.
The time and materials budget is my least preferred method of working because it
opens both the creative and client up to a whole lot of uncomfortable questions and
requires perfect communication. What happens if the work takes longer than the
client thought, and suddenly they are on the hook for a much larger bill than
anticipated? Or the work takes an appropriate amount of time, but the client wonders
if the creative took longer than needed simply to make more money. There aren’t a
whole lot of ways that can turn out good, as either the client feels cheated or the
creative feels like they’re getting stiffed.
Fixed bid
A fixed bid contract is just that. A creative and a client agree to a set amount of work
(deliverables) for a set amount of money. A Statement of Work or Scope of Work (SOW)
is used to clearly lay out what is and is not included, including deliverables, number of
creative rounds, project dates and budget. Both parties sign the SOW and work
commences. If any piece of the SOW changes, a Change Order may be implemented
and additional time or money charged.
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Not-to-exceed
A not-to-exceed budget combines elements of time and materials and fixed bid. In a
not-to-exceed budget, a creative and a client create a document similar to a SOW, but
it is an Estimate that agrees to the deliverables, timeline, number of rounds, hourly
rate and any materials costs, including markup. The Estimate includes a maximum
budget, but states that the final invoice will be based on time and materials up to the
agreed upon Estimate.
In the event that the time and materials goes above the agreed upon estimate, there
are two options:
● The creative finishes the scope of the project and still bills the highest amount
agreed to in the estimate OR
● The creative let’s the client know the project is approaching budget and the two
parties agree to a change order that increases the budget from the original
Estimate.
Note: If you’re starting work based on a fixed bid or not-to-exceed estimate, ensure
that you have clearly defined change order process, “not to exceed” clause, etc.
The trifecta: Budget, time, and quality
There’s a common saying when it comes to budget, time and quality of any project:
You can have it fast, cheap or good - pick any two.
This is simply a matter of knowing the priorities of you and of your clients. As a
creative, knowing your personal priorities can make a difference in how you set up
your business. Are you someone who loves diving deep into a particular project and
spending as much time as possible to make it exactly perfect? Then you will see the
most success finding clients that are willing to pay top dollar, expect perfection, and
are okay with a project that takes longer and may have delayed timetables.
Are you someone who loves creating, but gets bored easily and is ready to move on to
the next project quickly - sometimes even before the one you’re on is done? You will
be more likely to succeed and enjoy your work with clients that expect a quick
turnaround and are looking for work that is good enough, but doesn’t have that
exacting level of perfection. (I fully fall into this category myself.)
This does not by any means mean that you should allow yourself to be taken advantage
of by clients. Do not undervalue yourself, and charge what you are worth.
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Setting clear expectations up front with your clients prevents challenges further down
the line.
Roles within a project
Time management: Creative time relative to project management time
How do you allocate time to project management compared to creative time? This is
equally important whether or not you are managing projects yourself or working with
a dedicated project manager.
A general rule of thumb is a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio of project management time to
creative/design time. Alternately I’ve heard that project management should take
somewhere between 5% to 30% of a project’s time. Yes, this is a wild enough range as
to be almost unhelpful. It’s also a wide enough range that the natural next question is,
“Why is the range so wide?”
Because no two projects are created equal.
What can increase the (valid) percentage of time spent on project management?
● The scope of the project manager’s work and level of experience of both the
project manager and the creatives.
● Whether or not account management or additional / broader-scope activities
are included. In many fields, the project manager is the primary client facing
person, and the relationship with the client may take a significant portion of
time.
● The complexity of the project. A project manager is often the one to do a quality
check of the creative’s work before going to a client, and a very detailed project
with many specifications (file size, format, specific data points, etc) is going to
require more review than single pieces, or work where there are less specific
requirements.
● The number of designers, developers, and other team members assigned to the
project. It takes a whole lot longer to coordinate the work of 10 people, ensuring
that they are on track with their work, know the priorities of the day and are
able to deliver than it does to keep 1-2 people on track.
If you have a dedicated project manager, you likely want one project manager for every
three to four creatives/designers. If you are splitting roles yourself, I would start by
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planning 25% of time dedicated to project management, and adjust as you learn
nuances of your specific projects.
Also, it is important to keep in mind that a project manager may be assigned full-time
to one large project, or part-time to several projects.
What doesn’t have an effect on project management time?
The project management methodology. Each project management methodology is
simply a different way of approaching the same problem, and shouldn’t have an effect
on the total amount of time needed for any workload related to the project, including
project management.
Tools + software
The million dollar question: What tools do you use to manage projects?
The short answer: It doesn’t really matter.
With one exception: “I keep track of it all in my head” is an unacceptable answer.
Don’t get sucked into shiny object syndrome. Unless you are truly using an archaic,
outdated system (think: something that still runs on MS-DOS), you don’t need the
perfect system. What you need is a system that you will actually use.
Project management tools
Personally, I love Asana as a project management tool. I haven’t seen another free
system that works nearly as well. The Asana team also recently added a visual
management tool, similar to Trello.
Don’t discount the effectiveness of a whiteboard or pen & paper either. Depending on
the type of creative work you are doing, the number of people involved and the
location of those people, an old-school solution may be the best. If everyone is in the
same room, keeping a project schedule and status on a whiteboard that everyone can
easily see is an excellent way to manage a project.
If you don’t already have a preferred tool, check out some of these:
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● Asana
● Evernote
● Trello
● Workfront
● Workflowy
● OmniFocus
● Smartsheets
● Air Table
● Google Docs
● Pen & paper
● Bullet Journal
● Whiteboard
Content tools
The content tools are entirely dependent on the type of creative work you are doing,
and you know those better than I do! This could include tools like:
● Design tools
○ Adobe Creative Suite
○ Canva
○ PicMonkey
● Writing & blogging tools
○ Scrivener
○ Evernote
○ Google Docs
Communication tools
How many jobs have been lost simply because the follow through didn't happen? Don’t
let that happen to you. If you say you're going to do something, do it.
If you don’t hear back from a client in a timely manner, they likely didn't forget about
you, they're just busy. Chances are that your project isn’t the only project the client is
working on. Be proactive, reach out, and follow up to ensure the project stays on track.
That is the role of a good project manager.
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Even if you feel like you’re communicating way too much, you probably aren’t.
Remember that the other person isn’t inside your head, and isn’t working on this
project with the frequency or level of detail that you are.
Don’t forget to ask your client what their preferred method of communication is. It
might not be what you assume, or your preferred method of communication. I have
worked with many agencies whose primary method of communication is through
Slack, but since Slack isn’t a part of my daily workflow, I don’t remember to check it
that often.
What tools make it easier to keep project communication on track?
● Slack or other chat apps.
● Email. Some people are in their email all day and respond quickly, others limit
how frequently the check email.
● Phone. Yes, people do actually still make phone calls.
● In Person. If you’re in proximity, dropping by may be the best way to quickly
get in touch with a client or other creative. Don’t forget to follow up any key
information sharing via email or another written form of communication for
documentation though.
● Text messages. Text messaging has become an increasingly common method of
communication on teams I’ve worked on. Before you go this route, particularly
with clients, ensure that you set clear guidelines on when you are and aren’t
available via text message.
● Other chat apps.
Surprisingly, I’ve seen more sophisticated tools used by solopreneurs than by
corporations. When you think about corporate data security concerns, procurement
processes and the sheer number of stakeholders involved, this makes sense. As an
entrepreneur, you have a competitive advantage that most corporations don't: You can
quickly test out new, nimble technologies, decide to adopt them or move on.
Remember: The best tool for the job is the one you'll actually use.
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Whenever there is a hard job to be done
I assign it to a lazy man;
he is sure to find an easy way of doing it.
- Walter Chrysler
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Plan the Work
Once you’ve gotten approval to move forward with a project, it’s time to get down to
the nitty gritty on exactly what needs to be done in the project.
If you’re the client, this includes creating the project brief and sharing the brief with
the creative team.
If you’re the creative team, it means receiving the brief and discussing it in detail,
ensuring that you have all the information needed from the client in order to begin
work. This includes all documents and payment terms needed, which may include a
signed Statement of Work (SOW), work order, contract, estimate, deposits and more.
The goal is to include all relevant information in the Project Brief document, but it is
always recommended to meet and discuss the Brief to ensure all parties understand
what is documented.
If you’re the agency or freelancer, consider:
❏ Did the client deliver a clear project brief? If so, do you you fully understand the
brief? What additional questions do you have?
❏ If you didn’t receive a brief, have the client complete a Client Intake Form
where you lead the process by providing specific questions for them to answer.
❏ Are you able to fully deliver on what the client is requesting? If there are any
pieces of the project that need to be re-negotiated, now is the time to do it.
Note: For small projects with few stakeholders, planning the project and planning the
work often blur together.
Project kickoff + the brief
What is a brief?
The brief is the single most important document in a creative project. A brief
documents all of the client requirements and specifications to successfully complete a
project.
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By definition, a brief should be short (you know, brief). It should contain all needed
information and nothing extra. Ideally a brief should be on one page per project,
although this obviously varies by size of the project.
Many larger clients have set brief templates that they follow. They may also ask their
creative partner for a brief template.
Smaller clients or those who don't regularly engage in creative work will need more
help creating a brief template. Many designers use a Client Intake Form to ask specific
questions that will allow them to build a brief to use. See the Worksheets section at the
end of this book for an example Client Intake Form.
Project scheduling
The workback
What’s a workback, you ask? A workback schedule is also known as a project plan. This
is the master schedule to your project.
As the project manager, you keep a workback schedule with all dates and milestones
(also referred to as “gates”) relevant to the project, but will have various versions to
share with different stakeholders. Most people only want to see what's relevant to
them. Creatives only want to know their milestone dates and don’t care about steps
specific to the client. Similarly, clients don’t need to know all of the internal creative
dates, but need to know when they will see work and when they need to provide
feedback.
How to schedule a project
Scheduling a project is a matter of taking into account start dates, end dates
(deadlines) and key steps in between. As much an art as science, project scheduling
could be a book all on it’s own.
The first step in scheduling a project is to identify the non-negotiables. Are there key
milestone dates or end dates that absolutely must be hit? What dates are negotiable?
The project schedule should include all review and checkpoints, both internal and
client-facing.
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Common Dates & Gates include:
● Project Brief (with the client)
● Internal project team kickoff
● Project team status meetings (Daily, bi-weekly or weekly depending on the size
of the project).
● Client Creative Review rounds. Most projects include one to three rounds of
client review.
● Client feedback. Ensure that you provide adequate time for client feedback. A
smaller client with one or two stakeholders may be able to provide immediate
feedback or need 1224 hours to provide feedback. A larger client who needs to
review with additional people in their own organization may need 2-3 business
days to review each round.
● Any major client internal meetings where work is being shared, such as a sales
meeting or senior leadership review. Ideally, these should be considered in the
timing of creative review rounds.
● Final look. For larger projects, consider adding a “final look” before delivery of
final files to catch any last minute edits. This is smaller than a normal review
round and intended to catch very minor edits missed in prior rounds.
● Final file delivery.
Ensure that you include a buffer or contingency in your schedule. Something will
always take longer than planned. If you have buffer time built in, the unexpected won’t
throw the project off course. Depending on the size and scope of the project, your
buffer may be a few hours or a few days at each main stage of the project.
The single most important factor in not delivering a project late is to ensure that your
project workback schedule is detailed, realistic, adequately accounts for all key dates,
milestones and reviews and includes time buffers.
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“Sometimes it looks like people with
great self-control aren’t working hard—
but that’s because they’ve made it automatic.”
- Angela Duckworth
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Do the Work
This sounds rather obvious: It’s the part where you do the work. It’s also the part
where the project can get lost in the weeds and completely derail. Derailing is bad.
Hopefully, during the Plan the Project phase, your Scope of Work identified how many
rounds of creative you would have, who the stakeholders in each round are, how
feedback will be provided, and what the timeline for each step is.
Work the plan
When you have clearly planned the work, actually doing the project becomes a
relatively straight forward manner of working the plan.
Stay in scope: Preventing scope creep
The brief should be referenced at every stage in the project process. This ensures that
the project stays in scope and that client expectations are met. The project doesn’t
become more or less than it should be.
● Is the creative hitting the brief?
● Has the client since asked for anything extra? (This is scope creep).
● As the designer/creative, have you added anything that doesn't need to be
there? Or gone a different direction than what was asked? If so, a Brief Check is
a great way to catch that before the work goes for client review.
Pay attention to the details
Pay attention to the details.
Pay attention to the details.
Pay attention to the details.
(Yes, I am serious. And yes, it is that important.)
You would be amazed at the number of professional creatives - and project managers
- that do not pay attention to the details. If someone asks for a response on Monday,
respond on Monday, even if that response is to say, “I don’t have a final answer yet,
and will follow up with you tomorrow.”
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If a client asks for four concepts, deliver four, not three. If a client asks for the files as
.jpgs, deliver .jpgs not .pngs.
Pay attention to the details, and follow through. By doing so, you will set yourself apart
from the majority.
Hot List
The Hot List is a common tool for keeping work on track is a daily or weekly Hot List.
Particularly in areas where there are multiple projects occurring simultaneously, this
a great way to ensure that everyone is aligned on the priorities they should be working
on for the day, whether that's which project they should be working on, or which
section/task within a specific project.
Here's an example:
Monday, September 18
● Bob:
○ Continue Phase 1 of Client Project A (4 hours)
○ Start Phase 3 of Client Project B (2 hours)
○ Make edits based on client feedback to Client Project C (2 hours)
● Harry
○ Finalize Phase 1 of Client Project D (7 hours)
○ Review Phase 1 of Client Project A after Bob completes (1 hour)
Note that the Hot List is often redundant to separate trackers with additional detail
that the Project Manager. This is intentional as it focuses the creative team on what
work needs to be done today. Often new project managers see this as redundant, and
attempt to reference back to the master schedule. More often than not, this is a
mistake. In this case, and in a somewhat counter-intuitive way, redundancy creates
simplicity by stripping out all the extra information that isn't relevant in this exact
place and time.
Hot Tip: When creating Hot Lists, don't forget about smaller items and reviews. Late
nights and long days quickly creep in when last looks, reviews and final edits are not
accounted for. A 15 minute task might not seem like much, but 15 minutes repeated
adds up quickly. In addition, taking focus away from work that is in a state of flow
costs far more than the actual time away. Studies vary on how much time it takes to
get back on track, but most estimates place the time to refocus in minutes or hours,
not seconds.
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Note on scheduling time: Wherever possible allow blocks of at least four hours to work
on creative portions of a project, and allocate smaller blocks of time to less creative
tasks like laying out decks, making edits and conducting reviews. This ensures not
only more efficient workflow that allows work to be completed faster, but results in
much happier creative team members as they are not frustrated by unnecessary
interruptions.
If you're working solo, creating your own Hot List can also be helpful to stay on track,
as it's a simplified view of what's important to be working on right now. Assigning time
per task is an easy way to stay on track. In fact, your current daily to do list likely
already functions very similar to a Hot List. Assign times per task, and you're good to
go!
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Done is better than perfect.
- Sheryl Sandberg
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Hand Off the Work
So simple, yet so much potential for error. Now is not the time to slack off! By this
point, many of us are already looking ahead to the next thing, and it’s entirely too easy
to miss little details. This is the time to dot your i’s, cross your t’s and create a
reputation as someone who does excellent work.
When delivering creative work to a client, there are four essentials to include.
Create a handover checklist that you review before each and every round of whatever
sort of creative you’re delivering:
❏ Does the work answer the brief?
❏ Does the work contain any technical errors (spelling, etc)?
❏ Is the work complete? Do you have all the elements packaged up?
❏ Particularly in review phases, is anything that is not final include clear markers
to indicate that? Clear markers include labels such as FPO (for placement only),
or WIP (work in process).
Ideally, you’ll have at least two people review the work, as a fresh set of eyes works
wonders.
If you’re a solopreneur and don’t have another person to review the work, take a break
for at least 3-4 hours after completing it, and come back to it with fresh eyes for
review.
I know, this means that you can’t procrastinate until the last minute. And I get that
there are some quick-turn projects where this isn’t possible. Know your client well
enough to know when there’s an urgent deadline and it’s essential to deliver work.
And don’t deliver work late because you were taking a break to review. Plan your
schedule with time built in for a review.
If it’s a second round, take a close look at the client feedback. Did you make every
change requested?
I have seen far too many creative rounds come back that either a) didn’t answer all of
the requirements in the initial brief, and/or b) didn’t address client feedback.
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These are major issues for the client that are easily avoided by checking the work
before it is sent out.
I have seen agencies and freelancers not rehired in large part because they don’t pay
attention to detail. Don’t let that happen to you.
Van Halen and the Brown M&Ms
Have you heard the story about Van Halen and the brown m&ms? If not, it’s worth a
full read here1, but the gist of it is this:
Back in the day, Van Halen had a long multiple page rider detailing what concert
promoters needed to do in order for a concert to happen. This included all sorts of
technical and engineering set up of equipment, as well as green room and catering
requirements. Buried in the document was a statement that a bowl of m&ms with no
brown m&ms was required in the dressing room.
For years, this was repeated in stories about the ridiculous expectations of superstars.
Eventually, it came out that there was a method to the madness:
“To ensure the promoter had read every single word in the contract, the band
created the “no brown M&M's” clause. It was a canary in a coalmine to indicate
that the promoter may have not paid attention to other more important parts of
the rider, and that there could be other bigger problems at hand.
Whenever the band found brown M&M's candies backstage, they immediately
did a complete line check, inspecting every aspect of the sound, lighting and
stage setup to make sure it was perfect.”
Brown m&ms were a simple test for a major safety issue.
The details matter. Take the time to review every detail and show your clients that you
are trustworthy in the big details because you have paid attention to the small details.
If you don’t pay attention to the details, this puts more work on the client-side team to
review every single little piece of your work. Remember: The client is the one who has
to stand in front of the rest of their internal stakeholders, and ultimately, in front of
their customers with this work. They own it.
1
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232420
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If the work is not 100%, it reflects even more poorly on the client as it does on you.
Make your client look good!
As the agency/freelancer:
❏ Review the Project Brief and ensure that every deliverable is included in your
hand off.
❏ Ensure the file types requested are all sent.
❏ Ensure there are no spelling errors, color errors, or any other type of errors.
❏ Follow up with the client to ensure that they received everything and that it
meet their needs.
As the client:
❏ Review what’s received against the Project Brief. Did the agency deliver
everything promised?
❏ Review all the files. Are they all accurate? Do this in a timely manner so any
last-minute edits can be made before the project teams have moved on.
❏ Confirm with the agency/freelancer that you have received all the files, and
thank them for their work.
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Nothing is less productive
than to make more efficient what
should not be done at all.
- Peter Drucker
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Review and Assess the Project
Change management
Now is the time to conduct a post-mortem. And, if you’re the agency/freelancer, send
your final invoice and follow up on payment.
Key questions to ask on the client side:
❏ What went well?
❏ What didn’t?
❏ What would you do differently next time internally with your team?
❏ What would you expect an agency/partner to do differently on a next project?
Key questions to ask on the agency side:
❏ What went well?
❏ What didn’t?
❏ What would you do differently next time?
❏ What would you expect a client to do differently on a next project? What do you
need to do differently to make this happen?
❏ Is this a client that you would like to work with again in the future?
❏ Is this a type of client that you would like to work with in the future?
How to conduct a project post-mortem
What is a post-mortem?
A post-mortem is simply, “an analysis or discussion of an event held soon after it has
occurred” (If post-mortem sounds to high-brow for you – or reminds you a little too
much of death – feel free to substitute the phrase “project recap”).
I’ve long since conducted post-mortems for professional projects, but have only
recently started the practice for personal projects.
We always think we’ll remember…everything…but the details fade so fast. And really,
with as much technology as we have available to capture information, why rely on our
brains for every last detail? Free up that brain space for productive thinking, not
remembering details of past events!
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We’re moving next month, and as we’re gearing up for that, I went back and reviewed
my recap notes from our last move (only 10 months ago!). What do you know…there
were a number of details I had forgotten…how long it took to load the truck, how
many people we had helping (and how long each of them was there), where we had
downtime in the process, and more.
Is this the part where I dare admit that I’d actually forgotten I’d done a post-mortem
of our last move and found it by accident?
I knew I’d created a moving checklist, and was searching for that along with any other
notes – and what do you know – I’d written down all sorts of helpful details! (See
“don’t rely on your brain” and “the importance of having systems in place.”)
Because I had done a post-mortem of the move, I can now use that as a base to plan
our upcoming move and save a whole lot of steps in the process. Yay!
How to write an effective post-mortem
1. Include all the essential elements:
● What worked
● What didn’t
● What to do differently next time
● A (very brief) recap of the project flow
● Links to relevant project documents (You’d be amazed at how easy this
one is to skip, and how much time it saves to have all project information
in the same place!)
2. Write down everything, even things that seem so obvious at the time.
Don’t rely on your brain – every single project recap I do, there’s at least one piece of
information where I say “Oh, this is ridiculous, I won’t possibly forget this,” (Yes, I talk
to myself a lot.) Inevitably, at least one of these obvious pieces of information is
forgotten by the time the next project rolls around.
3. Don’t overcomplicate it.
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I know, this seems to be opposite advice to the last point, but really, don’t
overcomplicate it. A post-mortem doesn’t have to be formal, and it doesn’t have to be
lengthy to be effective. The post-mortem can be as simple or as detailed as needed for
any particular project.
4. If necessary, do a retroactive post-mortem.
It happens to the best of us that we have full intentions of doing a post-mortem right
after the end of a project, and somehow it’s suddenly well past the event. Don’t
despair! You can retroactively do a post-mortem. It won’t be quite as good as the real
deal, but it’ll certainly jump start your planning process. If you haven’t done an official
post-mortem, and you’re planning a project similar to one you’ve done previously,
don’t despair.
● Review old documents. For our last move, I had a moving folder that had the
receipts from the rental truck, utility changes and papers from our property
management company.
● Review old emails (and text messages). If you vaguely remember when the
project was, you can often recreate what went well and what didn’t by
reviewing emails, text messages and social media posts. The only way my
children will have baby books is if I recreate information based on Facebook
posts and text messages. I haven’t yet decided if that’s a #momfail or #efficient.
● Do a collective brain dump. Chances are you didn’t work on a project alone. A
collective brain dump is a great way to have the whole project team recap what
they remember and fill in gaps based
Bonus Tip: As you’re planning any project, get out there and schedule your
post-mortem as soon as possible after the project is scheduled to end!
When should you use a post-mortem? Here are a few examples of personal and
professional projects ideal for a post-mortem:
● A move
● A vacation
● A semester or year in school (as a teacher or student!)
● A new product release
● A seasonal creation process
● A website launch
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● Onboarding a new vendor or employee
Project examples
● Writing a book
● Designing a website
● Designing a book cover
● Designing printables
● Creating a blog calendar
● Buying a house / Remodeling or decorating a house
● Meal planning!
● House cleaning
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Working with Project Managers or Starting Work as a
Project Manager
The role of a Project Manager
The primary purpose and focus of a project manager role is to ensure that specific
projects are executed on time, on budget and to client specifications.
This can mean one large project or multiple smaller projects.
Typically the Project Manager is client-facing, and often works in conjunction with an
Account Manager or Client Manager. If there isn't a separate Account or Client
Manager, the Project Manager can take on these roles as well.
Other titles that often contain similar work to a Project Manager in a Creative
environment:
● Producer
● Operations Manager
● Production Manager
● Traffic Manager
● Studio Manager
● Program Manager
Essential skills for a great Project Manager:
● Critical thinking
● Strategic thinking
● Effective communicators
● Empathetic
● Teachers
● Time-management
● Organization
● Flexibility
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As an example of real-world Creative Project Manager jobs, here is a job description
posted in March 2017 by Amazon.com2 :
2
https://us-amazon.icims.com/jobs/511215/project-manager%2c-creative-services/job, retrieved March 19, 2017
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Project Management Methodologies
At a high level, the major differences in project management methodologies are
whether a project is fully mapped out in detail prior to the project beginning, or
whether the project is planned in smaller sections of work.
Interestingly, the majority of project managers I’ve worked with in the marketing and
design world do not formally follow any project management methodology. Analyzing
their work and workflow, as well as my own, most projects fall somewhere between
traditional waterfall project management with some Agile sentiments incorporated for
good measure.
Traditional project management methodologies
Traditional project management methodologies include Waterfall and the Critical Path
Method (CPM). These methodologies scope out an entire project, with tasks listed in
order, from the beginning. The Critical Path Method also includes which tasks are
dependent on another in order to start.
The Pros of Traditional Project Management:
● Every single task is clearly identified at the beginning of a project.
● Roles & responsibilities are clear, and each task has a clear owner.
● The timeline is set, and each team member can plan for their portion of the
work.
● There is no ambiguity.
The Cons of Traditional Project Management:
● Lack of ambiguity also means lack of flexibility.
● When project priorities or requirements change, or when a task doesn’t go as
planned, the entire remaining project plan must be re-created or the project
must proceed without the changes incorporated.
● If changes are made in the middle of a project, there can be a significant
increase in cost and/or time to delivery
When to use: For projects that are straightforward and unlikely to change. This works
best for small, extremely well-defined projects with a single stakeholder.
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Agile
Agile project management was born in the software industry and emphasizes
flexibility within a framework. The Agile Manifesto (http://agilemanifesto.org/)
identifies four key tenants:
1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
2. Working software over comprehensive documentation
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
4. Responding to change over following a plan
Agile project management divides the work into short “sprints” Variations of the Agile
method continue to evolve, and include Scrum and Kanban, among others.
Pros of Agile Project Management:
● Flexibility
● Phased approach provides a built-in mechanism for testing and feedback before
committing large amounts of time and money
Cons of Agile Project Management:
● Scope creep (adding more and more to a project compared to what was
originally planned) is easy
● Risk for minimal documentation to end up being no documentation
When to use: For projects where full requirements are not known at the beginning of
the project, or where priorities are likely to shift, thus affecting . This encompasses
many larger projects in the creative and marketing space!
Lean & Six Sigma
Lean, Six Sigma and Lean Six Sigma are manufacturing-based project management
philosophies that focus on reducing waste in all areas. Waste applies to any input, such
as wasted time, defective product, excess materials and more.
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Interestingly, Lean Six Sigma was the first formal project methodology that I was
trained on in my corporate career. Our team’s pilot project was revamping a supply
chain process, which was fun.
Pros of Lean Six Sigma:
● Focus on waste elimination requires questioning every step of a process, and is
more likely to lead to extreme change that saves significant amount of money,
leading to increased profits.
Cons of Lean Six Sigma:
● Lean Six Sigma’s focus on reducing waste has potential to cramp creativity.
● Unless time management is an extreme challenge, Lean Six Sigma is less
relevant in the digital and information product space.
When to use: Most effective with physical products (Hi Esty shop friends!) or where
excess time waste is a challenge.
There are a number of other project management methodologies that are less relevant
for our purposes. If you’re interested in further reading, and links out to additional
resources this article on the Wrike blog has further descriptions.
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Conclusion
Project management isn’t complicated, but it is hard. The principles you have learned
in this book can be applied in any area of life - personal or professional. We have
covered a lot of ground in just a few pages. There is no expectation of mastering it all
in your first project. Remember that it’s a learning process and to give yourself grace!
Keep this book as a reference guide, print the worksheets on the following pages and
pin them up where you can see them regularly. Also, don’t forget that you can
download editable versions of the checklists and templates if you prefer!
Execute the five steps of project management consistently, follow through, and
communicate clearly. By doing so, you will set yourself apart from the crowd.
Have more project management, communication or general business strategy
questions that weren’t fully covered? Take a look at what’s on strategysarah.com, or
send me an email at sarah@strategysarah.com and ask away!
STRATEGYSARAH.COM | PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR CREATIVES | 52
Worksheets
The following pages have a selection of checklists and worksheets to make project
management a whole lot easier to start out.
And remember, keep it simple! If a worksheet is relevant to your work, use it. If not,
don’t. If partially relevant, edit the worksheet so that it is fully relevant (Download
editable worksheets at strategysarah.com/pm-checklists). Project management
systems and tools are designed to make your work easier and more efficient, not bog
you down in the details.
Checklists + Worksheets:
1. Key Questions to Ask At Each Phase of a Project: For the Client
2. Key Questions to Ask At Each Phase of a Project: For the Creative
3. Client Intake Form
4. File Organization Structure Set Up
5. Project Setup Checklist
6. Workback Schedule
7. Brief Template
8. Hot List
9. Work Handoff Checklist
10. Post-Mortem Checklist
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Key Questions to Ask At Each Phase of a Project: For the Client
Plan the project
If you’re the client (i.e., the person/company who wants the project done), key
questions to consider include:
❏ What is your desired outcome?
❏ Do you really need to do this project? Is there another way that the same
outcome can be achieved?
❏ What all is included in the project?
❏ Who are all the stakeholders involved? What are their roles?
❏ Will you work with any outside resources (agency, freelancer, etc) to complete
the project?
❏ What approvals are needed to start the project?
❏ What is the project budget?
Plan the work
❏ Create a detailed Project Brief. This will include a final list of deliverables
(which should line up with what you scoped in the Project Planning phase), as
well as all of the information that the agency or freelancer needs to complete
the work. This includes, but is not limited to:
❏ Your strategy
❏ Your target market
❏ Your must-haves (and don’t do’s) for each element
❏ Any relevant technical specifications
❏ Share the Project Brief with those doing the work. This includes those working
within your organization as well as the agency/freelancer.
Do the work
❏ Review creative rounds from the Creative
❏ Provide detailed feedback on agreed-upon schedule
❏ Communicate with the Creative if and when anything changes related to
deliverables, timing, expectations or if you are unclear about any part in the
process.
Hand off the work
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❏ Review what’s received against the Project Brief. Did the agency/creative deliver
everything promised?
❏ Review all the files. Are they all accurate? Do this in a timely manner so any
last-minute edits can be made before the project teams have moved on.
❏ Confirm with the agency/freelancer that you have received all the files, and
thank them for their work.
Review and assess the project: The Post-Mortem
❏ What went well?
❏ What didn’t?
❏ What would you do differently next time internally with your team?
❏ What would you expect an agency/partner to do differently on a next project?
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Key Questions to Ask At Each Phase of a Project: For the Creative
Plan the project
❏ Do you have the time and bandwidth to take on this project?
❏ Is this project within your skill set?
❏ Have you worked with this client before? How are they to work with?
❏ Does the client’s budget cover your rates?
Plan the work
❏ Did the client deliver a clear project brief? If so, do you you fully understand the
brief? What additional questions do you have?
❏ If you didn’t receive a brief, have the client complete a Client Intake Form
where you lead them by providing questions for them to answer.
❏ Are you able to fully deliver on what the client is requesting? If there are any
pieces of the project that need to be re-negotiated, now is the time to do it.
Do the work
❏ Follow the project plan to complete all deliverables related to a project, on time
and on budget
❏ Share creative rounds on agreed upon schedule
❏ Gather client feedback
❏ Implement feedback
❏ Communicate regularly with the client at all scheduled milestones, and if or
when anything changes related to the project or open questions arise
Hand off the work
❏ Review the Project Brief and ensure that every deliverable is included in your
hand off.
❏ Ensure the file types requested are all sent.
❏ Ensure there are no spelling errors, color errors, or any other type of errors.
❏ Follow up with the client to ensure that they received everything and that it
meet their needs.
Review and assess the project: The post-mortem
❏ What went well?
❏ What didn’t?
❏ What would you do differently next time?
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❏ What would you expect a client to do differently on a next project?
❏ Is this a client that you would like to work with again in the future?
❏ Is this a type of client that you would like to work with in the future?
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Client Intake Form
1. Client Name: _______________________________________________
2. Please briefly describe your project.
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
3. What is your budget for this project? (Ballpark is fine, and won’t hold you to this
budget. However, it is good to have a general idea of whether or not we’re a
good fit to work together and have a similar understanding to the value of
projects.) __________________________________________________
4. What are the specific deliverables of this project? (i.e., a book cover designed in
three different sizes, CAD drawings of four different spaces, etc.)
Deliverable 1:________________________________________________
Deliverable 2:________________________________________________
Deliverable 3:________________________________________________
Deliverable 4:________________________________________________
Deliverable 5:________________________________________________
5. What do you consider a successful outcome to this project?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
6. When will you be ready to begin the project? ________________________
7. When is the deadline for this project to be complete? __________________
8. How many stakeholders, reviewers, approvals or additional people are involved
in this project? Please list by name/group and/or title: _________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
9. Who ultimately approves this work? If not you, what is the process for gaining
that person’s approval? ________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
10. Any other information you would like to share before we begin work?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
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File Organization Structure Set Up
● Create a file naming convention
Folder Structure:
● Project Name (using your pre-set file naming convention)
○ Operations
■ SOW
■ Budget
■ Workback / Project Schedule
■ Post-Mortem
○ Brief
■ Brief document
■ Supporting input files from client
○ Working Files
■ Working files, as needed
■ Feedback
○ Final Files
■ Final files
■ Any additional handoff documentation for the client
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Project Setup Checklist
❏ Determine project scope and budget.
❏ Sign SOW and complete all contract paperwork and POs needed.
❏ Set up your project management tools.
❏ Set up your file organization structure.
❏ Schedule all necessary people resources, including finding additional project
team members if needed.
❏ Decide which creative software/tools are needed for this project, and ensure
that you have all appropriate licensing needed.
❏ Set up project communication tools.
❏ Ensure all team members have access to all tools and documents needed.
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Workback Schedule
Include these key milestones in a workback schedule, taking into account the time
needed for each stage of the work. Typically the first round of creative should be the
longest duration, with any additional rounds needing shorter timeframes to
incorporate feedback and edits.
● Project Initiation
● Project Brief
● Internal Project Team Kickoff
● Creative Begins
● Client Creative Review 1
● Client Feedback 1
● Client Creative Review 2
● Client Feedback 2
● Client Creative Review 3
● Client Approval
● Last Look, if needed
● Final File Delivery
● Post-Mortem
● Invoice and Payment
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Creative Brief Outline
Client: ___________________________________________________________
Key Client Contact: __________________________________________________
Client Approvers: ___________________________________________________
Budget: ___________________________________________________________
Client Overview:_____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Project Overview: ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
List of Deliverables:
1. _____________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________
5. _____________________________________________________
Due Date: __________________________________________________
Key Milestone/Review Dates:
6. _____________________________________________________
7. _____________________________________________________
8. _____________________________________________________
9. _____________________________________________________
10. _____________________________________________________
Detailed Requirements for Deliverable 1:
___________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Detailed Requirements for Deliverable 2: __________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Detailed Requirements for Deliverable 3: __________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Detailed Requirements for Deliverable 4: __________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Detailed Requirements for Deliverable 5: __________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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Hot List
Date: ______________________
● Team Member: __________________________
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
● Team Member: __________________________
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
● Team Member: __________________________
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
Date: ______________________
● Team Member: __________________________
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
● Team Member: __________________________
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
● Team Member: __________________________
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
○ Task : __________________________ (Time Allotted: _______)
STRATEGYSARAH.COM | PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR CREATIVES | 64
Work Handoff Checklist
❏ Does the work answer the brief?
❏ Does the work contain any technical errors (spelling, etc)?
❏ Is the work complete?
❏ Are all elements of the project packaged up to send together?
❏ Particularly in review phases, does anything that is not final include clear
markers to indicate that? Clear markers include labels such as FPO (for
placement only), or WIP (work in process).
❏ Have you included clear instructions for feedback, next steps and any additional
information that your client may need?
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Post-Mortem Checklist
Schedule the post-mortem meeting with everyone involved in the project. This may
just be you, but even so, schedule time on the calendar to make sure it happens!
The Post-Mortem:
1. List links to all relevant documents:
Brief: ______________________________________________________
Project Schedule: _____________________________________________
Final Files: __________________________________________________
Key Client Communications: _____________________________________
Additional doc: _______________________________________________
Additional doc: _______________________________________________
Additional doc: _______________________________________________
2. A brief recap of the project flow: __________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
3. What went well?_______________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
4. What didn’t?__________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
5. What would you do differently next time?____________________________
___________________________________________________________
6. What would you expect a client to do differently on a next project? What do you
need to do differently to make this happen?___________________________
____________________________________________________________
7. Is this a client that you would like to work with again in the future?_________
8. Is this a type of client that you would like to work with in the future? Why or
why not?_____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
STRATEGYSARAH.COM | PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR CREATIVES | 66
BUNDLE BONUS: Beta eCourse or Audio
Are you interested in an eCourse or Audio version of Project Management for Creatives?
Great, me too! I don’t have a launch date yet, but I will be creating an expanded
eCourse version of Project Management for Creatives in the second half of 2017.
Based on interest, I am first opening up the beta program waitlist as an exclusive
bonus to Ultimate Work-At-Home Bundle purchasers (that’s you!). Pricing is still tbd,
but you’ll get the guaranteed lowest-price, as well as the opportunity to provide
feedback and help shape the program.
If participating in the Project Management for Creatives beta program is of interest to
you, please email sarah@strategysarah.com with a subject “Beta PM for Creatives
eCourse” for more information.
Thank you!
STRATEGYSARAH.COM | PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR CREATIVES | 67
About the Author
Sarah Parsons is the founder of StrategySarah.com, a
project manager by trade, and obsessed with organization
and productivity by personality.
Sarah uses her MBA and 15 years’ project management
experience in the sporting goods industry to help small
business owners succeed by reducing stress and increasing
productivity.
She has found that while some of the challenges are different based on the size and
scope of a business, most are the same. Strangely enough, people are people and
problems are problems, wherever you are.
Sarah, her husband, and two sons make their home in the Pacific Northwest, where
she regularly indulges in Portland’s gourmet coffee culture and pretends to enjoy
running.
Connect with Sarah:
● Website: http://strategysarah.com/
● Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/strategysarah
● Twitter: @strategysarah
● Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/strategysarah/
STRATEGYSARAH.COM | PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR CREATIVES | 68