Consider this oxymoron for a moment – project management rules the creative worlds of marketing, media, design and the arts. That’s right; the world of process, structure, control and management is moving into the lovely world of art, freedom of expression, non-conformity, innovation and ideas.
Strange as it may seem, project management is becoming more and more prevalent in the creative world, with organisations looking closely at how elements of structure and control can be utilised in their projects that just happen to deliver creative outcomes. In the last six months alone, Arras People has seen a large increase in creative project management posts – take a look at the project management job board – and with this increase in requirements, a skills gap is beginning to emerge.
Why We Need Project Management in the Creative World
The Work Foundation think tank recently examined “whether the UK is best positioned to generate explosive growth from within its creative industries* during the period of economy recovery”. Creative industries “comprise 7.3 % of the UK economy, and 6.4 % of UK Gross Value Added –equivalent to £57bn.”
Organisations like The Design Council are also working on the “knowledge economy” and understanding how the creative industries will be shaping the UK economy now and in the future. As the UK economy becomes increasingly dependant on our ability to deliver services rather than goods, the creative industries will play their part by creating, selling and exporting our intellectual property and expertise around the globe. “Knowledge-intensive industries range from information and communication technologies to advertising and from universities and hospitals to building aero engines”
Creative Project Management
Same Issues!
Most organisations require project managers who can demonstrate experience of having delivered projects within their given domain or subject matter. So unsurprisingly the same rules are being applied to the roles we are seeing in the “creative sector” (marketing, design, arts and museums). Even though they realise that they are breaking new ground, clients really want the “project manager” to have already gained some previous experience in their field. The underlying issue appears to be a feeling that project managers who have gained their experience in more “traditional industries” just won’t “get it” when it comes to delivering projects with a project team that are creative or cutting edge cool!
Same Challenges
Of course we all like to think we are different; our sector has its nuances; our people are harder, quirkier or more delicate; our clients won’t accept someone without x years of experience in the field. But ultimately any organisation, regardless of sector, needs to understand why they believe that adopting a “project management” based approach will give them the results they desire!
When chatting with John Thorpe, MD of Arras People he said “Formal project management may be the answer, but what is the question?
- What is the business driver?
- How different will the new structure be to what they have today?
- How will they know if it is successful?
Presumably it is a given that there is the need to deliver “projects” successfully and delivering successfully means pulling the team in the right direction; working effectively with clients and third parties; understanding what the scope is and when they have to deliver – the basics of project management yes; but presumably they are already doing most of these things (informally) in their businesses today?”
Where Are the Creative Project Managers?
Creative industries looking to adopt formal project management methods have the make or buy options open to them, though either approach will only be successful if based upon a realistic strategy. Looking at the market, there are creative project managers but many have a skills gap when it comes to talking about their approach to “formal” delivery; how they manage client expectations; use of tools and processes to aid efficient delivery and how they define successful projects. At best, there is a prescribed way of doing things based on the way we’ve always done things; at worse there is an incredulous response that says “you mean there’s an actual method to the madness!”
The way forward?
As the knowledge economy grows the creative industries will need to shape their approach to formal project management as pressures grow to deliver outcomes much more effectively and efficiently. The key to successful project management in the creative industries (like most others?) will require business agility, finding the right balance which gives the successful outcomes without stifling the creativity.
Based on todays market conditions, as there is an obvious skills gap, the challenge is to decide upon a strategy. If effective “project Management” is the objective can they afford to ignore the project management talent pool that is available? Yes, these people will need to adapt to a new environment but the upside is the knowledge and experience that they can bring to the table. The alternative may be to invest in re-creating the wheel!
* The Department for Culture, Media and Sport defines the creative industries as those that are based on individual creativity, skill and talent. They also have the potential to create wealth and jobs through developing and exploiting intellectual property.
Image © m4tik and used with permission.
I have worked with some “creatives” in my time and one thing I can tell you is that their brains simply work in a different way to most of us. They had ideas spilling over from their minds but, as is often the case, they struggled a bit to process these ideas into tangible business goals and to create structures that could facilitate the ideas.
So it does not surprise me one bit to find project management roles growing in demand in that sort of environment. I think you get a lot more bang for your creative buck when you have somebody there to take the moments of inspiration and create a workable project from them.
I agree with Steve. In these environments the management of processes is critical above anything else to ensure no distractions from the main focus. An experienced process manager has the potential to make a major impact in a creative environment.