Many of us are familiar with quick-turn projects and the stress they bring. Many marketers may hope to have a longer lead time before a project comes due, but this also carries with it its own series of challenges. Long-lead projects can feel like they’re dragging, and because progress is so slow, the frustration may leak into the rest of your work.
Professionals in the industry have developed their own methods of working with long-lead deadlines to limit the feeling of impending disaster as the submission date looms. Eight experts from Forbes Agency Council share their wisdom in dealing with long-lead deadlines and offer their best advice on how to best prepare for this kind of task.
Members share their best techniques for managing projects with a long lead time.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Move Your Mindset To The Future
The first step is to take your mindset out of the right now and what you have to get done today and move it to the future. Getting the editorial calendar right requires planning ahead in a way that encompasses all the necessary steps. Work your way back to today by first recognizing all that needs to get done before that later date. – Dmitrii Kustov, Regex SEO
2. Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
Keep your eyes on the prize. It’s important to continue with your day-to-day tasks, but all of your work should be guided by your longer-term strategic communications framework. The quick projects should really be looked at as stepping stones toward building momentum for future storytelling. – Joey Hodges, Demonstrate
3. First Lock In The Messages And Initiatives
Lock in the messages, corporate narrative and initiatives early in a relationship that will be evergreen for six months or more. This allows agencies and marketing teams to project and pitch stories months out that fit within future editorial considerations while still building content that stays on brand and is authentic to ongoing marketing themes or programs. – Kathleen Lucente, Red Fan Communications
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4. Work Your Way Backward
Work backward. Where do you want to end up and by what date? Once you’ve answered these questions, you can implement milestones to set you up on a path to success so you can meet your final deadline with flying colors. – Bernard May, National Positions
5. Break It Down Into Digestible Segments
Break the long-lead project down into digestible, measurable segments. With the larger goal in mind, look at the shorter cycles that exist within the bigger picture. Then establish milestones and measurable goals within that cycle. Report weekly on progress and establish accountability around each segment and goal. – Korena Keys, KeyMedia Solutions
6. Establish Progress Assessment Milestones
With a long-lead editorial project, it’s essential to establish milestones where you review and evaluate progress with your team. You want to give yourself enough time to pivot if the story you are investigating takes a turn you didn’t anticipate or if world events (such as COVID-19 or Black Lives Matter protests) demand that you view your story through a different lens. – Jenni Smith, EGR International
7. Map Out Key Editorial Dates
Mapping out on a Google Sheet the key editorial dates for the year, along with any project milestones, is important to ensure that you keep deadlines. With media now working increasingly at a faster pace, it’s also imperative that you know what outlet requires your content by when. Online media often can upload a story within minutes, so using an embargo also comes in handy. – Adrian Falk, Believe Advertising & PR
8. Have A Backup Calendar
One of the most important things to consider is having a main calendar as well as a backup calendar. In doing so there will always be someone there to fill in an assignment if there is something that needs to be covered and no one to take it on. That also means you will have a backup person who will be able to access the assignment. – Jon James, Ignited Results
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Author: Expert Panel®, Forbes Councils Member
