Osama Khabab is the Founder and CEO of MotionCue. He helps businesses rapidly grow their impact on web and social through video marketing.
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Remote work has been a long time coming to the business world. But when 2020 hit us, most corporate businesses and creative agencies were forced to convert to a remote work diet. Organizations and their employees have now witnessed the perks of remote work in unprecedented times.
But for some, this modus operandi has been working so well that they might consider sticking to it even when things return to normal.
Creative industries, however, rely heavily on one-on-one collaborative work on a daily basis. Projects require brainstorming sessions, briefings and feedback meetings. With that being the norm, remote collaboration on creative projects can seem daunting at first. But with a little bit of imagination and getting-used-to, remote work can become a feasible option for creative agencies.
Let’s see how creative agencies can stay optimal as they centrifuge from the physical workplace.
1. Optimize internal and external processes.
We’ve all seen the “this meeting could’ve been an email” memes. They embody the need for optimizing the processes at a conventional workplace. Staff and client meetings are an important part of running a business. However, an excess of them can prove to be counterproductive. Holding frequent meetings can often break the productivity streaks, halt the creative process, and turn into an excuse for micromanaging.
When employing the remote work approach in a creative agency, consider minimizing the need for in-person and cloud meetings. There are scores of internal communication and customer management platforms available that can streamline and optimize your remote workflow. Moreover, to save the time spent on micromanaging, hire employees that you can trust to make sound decisions. Train yourself to delegate effectively, and respect the little choices your employees make during a project. This will encourage shorter turnaround times and expedite project completion.
2. Allow customized creative spaces.
Everyone has a different idea of what a creative space looks like. Some produce the best ideas while working from the comfort of their home office, a space that they’ve customized to their needs. Others work best amid the smell of coffee and fresh bagels in a downtown café.
By embracing remote work, you give more opportunities to your employees to be their most creative selves. Ultimately, the more creatively stimulated your employees are, the more productive and engaged they tend to be. Not to mention, it translates into a high-end work standard as a creative agency.
3. Cut down commute hours.
If you’ve taken the subway or been stuck in the traffic for hours to and from your workplace, you realize how daunting that commute can be. Employees can feel drained and devoid of creative juices when they have to do it every day.
Remote work takes that pressure off and puts much more productive hours on the table. This time can be used to brainstorm, ideate or research. Alternatively, employees can take this time to switch off or invest in leisure activities. With more hours on their hands, your team members can be more in control of their time and establish an effective work-life balance.
4. Measure outcomes, not hours.
With an operational shift in the creative agency, a change in how we measure productivity is also essential. Too many organizations and leaders spend time worrying about the number of hours “looking busy” at work rather than the actual result.
When moving over to the remote work model, free yourself of the need to keep track of everyone’s time. Hold employees accountable over established deadlines and let them manage their own time. This not only de-stresses the management but also allows employees to work by their creative and productive windows.
5. Broaden your talent and services pool.
One of the biggest benefits of the remote work model is that you can hire talent that’s not locally available. Use remote talent platforms to acquire high-end and thoroughly vetted professionals to enrich your talent pool.
For instance, a lot of video production agencies rely on outsourced voice-over artists and scriptwriters. So while their primary in-house talent might be animators and illustrators, they’re able to deliver a complete video production to their clients. In addition to refining your creative products, you may be able to add completely new services to your portfolio by hiring individual resources and agencies remotely.
Wrapping Up
With these realizations setting in, more and more creative agencies aim to stick a big part of their services to remote operations. As a creative agency leader, you can start implementing them to make the most out of this shifting paradigm.
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Author: Osama Khabab, Forbes Councils Member
